Postal 20th Anniversary Collector 39;s Edition

[Tammara Freimark]

TheSeychelles Postal Services (SPS) and the Island Conservation Society (ICS) have joined in partnership to issue a new commemorative postal cover on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the foundation of ICS.

An overprint is an additional layer of text added to the face of an existing postage stamp. Historically, post offices throughout the world have used overprints for a variety of purposes. These include to make changes the face values when prices change, impose surcharges, raise additional tax in times of war or for the establishment of postal services in countries or territories before they had produced their own stamps. For example, the first stamps issued by British Indian Ocean Territory in use from January 1968 were actually Seychelles stamps overprinted B.I.O.T.

The first post office in Seychelles opened for business in Victoria on December 11, 1861, using stamps of Mauritius cancelled B64 until April 1890, when Seychelles began to issue its own stamps even before separation from Mauritius in 1903. Face values were in British currency until 1878, when overprints were produced to change values from UK pence to Seychelles cents. Overprints for changes in value were frequently used in the early decades of Seychelles postal history.

The first commemorative overprint issue in Seychelles came in 1967, a set of four stamps overprinted UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE 1967. Others followed including ROYAL VISIT 1972 on the occasion of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, and VISIT OF Q.E. II to mark the call at Port Victoria of the famous cruise ship of the same name. Later Royal events and political landmarks were also commemorated with overprints. In 1986, a one-rupee stamp featuring a Madagascar Fody was overprinted LAZOURNEN ENTERNASYONAL KREOL, to commemorate International Creole Day.

A cancellation (or cancel for short; French: oblitration) is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or postal stationery to deface the stamp and to prevent its reuse. Cancellations come in a huge variety of designs, shapes, sizes, and colors. Modern cancellations commonly include the date and post office location where the stamps were mailed, in addition to lines or bars designed to cover the stamp itself. The term "postmark" refers specifically to the part that contains the date and posting location, but the term is often used interchangeably with "cancellation" as it may serve that purpose.[1] The portion of a cancellation that is designed to deface the stamp and does not contain writing is also called the "obliteration"[2] or killer. Some stamps are issued pre-cancelled with a printed or stamped cancellation and do not need to have a cancellation added. Cancellations can affect the value of stamps to collectors, positively or negatively. Cancellations of some countries have been extensively studied by philatelists, and many stamp collectors and postal history collectors collect cancellations in addition to the stamps themselves.

The first adhesive postage stamp was the Penny Black, issued in 1840 by Great Britain. The postal authorities recognized there must be a method for preventing reuse of the stamps and simultaneously issued handstamps for use to apply cancellations to the stamps on the envelopes as they passed through the postal system.[3] The cancels were handmade and depicted a Maltese cross design. Initially, the ink used was red, but it was found that this could be cleaned off and the stamps reused, and so after a series of experiments, early in 1841 black cancelling ink was used, which was more permanent. The color of the stamps was also changed to red-brown so as to ensure that the cancellation showed clearly.[3]

Britain soon abandoned the Maltese crosses and in 1844 began to employ cancellations displaying numbers which referred to the location of mailing.[4] A similar scheme was used for British stamps used abroad in its colonies and foreign postal services, with locations being assigned a specific letter followed by a number, such as A01 used in Kingston, Jamaica, or D22 for Venezuela.[5]

Early cancellations were all applied by hand, commonly using hand stamps. Where hand stamps were not available, stamps often were cancelled by marking over the stamp with pen, such as writing an "x". Pen cancellations were used in the United States into the 1880s,[6] and in a sense continue to this day, when a postal clerk notices a stamp has escaped cancellation and marks it with a ball point pen or marker.

In the early period of the issuance of postage stamps in the United States a number of patents were issued for cancelling devices or machines that increased (or were purported to increase) the difficulty of washing off and reusing postage stamps. These methods generally involved the scraping or cutting-away of part of the stamp, or perhaps punching a hole through its middle. (These forms of cancellation must be distinguished from perfins, a series of small holes punched in stamps, typically by private companies as an anti-theft device.)

Today, cancellations may either be applied by hand or machine. Hand cancellation is often used when sending unusually shaped mail or formal mail (e.g., wedding invitations) to avoid damage caused by machine cancellation.

The United States Postal Service distinguishes between special cancellations which have a caption publicizing an event,[13] and pictorial cancellations, which contain an image of some sort.[14] Special cancellations are essentially a type of slogan cancellations. The USPS Building Bridges Special Postal Cancellation Series, a unique series that began in 1996,[15] combines both a pictorial drawing and an event slogan in what USPS refers to as a cancellation series, even though it also contains a pictorial element.[16]

Canada Post uses automated cancellations with computer-printed messaging. In this way, the corporation can automatically print promotional messages on each envelope while simultaneously cancelling the piece of mail. Messages change throughout the year, and include seasonal messages ("Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel") and promotional messages (such as Canada Post's web address).

Other post offices such as the Isle of Man Philatelic Bureau also create special pictorial cancellations as they did in 1985 to mark the anniversary of the aircraft Douglas DC-3. A special handstamp was created [19] depicting a Dakota flying "free" and not "boxed in".[20]

Generalist stamp collectors usually prefer lightly cancelled stamps which have the postmark on a corner or small portion of the stamp without obscuring the stamp itself, which ordinarily are more valuable than heavily cancelled stamps.[21] In order to get the postal clerk to cancel the stamps lightly, collectors may rubber-stamp or write "philatelic mail" on the envelope.

Cancellations may significantly affect the value of the stamps. Many stamps are rarer, and consequently much more expensive, in unused condition, such as the Penny Black, which in 1999, catalogued for $1,900 mint and $110 used.[22] The reverse is true for some stamps, such as the hyperinflation stamps of Germany, which may be worth many times more if genuinely postally used.[23] Where stamps are much more valuable in used condition than unused, it may be advisable to have such stamps expertised to confirm that the cancellation is genuine and contemporary.[23]

Some stamp collectors are interested in the cancellations themselves, on or off cover, of a particular country or issue, or collect a specific type of cancellation, such as fancy cancels. Birth date cancels are also collected.[24] There have been many published studies of the cancellations of many countries, some of which are listed below. Collectors who are interested in the cancellations themselves prefer bold, readable cancellations. Cancellations also are an integral part of the collection of postal history.

Historically, collectors disliked pen cancels and removed many of them, making the stamp appear unused or to add a fake cancellation.[6] Today, early United States pen cancelled stamps still are worth considerably less than examples with hand stamped cancels.[25]

Collectors generally view modern cancelled-to-order stamps or CTOs as philatelic junk, and they rarely have any significant value.[26] Stamp catalogs commonly state whether their values for used stamps are for CTOs or for postally used examples. For example, the Scott Catalog used value listings for the German Democratic Republic are for CTOs from 1950 through mid-1990, over 2700 stamps.[27]

Forgers have not only manufactured stamps for the philatelic market but also added forged cancellations to those stamps. This was especially common in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, when huge numbers of inexpensive stamps were forged for the packet trade.[28]

Forged cancellations have also been applied to genuine stamps if the stamps are worth much more postally used. In addition, if rare cancellations are desired by collectors, those cancellations have also been forged.

Cancellations may also be used to prove that certain philatelic items are genuine. For example, forgers have fabricated many supposedly-valuable postal covers by adding genuine stamps and forged postal markings to pre-stamp covers.[29] A cover can be shown to be genuine if a genuine cancellation "ties" the stamp or stamps to the cover or, in other words, if a genuine cancellation runs continuously over the stamp and adjacent portion of the envelope. However, one still may need to rule out the possibility that the cancellation was added later. Similarly, stamps that were cut in parts and used for a portion of the full value as splits can be shown to have been so used only if a genuine cancel ties the stamp to the cover or piece of cover.

The JCAM is in the printing process. A copy will be sent to each office where city letter carriers are employed. Additional copies will be made available for purchase from the NALC store after printing is complete.

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