Postmark Theme, New, Old, How Or Why.

This little beautie was posted & delivered on island when it would have been easier & faster to just bring it around. All I can say is thanks for a great postmark. Family & KGV

How many different ways can an item be postmarked?

Colour me green.
That Russell Island is an absolute cracker.
If you get anymore KG5, you know where I am

Haven't seen those platypus and red kangaroo stamps for a while now. I've always liked them. Old man kangaroo he is, or seems to be.

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Here is a metered mailing from Manchester, England to Halifax, Canada via postal customs at Montreal, Canada (H4T 1T4 postal code).



I wouldn't have thought the metered postal label warranted a British cancellation but I guess it did and Canada thought it did also. This is the way some international mail is marked now, showing departure and entry points in different countries. Unfortunately all marked in the same area so it is overlapping.

I found it neat that you could Google the postal code and it came right up with a map, photos, and more info about the place than you would ever want. I don't know if USA zip codes work the same way or Royal Mail post codes do either. Interesting.

return of puzzler

Hi All

I think that some of these cancellations shown here are quite nice.

Having said this, some scans showed portions of "Spray-On" cancellations. While they are not the most desirable as shown on scans in here, they are by themselves quite collectible.

Every now and then, I receive mail with this type of cancel on the cover. I hate to throw anything away unless it is absolutely necessary, so, I keep most covers and soak others with stamps I can use for trades etc.

These "Spray-On" cancellations will be a study by themselves, or most lilely, already are! I will show a couple of examples of what can be found.

Received a cover locally from town here with the cancel reading FRAUD - PREVENT IT / La fraude Prevenex la / 000330 M4L 3T0 ON

FROM ANYWHERE TO ANYONE / / / DE PARTOUT JUSQU'A VOUS / 100204 22:32 L8E 2R0 096

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! / PLACE AUX (unclear) / 100218 M4L 2T0

The above is just a sample of what there is out there. Some have different code markings and some collectors are trying to collect as many examples as possible.

So, to sum up. I guess in time it is possible to see a reference book or catalogue out on this type of cancellation in the not too distant future (?)

Chimo

Bujutsu

I have been somewhat fascinated (read obsessed) with the new spray-on cancels myself. At times.

I wonder what cancel collectors will hold most dear in the future. Or, how to make a cover now? Or position a stamp on a cover so that it gets cancelled with only a certain part of the spray-on on it?

One doesn't usually mail envelopes to one's self but I ran into this area by having to mail myself Picture Postage I made as I thought that to get a true mint stamp you shouldn't disturb it from it's original placement on the backing sheet and just remove the stamps all around it.

I have no doubt that if I were a dealer involved in making money from every stamp then I would have avoided this problem and just cut the backing sheet differently or peeled off the stamp (self-adhesives) and stuck it on a spare bit of backing paper.

However, I noticed that depending on where I placed the stamp(s) on the cover, and the size of the cover, I would get a different cancel. The constant thing was the position of the spray-on. That didn't change much, except for a envelope mis-feed in the machines.

So, would a person collect the date on the stamp or the Postal Code (which would tell the place of mailing). Unless it was a large stamp horizontally, you couldn't get both on. Notice the above Montreal H4T cancel. The date is separated from the code by enough space that ist is nigh on impossible to get the stamp positioned correctly to get both on the stamp. (Picture Postage).

However, looking at the Royal mail cancel from Manchester, one can see that the place and date are all together in one area. Quite a different matter.

Or the USA ones I have seen. Place and date all on one line, all nicely together.

And, in Canada, the spray-on changes by type or size of envelope and by place, as different machines are used in different places of course.

Maybe the trick is to collect on piece a cut square of envelope to preserve the whole cancel? Or preserve the whole cover?
But what if one just wanted to collect the stamps and not have rooms full of covers? Is that possible at all? Or, as a stamp collector to other stamp collectors, why not collect everything and just move some furniture about to make more room for the stamps and covers?

I send all spray cancelled stamps to my junk box, and any label-franked and spray cancelled covers to the bin. Sorry!

1st postmark ~ a typical example from our regional mail processing centre for letters.

2nd postmark ~ a Perth postmark that is not Western Australia's capital city, *Perth*.

Interesting comments since my last posting in here.

I notice one members throws them out. That's ok, it is afterall just a hobby and no one will codemn anyone for doing so.

However, let me also say this. The same train of thought existed with meter cancellations and perfins. Today these two topics alone have societies solely devoted to them.

I can understand how some of us die-hards (for a lack of beter words) can dislike them, but at the same time, are we ignoring another new and fascinating facet of the hobby that has not yet come to fruition??

I am sure time will tell

Just in the small amount of covers I have with these cancellations, there are a number of varieties with these "Spray-0n" cancels and I am sure that some day, there will be a specialty club / society start up that will drive the prices of these 'now' cheap covers a heck of a lot higher than they are today. It has to, it's Murphy's Law

I have heard on many occasions, that anything is collectible. The more I see these new facets of philately come to light, I am inclined to believe it.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I tend to agree with you bujutsu on the unfortunate aspect of everything is collectable and some things that are not as pleasing to the eye or taste are still collectable.

My thoughts on the modern spray-ons is that, similar to self-adhesive stamps that are very hard to impossible to soak off of paper, the new cancels are here to stay and what will future collectors see them like?

I would think some would collect them. Some are interesting in showing what people where thinking about at the time and what was considered important enough to put on a cancel. Somewhat like slogans I supoose.

But, as collectors are valuing and collecting things that are more pleasing to the eye (usually) than other things, what is considered pleasing about these cancels? Some are more pleasing than others

But even with the not-so-pleasing ones, what can be done to make them more pleasing or more collectable? Put enough stamps in proper positions on the envelope(s) to catch the cancel or just one stamp used as the proper amount of postage for that envelope usage? With space left around it so one could see the cancel?

Questions qustiuons. . .

I think you lot might have to vote on this one,I call it the mother of all cancellations but you can see it for yourself,this one should put this thread in perspective or at least the dark side .



It may not be the prettiest but I dare say the biggest.

I've seen that before!
It was the impression left on my foot,
when the forklift drove over it.

Postmarks from long ago. Some sort of parcel cancels, & I am not sure about the rest.

nuggethill: that example is going to take some beating.

What a postally used left foot you have, Rod!

Careful, KGV is trying to be humerous.

Rod's foot is hinged (to his leg) too.

If a celebrity was diving the forklift you could probably sell that on ebay!

Pay for more stamps.

There already is an APS affiliated club, http://www.postmarks.org/ that is interested in spray-on cancels. It's 50 years old.

For example, their recent bulletin noted that some irregularities with the SCF numbers (the Sectional Center Facility - the first three numbers in the zip code) have been found on those gawdawful Kermit Spray-on cancels. They are already difficult to find.

Dan