I have a bunch of the Iceland 1 Eyr Codfish stamps (Scott 217) that are all canceled as shown below. These could have been affixed to packages canceled mostly as multiples as applied, or may be CTOs (which I suspect they may be).
The catalog pricing is much greater for the used (unused is $0.45, used is $4.50), and the used pricing is in
italics as well. The italics notation, as described in Scott, has multiple purposes.
In Scott's "Understanding valuing notations" section, the italics notation generally indicates an item that is difficult to accurately value. Specifically noted is stamps that have a higher catalog value for used vs. unused. These values do not apply to fiscal, telegraph or non-contemporaneous cancels. Further, these values DO apply to cancel-to-order (CTO) stamps when they are "found to predominate in the marketplace for the issue involved". For this specific listing, there is no note that addresses this stamp valuation as CTO or postally used.
The cancel IS contemporaneous (20.3.42), and the stamps are all ungummed. So the questions are:
1. Are these stamps CTO or genuinely postally used?
2. If CTO, is the catalog value as listed to be applied to these stamps?
Thanks!
