A cancellation is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or postal stationery to deface the stamp and prevent its re-use. Cancellations come in a huge variety of designs, shapes, sizes and colors. Modern cancellations commonly include the date and post office location where the stamps were mailed, in addition to lines or bars designed to cover the stamp itself. The term "postal marking" sometimes is used to refer specifically to the part that contains the date and posting location, although the term often is used interchangeably with "cancellation." The portion of a cancellation that is designed to deface the stamp and does not contain writing is also called the "obliteration" or killer. Some stamps are issued pre-cancelled with a printed or stamped cancellation and do not need to have a cancellation added. Cancellations can affect the value of stamps to collectors, positively or negatively. The cancellations of some countries have been extensively studied by philatelists and many stamp collectors and postal history collectors collect cancellations in addition to the stamps themselves.
Lawrence Lewis "Larry" Shenfield was an advertising executive who was instrumental in promoting the development of radio broadcasting during its golden age of the 1920s and 1930s. Larry lined up sponsors to help further the popularity of such stars as Orson Welles and Dinah Shore. After his retirement, Larry developed a second career as a prominent philatelist internationally recognized in the field of postal history. His careful studies of the postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States are relied upon by stamp collectors and experts in philately to the present day.
August Dietz was a philatelist, editor and publisher, who specialized in the study of mail and postal history of the Confederate States of America.
John Robert Boker Jr., of New York City, was a philatelist who amassed some of the most prestigious collections of 19th century stamps ever seen by stamp collectors. Before his death in 2003, the Collectors Club of New York declared him, in 1996, to be the "outstanding philatelist of the last half of the twentieth century."
Mortimer L. Neinken of New York City, was a collector and student of classic United States postage stamps. He studied with Stanley Bryan Ashbrook, and extended some of the philatelic literature work of Ashbrook.
Philip Silver (1909–1999), of New York City, was a philatelist who specialized in the field of air mail stamps, known as aerophilately. He studied air mail stamps and postal history, and wrote extensively on the subject.
William Hubert Miller Jr., of New York City, was an aerophilatelist who published philatelic literature on the subject.
The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of three pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their names.
Edith Margaret Faulstich of New Jersey and New York City, was a philatelist and philatelic journalist who specialized in postal history and postal covers. She encouraged the development of that field in philately.
Woodrow Wilson Hulme II was a philatelist noted for his work in advancing the appreciation of stamp collecting, especially by his work at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.
Franklin Richard Bruns Jr. (1912–1979) of Maryland, was a student of philately and served it in numerous ways, including writing a syndicated stamp collector newspaper column and serving as curator at the Smithsonian Institution.
Charles Foster Richards, of New York City, was a lifelong stamp collector and a charter member of the American Philatelic Association.
Stanley J. Luft of Golden, Colorado, is a philatelist who is an expert on the postal history of France.
Elliott Perry, of New Jersey, was a researcher and expert on postage stamps and postal history of the United States.
Victor E. Engstrom was an American philatelist known for his knowledge and collections of stamps of Nordic countries.
William Woodbury Hicks, of Pennsylvania, was a student of early postage stamps and postal history of the United States.
Richard McPherren Cabeen, of Chicago, Illinois, was well known philatelist in the Chicago area. He was one of philately’s foremost writers of philatelic literature.
Dr. P. Felix Ganz, of Chicago, Illinois, was a student and collector of postage stamps and postal history as well as an officer of several major philatelic organizations.
