What Are 'Wall Paper' Stamps? Also CTO Questions.

I've been reading the forums trying to learn about collecting stamps and I see the term 'wall paper' being used (I think mainly in relation to topical/theme collecting threads) Can someone explain:

1) What 'wall paper' stamps are? And how do I determine if a stamp is one or not.

2) I also see the term CTO which I think is stamps that are canceled prior to purchase (correct me if I'm wrong) I notice many people don't like CTO stamps. Is this a wide spread opinion? Also how do I determine if a stamp is a CTO or not.

Thank you


*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Fastest way to determine a CTO stamp is one that has a cancel but has full gum on the back. You can frequently find full sheets that are CTO. Many Hungary, Romania, Russia and many of the sand dune issues can be examples. The definition of Wall Paper depends on the collector. For some everything issued after 1940 is "wall paper." What is a stamp? A scott catalog is a first start. old catalogs can be fairly easy to find cheap.

CTO = Cancelled To Order. These are stamps that are not postally used but have full gum (mint-like condition) and are cancelled generally with a 1/4 circle mark (the full circle cancelation will cover 4 stamps).

What is 'Sand Dune' issue? The last I collected (when I was a kid) I had a Hungarian stamp with a Blue Ford Model T automobile on it. It was a pretty big stamp. I don't think it had gum. Should I assume that was a CTO? I also had these really tiny stamps I think the country started with a letter A. (Ajman I think) I assumed those were CTOs.

the "sand dune" issues are in reference to a multitude of issues out of the Arab states (your Ajman stamp is most likely one) that in reality had no postal value. Ajman, Manama, Ras al Khaimah, Umm al Quwain, Sharjah and Fujeirah are the main culprits. and yes, the majority of the "sand dune" issues were CTO to avoid any conflict with the UPU as to whether they were for actual postal use or simply fodder for collectors.

Just a comment on C.T.O. These have been around for quite a while as a means of getting rid of surplus stock. Here are some examples from British South Africa Company (later to split into northern and southern Rhodesia) from 1897. The £1 value has a nice SOTN cancel, but from a canceller that wasn't applied to commercially used stamps. For the 1905 inverted overprints in blocks of 4, you can see what Oldguy described, with a cancellation shared between 4 stamps.

There is no exact definition of 'wall paper' stamps. Many countries issue or have issued stamps not primarily for postal use but for the collectors market - such stamps are often issued by agencies abroad specialized in that sort of issues. Often the subjects of the stamps have nothing to do with the issuing country, the stamps would generally be large pictorials. This type of stamps has come to be called 'wallpaper'. The Sand Dune states as described up thread are an example of countries issuing these wallpaper stamps, but they are also issued by many other countries, mainly to serve as a source of hard currency - countries in Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, Oceania, the former East Block countries. Some collectors loath these issues, others - topical collectors - avidly collect these issues. Because of the latter group some of these issues have a nice CV.

CTO is explained up thread. Many collectors collect either mint or used. CTO is neither: cancelled but not used. Thus less of interest for people collecting mint or used. For other collectors the difference is irrelevant. In general I would think that CTO stamps sell at a discount when compared to postally used stamps. Some stamps that are easy to find CTO are very hard - if not impossible - to find postally used.

I would call all the Australian stamps of the last 20 years wall paper stamps. They only issue them with the collector in mind,
Basically imo anything after 1965, unless it is an error, or variety, in Australian stamps is not worth collecting.

Horamakhet

Horamkhet, that's a pretty sweeping statement, though I don't know enough about modern, modern Australian stamps to disagree. Are they that bad?

I must confess that I collect everything: modern issues, CTO or even fantasy and local issues too (Lundy?). I'm not a big fan of fake stamps though, I always want to burn those when I find them, but I know people collect fakes too.

I find many of the modern Australian stamps very colorful and fun to collect (especially postally used.) While in the US we can't seem to get our act together to issue a Pluto stamp, Australia came out with a great solar system sheet and snuck Pluto in there :)


This talk of CTO issues brings up an interesting sideline collection, collecting issues that are commonly found as CTO but are used or on cover. I run into these once and a while it is a bit of a shock when you are so used to the CTO's!

Wallpaper is a general term for practically any stamps a given collector might not like, particularly modern issues. My definition of wallpaper is basically stamps with little or no connection with the issuing country. Winter sports stamps of Equatorial Guinea, Frank Sinatra stamps from Sierra Leone, etc. These types of stamps serve no postal or cultural purpose inside their issuing countries. They are only issued with the international stamp collector market in mind and virtually none of them in collectors' hands today have ever been anywhere near the countries that supposedly issued them. There's nothing wrong with collecting these types of issues if you like them, but many collectors shun them in favor of stamps that are more legitimate in their eyes. Tastes change over time, however, and history has shown that the stamps shunned by one generation are often collected avidly by the next.

A very interesting topic indeed. Regarding the "sand dune" issues, the CTOs are basically worthless to everyone except topical collectors, but mint never hinged is a different story indeed. There is a huge market, in Europe and elsewhere, for MNH sand dune stamps. Because of the contempt North Americans (in particular) hold for these issues, they represent great sales possibilities for anyone lucky enough to stumble upon a good buy here, to sell in another market. A specialized MICHEL reference catalog is a must for anyone wanting to explore this area. The bottom line is that if you stumble upon cheap big lots of MNH material, you can nearly always keep all the "good" stuff, sell off the rest, and make many multiples on your money spent... At least, that has been my experience. It is interesting to me how collecting tastes differ from country to country, or continent to continent.

John

Modern Australia from 1996 to now rules.

Being the sub categories from kiloware like.

1. International Post Gum.

2. International Post issue with tabs.

3. International Post issue Sets

4. International Post self adhesives.

5. High denominations singles gum.

6. High denominations singles S/A

7. High denomination sets.

8. Issue set with high denominations Gum.

9. Issue set with high denominations S/A

10. Issue sets letter rate Gum.

11. Issue sets letter rate S/A.

12. All the above with tabs.


Perforation differences like gum, booklet & coil.

And this is only a small area for sub categories.

I'd say that collectors in US and British Commonwealth are more opinionated than in other parts of the world.

But 'detest' against CTOs is (and has always been) very selective.

Sometimes it's related to politics. McCarthyism made all those stamps from 'red' countries instantly bad. Very likely out there are some ISIS collectors who for the similar reasons can't collect stamps of the 'western world'.

Sometimes it's related to poor philatelic knowledge. All those 'B-grade' countries (such as Macias Nguema's Equatorial Guinea or Ajman) DID have a working postal system, and they DID actually use stamps to pay postage, but coming up with genuinely used copies is like finding a needle from haystack, so it is very easy to assume that no postally used copies exist.

Sometimes it's simply 'we close our eyes and see what we want to see'... If 'cancelled-to-order was the issue, then most postal agencies would be screwed up as their 'philatelic products' (such as 'American Commemorative Cancellations pages' or FDCs ) are nothing more than 100% CTOs.





Same can be said about 99.9% of all stamps.... I can buy a glassine of 100 US stamps for $5, or I can use the same fiver to buy a glassine of 100 CTOs from the Trucial states. Not much difference in their value IMHO.


-k-

Hi Keijo,

Very well said, and I agree with you. For the worldwide collector, all stamps have value, and are necessary! Collecting styles and tastes are a personal matter. There does tend to be some snobbery in peoples opinions of what to collect, or not to collect.

Collecting postally used sand dune issues would have to be a lonely, frustrating pursuit, in my view, as they are so hard to find! Next on the tough scale would be mint never hinged, which are quite scarce, compared to the CTOs...

John

In 1931, Charkhari State in India released a long set of pictorials, ranging from ½ Anna (the letter rate) to 5 Rupees (80 times the letter rate, and completely redundant).

These were wallpaper stamps of their time: large quantities were dumped on the market CTO



so that the set is basically worthless in that state, and mint were sold at below face (Gibbons lists the top value, 5 Rupees, at £10 mint; it prices the contemporary 5 Rupee for India at £75 mint.)

Nevertheless, it is possible to find the lower values commercially used





although it takes a bit of doing.

The set also offers perforation varieties (11, 11½ and 12 and compound) and shades, too, as well as imperf betweens, missing colours



tête-bêche varieties



and nice offsets



amongst other things.

A good wallpaper set to collect - I do, anyway.