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Most philatelists prefer mint stamps, especially mint never hinged (MNH). I personally prefer cancelled stamps because the delicate issue of the gum is out of the way. Still, I have many mint stamps and I keep both a mint and a used stamp or set when I do have both.
With old stamps the gum tends to become dark yellow and crack &/or cause the stamp to roll, so this is an issue. Also, humidity may cause them to stick to the page if you keep them in a album of some sort.
There are cases where used stamps are more valuable than mint ones, for example many of the early Papal States stamps. I have some which are “used” but I suspect the cancellations are fake. In many/most cases it's not easy to differentiate between authentic and fake cancellations, and I'm no expert in this. In North America, the most obvious cases of early stamps that are more valuable used than mint are from Prince Edward Island before it joined Canada in 1873.
Sometimes, you regret that a stamp wasn't cancelled if the cover (i.e. the stamped and mailed envelope) has a special interest that goes beyond the stamps on their own. In my case, several years ago I received this:
In the 1949 agreement for Newfoundland to join Canada, their coins became legal tender in Canada and their stamps as well. It's unfortunate that this package wasn't cancelled in the city where it was sent from (Aurora, Ontario). I kept it as is anyway and wrote the relevant info on the back (date received, etc.).
It happens quite regularly in Canada as well that stamps are not cancelled. One thing philatelists don't like is when the stamps are hand cancelled with a pen or marker. Ideally, they should be cancelled neatly with the post office and date clear. A cancellation on the edge is also appreciated if you prefer to see the entire design of the stamp.
By the way, one should beware of CTOs, i.e. of stamps that were lightly “cancelled to order”. This is in philately the equivalent on NC in coin collecting. Many poor and other countries (e.g. the Arab Emirates) used to produce tens of 1000s of sheets of stamps just to cancel them and sell them to stamps dealers, who would then sell individual stamps or blocks of four to collectors. So you have a plethora of African countries that produced JFK stamps or Apollo 11 stamps just to make a profit by appealing to a certain category of American and other thematic collectors.
The market has tanked in the last 30 years, so I suspect many less countries produce this kind of worthless stuff than they used to in the 70s and 80s. The worst offender back then was Tonga — they were to stamp collecting what Niue is now to coin collecting, though of course ugly meaningless stamps are much less expensive than the Niue deluxe trash…
These are from my last two swaps. Really beautiful. I especially like the astronaut.
Make sure that you cut well away from the perforations. Some of these stamps go back several decades.
My oldest stamps on an envelope were a 1928 2c stamp and three 1934 3c:
They're poorly centered so they were worth very little even mint. The seller obviously didn't think it was worthwhile to hold on to them and spend any time trying to sell them above face value.
Camerinvs
Most philatelists prefer mint stamps, especially mint never hinged (MNH).
pennyless
That is a truth with modifications, since it has changed much over time. Also, there are philatelists and there are stamp collectors.
That's why I used the present tense. I have myself a number of German covers from the 1920s–1930s which were obviously sent with the purpose of having a friend or relative receive a series of stamps, each cancelled individually as they were intentionally spaced on the envelope. In one case I've seen online, the sender asked the post employee to cancel neatly.
I've never heard of a distinction between philatelist and stamp collector. Between numismatist and coin collector yes. I suppose it's kind of the same idea? From my understanding, however, the study of the use of stamp is dealt with by postal historians, many of whom of course also look at letter sending from well before the invention of the postage stamp in 1840.
These are from my last two swaps. Really beautiful. I especially like the astronaut.
Although I myself am not actively collecting stamps, I keep my late father's collection and occasionally even fill the gaps in it. When I was a kid my favorite passtime was helping him detach stamps from envelopes, press them dry and sort into albums. I have learned more through this hobby than I learned later in school 🤣.
And the name stamp collectors were given? "International spit collectors".
I’ve been sucked in. It really makes swapping that much more fun when I get envelopes with stamps.
I thought in UK the Post Office had introduced their annoying rule that
these days a stamp is not valid if it does not have a barcode on it.
Yes - found this >
https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps
pennyless
Slipstreamed
Very generous of you and I certainly appreciate it. Are you sure I can't offer you some coins in return?
Quite sure. People of my age tend to get rid of things since there is too much stuff and too little space. I don't collect US stamps and have no use for them anymore. The lot gets in the mail a.s.a.p.
pennyless has apparently closed their numista account and left no return address on their amazing gift.
This post (in hopes they may read it) is in serious appreciation. The amount of beautiful stamps they sent is astounding and I'm so grateful.
I do hope to be able to return the kindness. If not to them personally, then perhaps to another future beginning stamp collector.
Thank you pennyless!
Quite unfortunate that pennyless closed his account. Indeed a very nice gift!
Early this week I received these stamps cancelled with a marker:
I didn't have the two on the right so I'll save them until I find them with real cancellations. They're from 2024 and the other (which I already had) is from 1978.
All the large envelopes with stamps I get recently are either pen cancelled or not cancelled at all.
It might be of interest that manuscript cancels have been around for a long time. In some cases can be very helpful in determining when a post office first used a CDS (circular date stamp).
In the present case, postal history collectors would have no interest. But 100 years from now, who knows?
Hand cancels were routine here for local delivery until about 15 years ago.
Alas, that's all gone by the wayside today.
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