A cancelled to order (CTO) postage stamp A postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery. Postage stamps are the most popular way of paying for retail mail; alternatives include prepaid-postage envelopes and postage meters. The is a stamp the issuing postal service has canceled A cancellation is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or postal stationery to deface the stamp and prevent its re-use. Cancellations come in a huge variety of designs, shapes, sizes and colors. Modern United States cancellations commonly include the date and post office location where the stamps were mailed, in addition to lines or bars (marked as used) before selling it to a stamp collector Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects, such as covers . It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with estimates of the number of collectors ranging up to 20 million in the United States alone or dealer. Postal services of various countries do this in response to collector demand, or to preclude stamps issued for the collector market being used on mail.
While some collectors value mint postage stamps, others prefer to collect stamps that have been used. In practice, it is slow and difficult to build a comprehensive collection by removing stamps from mailed envelopes, so modern postal administrations accommodate collectors by offering new stamps already canceled. The advantage for collectors is that the stamps count as officially used without being subjected to the stress of actually going through the mail. Also, the postal service can arrange a relatively light and unobtrusive cancellation mark.
Collectors work with postal clerks to practice another, more informal form of cancellation to order. In this "favor cancellation," or "hand-back," a collector gives the stamped envelope to a clerk, who cancels the stamp and hands the envelope back to the collector. Some countries' postal regulations permit this and others forbid it. It is misleading because the canceled envelope appears to have gone through the mails though it has not. For instance, it is missing additional postal markings typically applied to real mail.
A shadier practice related to CTO involves deliberate misuse of cancellation devices to make a stamp appear used. This typically happens for stamps from remote places, or that were in use for only short periods. Used stamps are generally more valuable than unused, sometimes by an order of magnitude. This form of philatelic forgery may involve use of rare types of canceling devices, unusual dates in postmarks A postmark is a postal marking made on a letter, package, postcard or the like indicating the date and time that the item was delivered into the care of the postal service. Modern postmarks are often applied simultaneously with the cancellation or "killer" that marks the postage stamp as having been used (though in some circumstances, and so forth.
Another form of CTO is especially common in countries that try to make money from collectors by issuing large numbers of decorative stamps. To make more sales, the stamps must be inexpensive, but if the issuing postal service prices them below face value Face value is the value of a coin, stamp or paper money, as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the minting authority. While the face value usually refers to the true value of the coin, stamp or bill in question it can sometimes be largely symbolic, as is often the case with bullion coins. For example, a one troy ounce (31 g) American, commercial mailers could use them to save money by routing their mail through the issuing country, financial hurting the issuer. So, these countries issue most of their collector stamps as CTOs. It is easy to recognize such stamps. The cancellation is neat, usually in one corner without a town name, and the gum is still present.
Some countries, such as the emirates Etymologically emirate or amirate is the quality, dignity, office or territorial competence of any emir (prince, governor etc.) that later joined the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The UAE consists of seven states, termed, went further and printed the cancellation directly onto the stamp with the rest of the design. Many collectors do not consider these authentic stamps, and some catalog categorize them separately.
Categories: Postal markings | Philatelic terminology
unknown
2007-03-31 05:54:00
CTO (. Cancelled To Order. ): Terme anglais utilise pour parler de timbres que des pays vendent directement aux marchands sans avoir servi pour la poste. Ces timbres ont une obliteration artificielle et ont ordinairement encore leur colle. . ...
