1954 DDR Mi:dd44igXII

I found among my stamps from Germany a specimen that I have identified through stampworld as DDR 1954 Mi:DD 441IgXII...I don't trust too much in stampworld's high values, but I would like to know why a used stamp is more valuable than a new... My stamp unfortunately has an ugly cut at the top, even so I am very happy with the find.

Yes, some used stamps are more expensive than mint ones. This stamp however looks like a CTO to me. Also, since it is cut on top it lost its value.


Peter

CTO is fake? Why would someone make a fake of a damaged stamp? This stamp cut like this has so little value that a CTO would not fix it.

Murasama,
May I suggest a chronology of the cancel applied, then it was damaged by trimming along the top.
(I have no opinion on the cancel, whether CTO or postal.)

These issues exist as CTOs where the cancel was printed on at the printers.

How can I check if it is CTO?

Most stamps you will find in this issue were CTO - if the "postmark" is not pre-printed, the neat corner cancellations are one sign.

Preprinted like the 50 and X? The same ink and pressure on the paper?

Hi Murasama,

As others explained, here an example of new stamp vs two CTO's. They are different stamp having same CTO marking.

Michel gives quotation for CTO in the DDR area.

Hornet

How can I check if it is CTO?

Here are some examples. These are Official stamps but the same era. You can go deep into the weeds collecting the 5-Year set if you are so inclined. Its is a complex area.

Thanks to you for yours answers!!If I understood correctly, CTO is a series of stamps sealed in the same or very similar way, deliberately made for profit.
I could only find these images on the web to compare, among them there are two that do seem to have a similarity to each other.
As for the sealing position in the corners, well, I don't know, many of my stamps are canceled in the corner and they don't have a CTO spirit.

These are another of my stamps from the German collection... Should I assume that the top two stamps above are not CTO and the other two below are CTO?



or this other, not CTO..think

The Cancellled to Order stamps of some countries still have full original gum. I have just had a look at the very first stamps I ever bought back in the late 1960s, they are East German (DDR) Cto's and they all have original gum. Even more of a give away than the cancel, unless someone has regummed them!