Albany New York Fancy Cancel Identification

I only have one refence unfortunately for fancy cancels: Skinner and Eno. I can't find this cancel in there for Albany. The smart finder web site has very little for Albany. Is there another refence I can check out to identify this? I am thinking it could be a four petal floral with a worn stamp that was under-inked? I have attached one that was used in Brooklyn, NY. as an example.


Thanks, it drives me nuts when I can find an answer.

Looks to me more like a crossroads than a 4-petal floral. Like CR-X 19 style, perhaps worn and overinked. Or likely it was carved that way with the rounded tips, but I'd still call it a crossroads rather than an 8-petaled floral. Others may have different opinions of the intent of the design. Regardless, no fancy cancel catalog is complete. Be happy that you have it on cover with a clear Albany strike to identify exactly what it is, an unlisted Albany fancy cancel.

I sense you are expectig too much of the literature.
I agree with the direction ZebraMan takes. The literature on cancels and fancy cancels is barely the tip of the iceberg to show the most eyecatching, the most widely encountered, and representative cancels for the era any specific book covers. As an example, there were approximately 59,000 post offices in 1889, yet Cole's "Cancellations and killers of the Banknote Era, 1870-1894" has approximately 6000 cancels, assuming an average of about 20 cancels per page. There would be literally thousands of cut-corks in various stages of wear with varying quality to each strike and inking. To many collectors, these cut corks are not fancy enough to be "fancy". (It's fancy if you are selling it, but *not* fancy if you are trying to buy it!) Unless there is a detailed book on the postal history and postmarks of Albany, it is highly likely you will have to be satisfied with a generic attribution such as "similar to author's #xxx" and move on to the next item.

Perhaps you, hac5x3, can add New York or N.Y. to your title.

Last I check there were 13 or so post offices with the word "ALBANY" and 21 geographic areas called Albany plus New Albany and Albany Park. One of which I spent some number over 50 years living in while being the third generation of the family to do so. That may not be here nor there but, one of the entities in my Albany has likely contributed more to humanity's betterment and progress than the one in New York, if not all the other areas called Albany in the USA combined. The entity was envisioned officially in 1849 and came into being officially in 1868.

Edit: I like the flower idea from your cover, not so much for the PSE example.

Thank you for the replies. As always, I greatly appreciate the knowledge and insights.