Stamp Cancel Marks

We were soaking off some stamps the other day and noticed that some of the stamps had large, almost defacing cancel marks on them. Obviously, their purpose is to mark the stamp as having been used. But one would think that postal service would do their best not to destroy any aesthetic value of the stamp(s).

We’re not talking about just one or two stamps either. It seems that most of the stamps from Christmas letters had this problem. I don’t mean to harp on the postal workers. Certainly, they have plenty to do without worrying about lightly canceling stamps. But with all the technology available today, it would seem that less destructive ways of canceling stamps would exist. Do we really need large black marks to prevent the possibility of someone reusing postage stamps? I’ve heard that some offices are using spray on cancels but have yet to see any in my little town.

— James the Web guy

Comments

comments