Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

KILLER CANCELS

The other topic has some great images - but what about those totally ruined by stupid or over enthusiastic postal clerks!!

Have look at these beauties:



And even one I lifted from your site Glen (hope this isn't a copyright infringement"!!!!)


Why not add some more examples to this thread

Lakatoi 4

Nice thread Lakatoi,

Remember seeing the one that Glen got so mad about - at least he got a replacement I think. I have some killer ones that I need to scan.

Great thread!

Andrew,

Is that the "Medallions" or "Epaullettes" issue of Belgium??

Hard to tell because of that KILLER CANCEL

Lakatoi 4

Lakatoi 4,

Am not too sure myself. Have come across a lot of the Malaysian stamps which have been badly cancelled and these i have not kept. Will look out for some more.

For some bizarre reason, I collect Danzig with "cork cancels". These are among the best (or worst!!!).

Boy is this thread showing some ugly cancels.

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Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

Funny thing is, with Danzig, it's one of the best ways of getting postally used.

About 95% of Danzig have "Danzig" CDS frankings, and a high percentage of those are CTO (Cancelled to Order).

Either cork cancels or cancels from the out-offices (Oliva, Zoppot, etc) are the most legitimate...

Wavy Lines are Bad enough...
But done with a Felt Tip pen !!

Another felt pen cancellation. This was well prepared by Glen and neatly cancelled by Castlecrag. Until some vandal in the post office used his felt pen.

Wait till Glen sees this!!!!

I understand that Glen went to great lengths to ensure nice cancels on these so perhaps I should delete you post before I put him through this sort of pain!!

But then again, he might need to take this up with Castlecrag P.O. or further with Aust. Post!!

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Tony

Russian roulette - Malaysian style?

That vandalism of the lovely central CDS cancel I sent last month to scrute infuriates me.

It left me in PERFECT Superb used. I use those massive $5 stamps all the time.

If anyone gets similar things in their post, mail it to Philatelic with a note they will mail you a lot more than $5 in recent FU decimals - please mention me by name as Noel knows I hate to see such things!

He also hates it .. Philatelic heads send memos to postal staff ORDERING them not to deface any un-cancelled obvious philatelic frankings.

Address to

Noel Leahy
Manager, Philatelic Group
Australia Post
GPO Box 1777
Melbourne. 3001.

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Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

With 8 mutilated birds, one slightly crushed pineapple and some pounded pepper, perhaps we can still cook up some kind of a dish, with the mangosteens for decoration.


Anyone for pineapple bird soup/stew, delightfully decorated with 3 purple mangosteens?

I'll happily take this one off your hands if you don't want it!

Greg

Greg,

Sadly these particular covers aren't mine. If you right click on the image of that Canada cover then click "properties", you can see the link I got it from.

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Tony

Here is another example of APO brutality.The stamp was hand cancelled in QLD as per the request of the sender but look what happens when it crossed the border. Pure vandalism

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Mike
ANTE HONOREM EST HUMILITAS

Here is one just recieved in todays mail a beautiful black cross cancel.

Thankfully it was only a $4 stamp

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Mike
ANTE HONOREM EST HUMILITAS

Glen is going to have a coniption when he sees that.

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Always looking for KGV British Commonwealth, mint, used, covers, anything

I think some one should invite Noel to participate on this board!


Peter

Myself think it is being done on purpose as the APO knows we collectors/dealers will try & resell them for more than the face value (I wish).

Funny it is always when the item goes through the Prestons DC depot that I have this problem.

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Mike
ANTE HONOREM EST HUMILITAS

Hi Peter, great to meet with you the other day. That now makes three new friends met through this stamp board.

Now, re-Noel Leahy, here is his reply to my contact with him last July regarding pen obliterations etc.

Following, with permission, is the reply I received to my letter addressed to [Noel Leahy - Group Manager Philatelic -Australia Post] as reported in last month's newsletter following complaints of mutilation of stamps and other poor philatelic experiences with Australia Post.

"Firstly I would like to thank you for the opportunity to respond to your article which appeared on page two of the Campbelltown Philatelic News alongside your concerns raised in your letter of 4th July. You spoke in the Campbelltown Philatelic news article of Australia Post 'mutilating' stamps sent through the mailstream.

Australia post understands your point of view. However, we would ask you to understand australia post must concentrate its energies on its primary and fundamental task - to deliver letters as efficiently and as economically as possible.

As you may be aware, through the introduction of operational efficiencies, Australia Post has been able to maintain a low price of a standard letter at 45¢ through most of the 90's and more recently at 50¢.

Through this time we have also improved delivery performance. As you would appreciate there is a requirement for all stamps to be cancelled, so that they may not be reused. It has been Australia Post's policy for Many years to allow cancellation by pen, as an alternative to cancellation with a postmarker.

Pen is to be used when postmark cancellation had not been applied effectively, or when it would be quicker than cancellation with a postmarker. Cancellation by pen is a valid cancellation and most often is applied at delivery time when it is noticed that the stamps have not been cancelled.

The vast majority of mail users are primarily concerned with the cost and service of the postal system, and are not concerned with postmarking formats. Stamp collectors are, of course, vitally interested, and whilst the vast majority of stamp cancellation is via postmarks (hand and machine applied), unfortunately it is not practical to identify whether a letter has been sent by or intended for a stamp collector and to subsequently give it special treatment.

As a consequence some will have pen cancellations. Regarding the query raised in your letter, I can confirm that we did include a special product in the Annual Collection 2005. I take on board that this would not be able to be purchased outside of the collection, but can say the stamps used in this sheet were available outside of the collection, just not in the same sheetlet configuration.

We certainly felt that this product added value to the Annual Collection and gave our loyal customers an additional benefit when purchasing the collection. I have also noted that you are looking for some material to promote philately to juniors attending the Fisher's Ghost Stamp Fair in November 2006. We would be happy to provide you with some product for sample bags and will contact you shortly to arrange.

Mr Roberts, I hope that I have addressed your concerns but invite you to contact me if you would like further clarification on any of the above issues."

My response via our newsletter.

While I appreciate Mr Leahy's overall statement I still believe that he is not in tune with us stamp collectors viz "!!!

"but can say the stamps used in this sheet were available outside of the collection, just not in the same sheetlet configuration"!!!!

Best of luck Mike et all - I couldn't get a sympathetic response from Mr Leahy yet AP still chooses to milk the philatelic cow!!

Brian

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Start the day with a smile - its infectious

Yes Brian, I had a good time, meeting with the "Inspector of the Poor" and Mike.

Below a example from the AP which still send's my heart beat thru my dentures!

My daughter had the cover "hand cancelled" at TOUKLEY Post Office, to make sure her Dad is getting something special for his collection!

How about that?

Peter

Makes you want to scream, doesn't it? If Noel's reply is accurate, pen cancels can be used if it is noticed that the stamps aren't cancelled. How would he explain this? I don't suppose "most of our employees are morons" would fit the corporate view?

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Always looking for KGV British Commonwealth, mint, used, covers, anything

Aust PO employees?? these days a PO is just another business like a milkbar...(who remembers these?).

I bought a brilliant item from Glen Stephens, and received it with the large 'Roo $5.00 stamp beautifully postmarked 'Castlecrag' etc.

And murdered by an indelible ink slash...response from local PO (?) 'we are under pressure here and it didn't look right'

Maybe some time in the future when there are no POs and everything is machine-cancelled these may be collectable?

Meanwhile, this is a depressing thread!

As a letter carrier myself, I find it odd that some of thoese cancelled stamps got a round with the pen anyway!

A product in Denmark, for stamp collectors only - a 5 piece sticker leaflet... "Please cancel for collecting use" - leaflet goes on the letter and delivered at the postoffice (not throwen into the mailbox as some do and complain about it...) where they will use a hand cancel and pass the letter on.

To avoide the machine cancels.

but there are postmen/women who really don't care much about that, becours they are running their feet off at work!

I'm using the pen myself to cancel ca $us100 everyday at work, stamps that the machine didn't catch as there really isn't time to gather all thoese "special" letters and let the lady at the office have a go at em.

Kloster

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Start the day with a smile - its infectious

The larger covers I get are not cancelled properly with many of the multiples remaining uncancelled.

This is a bit of a bonus because most of the auction catalogue covers use earlyish decimal stamps.

Here is my personal favourite (if you can have a favourite killer cancel). Some thoughtful ebayer used it when mailing a lot to me - I am always grateful to got mini sheets cos I quite like them.

This was released to commerate the new £3 stamp and to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the year of 3 kings (and possibly to squeeze a bit more money out of people like me who have a standing order for mini sheets!). Some idiot hand stamped all of the kings...

At least the cancels are light and neat.

I personally think it looks BRILLIANT.

Maybe you can put it in your collection alongside your Maltese Crosses and Penny Blacks

Brian

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Start the day with a smile - its infectious

Not a Killer Cancel but to my mind just as bad. A Killer Rip Off

This was a very nice cover before some idiot got to it:



I have seen the original cover type around but don't have one. Can someone who has one post it up for all to see what it should have looked like

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Tony

Hi All

Regarding the Port Carling cover, I too would gladly take that off of your hands

It is the BHJ marking and these are the initials of the first Postmaster of the Port Carling office, Benjamin Hardcastle Johnson.

These covers are not seen too often, I can assure you

The town of Port Carling is located only 14 miles west of me.

Happy collecting

Muskokan

If it is full of holes, keep it, it might be a perfin.[/b]

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Hello

I have been collecting for a number of years now and I am downsizing my collection to just a few countries and specialties.

Some postmarks here!

Neat usage, but no one will call it pretty:

Erich,

Nice cover to me and with 17 stamps with fairly neat cancellations, even though they are not crystal clear.

Cheers
Andrew

Muskokan,

As per my reply to Greg in the original post above, this cover isn't mine (I wish it was though). Right click on the image, then click the properties section which will then give you the link to the website I got it from. I thought it was a perfect "killer cancel" image immediately I saw it on that web site.

Just when you expect the worst, I received a parcel from a board member in the UK today. Beautifully plastered with a Harry Potter strip, an Ashes minisheet, set of 4 NHS and some machins.

Not a postmark or scribble in sight. Completely untouched. I think I'll take it to my local PO and demand to know why they weren't postmarked! He's an accomodating fellow, he might just nick each one with the rim of a CDS for me so they're VFU instead of that dreaded (by me at least) "unused".

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Always looking for KGV British Commonwealth, mint, used, covers, anything

Here's a killer from Victoria (similar type's exist from Tasmania):

I have just received a parcel from Hong Kong having purchased some Beijing Olympic issues on ebay.

The vendor was great attaching many attractive stamps - just so Australia Post could exercise their callous nature yet again.

Have a look at the pic and see why my Noel Leahy voodoo doll no longer has any more room for pins :evil:

NOT HAPPY JAN





Brian

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Start the day with a smile - its infectious

Morons. Absolute f#%(at)*+g morons. I'd love to see the application form for employment at Australia Post. Where do they get these cretins???

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Always looking for KGV British Commonwealth, mint, used, covers, anything

These didn't make into my album for some reason



And thats a joined pair of 1shilling roo's

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If you can't fix it with a Hammer, you have an Electrical problem.

Where do you suggest they place the sticker, over the name so it can't be delivered !!!!
The sender should have allowed more space, considering it is registered.
Maybe a few less higher value stamps would have been the answer. A nice block of 4 x $5 plus 1 x $10.

Of course! It's the senders fault! Perhaps the label could be smaller, or the AP moron could have aimed for the bottom left, or, as it has to be signed for, the back of the envelope. Oh, wait, that's probably against some AP rule as well.

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Always looking for KGV British Commonwealth, mint, used, covers, anything

This response almost suggests that you support Australia Post - I am surprised!

Sherro's comments would echo the feelings of most board members that since these labels and in other cases pen marks are added by hand (and not machine) that more care could be taken with mail obviously intended for stamp collectors.

Brian

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Start the day with a smile - its infectious

That sure looks like R.I.P. cancelled on the single 1/- roo

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Tony

It is Tony,

May they all rest in peace, cause they are not resting in my album.

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If you can't fix it with a Hammer, you have an Electrical problem.

It's registered, ergo a signature is required - isn't it?

So why do they need a bloody great sticker to say what the reg sticker has already said?

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John

Looking for used pre-decimal OS/NSW and G/NSW state perfins, and NWPI KGV overprints.

I support private enterprise. That is "I expect business to provide a speedy and efficient service". Australia Post is not a company operated for stamp collectors. If it was it would have been closed down long ago.

I was just making the case that "fewer stamps" would avoid the problem.

Also high value stamps are traditionally worth more used after a few years than a dozen low value ones.

From a Postal History point of view that cover is worthless, however if it has 2 x $10, 1 x $5, 1 x $2.50 and a 1 x$1.20 making up the correct rate then I would have bought it and paid good price too.