Around here, it's about the cancel, not the stamp...

INTRODUCTION

What is this site about? I've been a stamp collector off and on since the early 1970s. As a child I collected worldwide material up to 1940. My collecting went on hiatus for a few decades until I picked it up again about 10 years ago, at which point I decided to focus on Civil War-era U.S. revenue stamps (you can see my collection at www.revenue-collector.com). As with most things, I'm getting a little burnt out on that for the moment, so I'm spending some time on a little diversion.

As a revenue stamp collector, my specialization has been socked-on-the-nose handstamped and printed cancels, which has taught me a greater appreciation for a well-placed, crisp strike dead-center on a stamp. So I've decided to go back through all the albums and boxes and stockbooks and leftover remnants that I accumulated in my younger years, searching for nice SOTN cancels.

The nice thing about this particular collecting pursuit is that you don't have to go broke doing it. With a bit of patience you can find wonderful examples in lots, mixtures, junk boxes, for well less than a buck each.

What can be found here? This site is going to be a photo gallery of nice handstamp cancels that I find. Because of my love of classic material, you won't find many modern stamps here. I've always had an affinity for early engraved designs. They just have so much more character than modern material...

My focus is on aesthetics of the cancel rather than necessarily the rarity of the cancel or stamp.

Enjoy! -Dan