re: favor cancels, CTOs, handbacks, and more

Possible reasons:

1. A collector wanted a "used" copy for his/her collection and asked a postal clerk to cancel it. Such cancellations are known as "favor cancels". I once ordered a used set of the U.S. Columbian stamps, issued in 1992 I believe. When they came, they were all favor-cancelled and had full gum. The ad I had answered certainly implied that they were postally used, so I was more than little irritated to see that they weren't what I expected. The dealer refused to let me return them because they were "used stamps, as advertised."

2. You don't mention what type of cancellation. All pre-cancelled stamps were cancelled before they were used, so "mint" pre-cancelled stamps -- i.e. gummed but cancelled stamps -- can exist. They would be valued as used stamps.

Bob

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re: favor cancels, CTOs, handbacks, and more

Thanks Bob!
The stamps are much older then that. Would they be "favor cancels"?

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re: favor cancels, CTOs, handbacks, and more

CTOs indicate that the stamps were cancelled for resale to dealers at a deep discount over face;

favor cancels are stamps, purchased at full price, that are then cancelled, either on cover or off, and returned to the purchaser (or holder) without seeing postal duty.

As you can see, the difference is in intent and process. The result is similar: a cancelled stamp that never saw postal duty.

In a way, most FDCs could be considered FCs in that the majority have not seen postal duty.

I have seen Czechoslovakia stamps on paper cancelled with FD cancels; i'm not sure if these were products of the governmental postal office (probably) or a dealer. In either case, I believe that unsold FDCs became on-piece CTOs, which then found their way to stamp packets and mixtures.

More than you asked, but couldn't stop once I started...

David

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