Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

So while surfing and asking silly question on the boards, I understood the basic concept of SOTN stamps. Because of that I started putting aside from my doubles SOTN stamps so in order to swap them later since I have no interest on starting a new specific collection with SOTN cancels.

What I am wondering is, if a cancel can be seen in a stripe of 2 stamps or a block of 4, does it still count as a "SOTN"... Or better said, do the SOTN collectors collect only individual stamps with nice cancels or do they collect even stripes of 2 or blocks of 4 where the entire cancel is shown?

Another question that needs to be clarified for me is if the same stamps with different SOTN cancels (different locations, dates etc) are counted as different or are they counted as doubles even though the cancels are from different post offices/locations ?

Thank you in advance for your time and effort,
Bardhi

I put aside around 100 SOTN stamps and a few Perfins for the guys here who collect them... 3 more countries to examine (Denmark, Germany and Sweden) and then I will offer the materials for swapping.

If someone could clarify the 2 issues it would be awesome.

Thank you
B.

I'd be happy to chime in with impertinent remarks. Tell me, first, what SOTN is. "still on the nappie"; "soaked of the nappie". Tune me in! I may have some to trade with you.

My personal view regarding SOTN cancels on the same stamp issue is that it is still the cancellation which is the most important thing.

I have been trying for some time to assemble a collection of cancels on just one issue. For me, this is harder than it sounds

Regarding the block/strip issues; again, this is just my personal preference - I'll take a complete cancel on anything

edit: Socked On The Nose cancellations are those beautiful animals where the cancel is centred over the stamp(s). Preferably showing the town, date, and as much as possible of the entire strike-plate.

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FORESTS OLD, PASTURES NEW
(An expert is one who knows more and more, about less and less)

@kwesi: SOTN = Socked on the nose. I don't collect them... I just found out that people collect them, so I am searching through my doubles for SOTN stamps for the members of the boards that might have an interest in them. I just needed clarification regarding the two issues since I have some blocks/stripes where the cancel can be seen but i don't know if that counts as "socked on the nose" and I also have a few definitives, like the Italian "Syracuse coin" with the same value but with different cancels.

Thank you for your input mcgooley . I really appreciate it

Thanks
B.

Thanks for defining the acronym. Now there must be two kinds: 1) cancels smaller than the stamp and completely enclosed within the stamp or 2) big cancels that surround the stamp. You need the stationery for type 2, correct? Am I on the right track?

What I understood from earlier discussions many times if the cancel is bigger than the stamp, people are happy if the town can be understood (even if some letters are missing) and the date is printed complete. There are some other threads in the boards kwesi. Just search " SOTN " and you can see/read quite a lot .

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kwesi, you are right.

It will always be more desirable to have an entire cover (read envelope, postcard, or other stationery item) which shows the cancellation(s) - and any other instructional markings.

But because stamp collectors are more interested in the stamp, soaked stamps are the most common source of (especially old) postmarks. Hence the preference for SOTN.

Size of the stamps is also going to be an issue. Here in Australia, since 1901 the average diameter of strike-plates is between 25-30 mm. We have had larger (somewhere in my mess is a cover with a [from memory] 60 mm diameter cancellation) and, occasionally, smaller. As you can realize, a small stamp will receive the cancel, but soaked off paper it might be near impossible to work out where it came from.

Here is the thread I think Bardhi was referring to:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7056

Gee, ya gotta be quick around here

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FORESTS OLD, PASTURES NEW
(An expert is one who knows more and more, about less and less)

This is my take:

SON (Socked on the Nose, or if your prefer Bullseye), cancels need to be on the one single stamp and centred well otherwise they don't qualify.

A nice cancel going across a strip or a block of 4 is not an SON, but still of collectable value to a Postmark Collector and not an SON collector. Also of value to a collector of fine used multiples and strips.

An SON on 2 stamps with different towns, dates, etc are all collectable SON cancels. It won't even matter if it's 2 of the same town, same date cancel on 2 stamps - both will be of value to someone.

Skilo's example is a stunner both for covers, cancels and SON collectors.

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Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

Finally finished fishing for SOTN and nice cancel materials in my doubles pond... Around 240 stamps, mostly good condition, almost entirely from Europe, most of them modern (after WW2 - till the 80') with one big oddity being a Yugoslav stamp canceled in München and a pretty cool SOTN from Switzerland. I will see to get a Scanner and scan them as soon as possible.. If i can't scan them, I shall see at least to get good pictures with a friends professional camera....

Out of the entire search, I also found 10 Perfins. Found out information only for one of them (a Romanian D.V. perforation, seems to be rare)

I really hope the time spent was worth it

Will show the stuff soon on the SOTN topic...

Many thanks to all of you who helped me with my basic and silly questions

Bardhi