Some Precancels

I got bored and bought a bunch of precancels. What I didn't realize, was the sheer number of them I received. Anyways, I figured I'd upload some pics of citys and styles that I haven't seen before, outside of the nyc/chicago. Just wondering if anything stands out. I guess it's time to invest in a catalog.

I like precancels, although I don't have the catalogs (too many precancels and too many catalogs) but I do enjoy the history lesson of looking up towns or cities I never heard of to find their claim to fame.

From what I see in the previous posts, most of the precancels appear to be common (which is quite natural, considering there were countless varieties).

One which has me stumped, though, is Elcour, North Dakota, as posted below:



I cannot find it listed as a legitimate precancel in the series of precancel album pages, the town does not appear on any search engine, and I can't find any listing for a past or present post office by that name. Perhaps it's a fake?

I'll look forward to hearing from one of our precancel experts on this.

I was looking through the batch when I saw your reply, and 4 stamps later I can answer your question. It's Belcourt. I found another style (longer lines) on a 1 cent.

wt1 - Belcourt, ND

Thanks. Just goes to show how some of these poorly printed precancels can trip you up when the first and last letters of the town name don't appear.

If you have the PSS catalog on your computer you can search using "*" wildcards. *lcou* will find Belcourt.
Coilfan - it's been estimated that there are around 2 million different precancel denominations. My new Alabama catalog lists 35,000 from AL. I have not counted them but I understand the NY catalog has about 130,000 listings!

Chasa I was referring to what I assume I need for pricing, the Bureau and Town & Type catalogs. I don't know if spending $60 to find out the $10 auction I won is probably worth $5. None of that matters though, it was worth every penny in experience alone.

I'm still going through them, and its a blast. I came across that one stamp... that one green 1c devil, Ben Franklin was looking at me through the words "Kansas City MO." I immediately layed a template from a cut 552 on it and sure enough...it was a rotary. The roller coaster stopped when I measured the perfs, a 581 of course. I'll never not measure first again.

I'll scan some more tomorrow.

Coilfan: we love pictures! I didn't see any scarce ones in the group posted above.

Here's some DLE's (I think)






I'll post some higher denoms and/or coils later.