Stamps 'n Things

By Cathy Spalding ©
www.gentlespiritllamas.com
www.gentlespiritalpacas.com

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Cancellations

Amazingly, cancellations are a popular collectible. They are the marks put on stamps by the postal service as the stamped item begins its way through the system. Stamps are cancelled to show that they have performed service and to prevent their reuse. Markings on the stamp made with a pen are termed a "pen cancel." Often the town location of the post office which cancelled the stamp is in the cancel marking. This is termed a "town cancel." Though the term "postmark" technically refers to any postal marking, it is generally thought of in terms of a town cancel with the date included. Today, many stamp cancellations around the world call attention to a cause or celebration. This is termed a "slogan cancel." The cancellations shown here are in celebration of alpacas and llamas.

Llama Cancel

Alpaca Cancel

Llama Cancel

Llama Cancel

Alpaca Cancel

The Envelope

Envelopes are another very popular collectible item. In the Philatelic community, envelopes are normally referred to as "covers." Before the introduction of actual envelopes around 1840, letters were folded with the name and address written on the outside. Often, folks would wrap an extra piece of paper around their letter. This extra piece became the place to write the name and address of the recipient. The added piece of paper was termed a "cover" and is the term used for envelopes today.

There are a number of areas covered under the collection of covers with the three foremost being the interesting and/unusual mail sent through the postal system in the form of letters. Examples could be a envelope/letter to someone that was aboard the Hindenburg when it crashed. It could be a stamp less cover mailed from Boston in the 1700's, an envelope bearing the stamps of a particular theme or perhaps a cover that bears censured markings from WWII.

One of my favorite regular mail envelopes

There is the "First Day Cover" (FDC) which is an envelope that bears a stamp that was cancelled on the same day the stamp was initially offered for sale by the postal service of the U.S., another country or the United Nations. FDC's are often a cachet.

Alpaca First Day Cover from Cocos Island, Austrailia

The "cachet" is an envelope with a design on it. The design can be printed, stamped, drawn or painted. The cachet must all the bear the "First Day of Issue" cancel.

Cachet, llamas from Peru

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