A BNAPS Tutorial for New Collectors - Part 2

PERFORATIONS

Although very early issues of stamps did not have perforations, and are called "imperforate", having to cut them from the sheet was tedious. Perforation machines evolved that punched holes vertically and horizontally in the sheets, enabling the stamps to be more easily torn from the sheet.

Even after they began perforating stamps, some issues were also available in imperforate format, so you can collect examples of each.

Note that the two perforated stamps have different perf characteristics. The left stamp is perf #12 (see below about perf sizing) on all sides, while the other has fewer perfs on the vertical sides and is perf #8 vertically. Also note that the imperforate stamps are shown as a pair, to prove that someone did not just clip off the perfs to create a more valuable stamp.

Stamps that were clipped too close when cut from an imperforate sheet are less valuable than the ones that still show lots of space around the outside of the stamp. When you have a chance, look at the "Condition" section of this website.

Perforations come in different sizes, depending on the size of the holes punched. The larger the holes, the fewer perfs show up on the side of the stamps. In early days, stamps were often issued in different perf sizes, so your collection might need to have examples of all the sizes issued. Stamp collectors use a "perforation gauge" to tell the difference. They have rows of dots spaced just right for each size perf. You place the stamp on it and find which row lines up with the perfs on your stamp - then read the number.

You will see that perf #10 has larger dots than does perf #14. The smaller the number, the larger the dots and the fewer the perfs per inch on your stamp. You line up the perfs in your stamp with the marks between the holes (dots). In the example, the stamp seems to be perf 10 1/2.

Just to make this even more interesting, the perf size along the sides of the stamp were often different from the perf size along the top and bottom.

POSTMARKS

Stamps often are marked, or "cancelled", by the post office to show that the stamp has been used, and to prevent people from using them again. A long time ago, the mark might have been made by running a pen over the stamp.

Most often, post offices used a kind of hammer wet with ink to hit the stamp, leaving a record of where and when the stamp was used.

(click on the image to make larger)

You might like to collect stamps that have interesting cancellations on them. Most contain the name of the place where the stamp was used, and the date. This presents endless collecting possibilities relating to locations and dates. One twist is that you might limit yourself to just the cancels on stamps, or you might extend your collection to include either "stamps on piece" (you cut out the part of the envelope that shows all of the cancellation) or even entire envelopes (sometimes called "covers").

An intriguing collection would be one that contains cancellations for every town and city in your province or state, including towns that no longer exist. In Canada, there are largish cities whose names have changed, such as Berlin, Fort William and Port Arthur; all in Ontario. Cancels showing those names have some historic importance.

Before Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were formed, cancellations from some locations might show "ASSA" (for Assiniboia), or "NWT" (Northwest Territories), depending on where in the old territorial boundaries they were located. Old stamps used in Quebec before Confederation show L.C. (Lower Canada) and if used in Ontario they show U.C. (Upper Canada).

Even the styles of postmarks are interesting. At one time, postal clerks used two devices: one to "cancel" the stamp (killer), and one to show information about the post office and date (dater). Some older killers were made from "corks", others were shaped as 2 or more concentric circles, and some were intricate designs of horizontal or vertical lines.

The work of striking an envelope twice was reduced by the use of "duplex" hammers that combined a dater and a killer. The "squared circle" postmark was another characteristic style used in several countries and is collected avidly by some. If you become interested in any of these, you will find that decades of collectors have generated lists and catalogues to guide you. Some Examples.

One of the very interesting historical cancel types are those that were used on trains. When trains carried their own mail cars, mail was marked to show the "run" (e.g. between Montreal and Toronto), the date, and usually either the train direction or the train number. Also, most hammers were assigned a number (A,B,C, etc. or 1,2,3, etc.) and a few RPO (Railway Post Offices) postmarks include the name of the postal clerk. Have another look at the stamp used to demonstrate the perforation gauge. This stamp was cancelled aboard a postal car on Train #8 of the Sydney & Truro railway run.

ENVELOPES (covers)

We mentioned that some collectors save the envelopes that have stamps on them, and they usually call them "covers". This can be very interesting, because the covers sometimes show information about the actual events that took place between mailing and receiving the envelope. The cover in this picture was an Air Mail letter sent to Canada from Australia. We removed the address on this example.

Most covers that people collect still have the stamps on them, but not all. Before stamps were invented, people sent letters in what you might call "stamp-less" covers. How did the Post Office know that you paid the money they needed to operate the Post Office? Usually, someone at the Post Office just wrote down the amount that you paid. For example, before they had stamps in Canada, and when Canadians used British money, it might have cost 3 pence to send a letter somewhere. You paid the 3 pence and the person at the post office wrote a big "3" in the top right corner.

Often, the Post Office will issue special envelopes on the first day of issue of a stamp, showing information about the stamp. These are called "First Day Covers", and are collected by many people. This cover was issued to celebrate a project that successfully raises Peregrine Falcons at a military base in Alberta. These birds have been threatened by chemicals that weaken their eggs. The Canadian Wildlife Service raises them in a protected area, then releases them to live natural lives. This First Day Cover was issued at the base in Wainwright, Alberta.

See another example .

Many of the examples you have seen have obviously been "set up" - that is, they are covers that were intentionally mailed to capture some particular postmark. These are often called "philatelic", to distinguish them from normal mailings that just happened to be cancelled that way. Some collectors avoid "philatelic" material, as they prefer to collect actual usages of stamps and cancels.

The tutorial continues.

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