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.
The Stamp Specialist is the title of a series of books on philatelic research written and edited for the advanced collector of postage stamps.
Beverly Sedgwick King, of New York City, was an American architect, a partner with Mrs. Andrew Carnegie's brother, Henry D. Whitfield, in the firm Whitfield & King. He is now known primarily for his work as a philatelist who specialized in the collecting of, and writing philatelic literature on, United States postage stamps.
George Townsend Turner of Washington, D.C., was considered a leading philatelic bibliophile of his era, amassing a very large body of philatelic literature over his lifetime. He was the acting curator of the Smithsonian Institution's philatelic collection from 1959 until 1962 and was the owner of the largest private philatelic library ever assembled.
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.
Richard H. Thompson was a philatelist from Baltimore, Maryland, who supported stamp collecting at the national level as well as in the Baltimore area.
Solomon Glass, of Baltimore, Maryland, was a philatelist who was recognized as a foremost expert in United States postage stamps of the 20th century.
Catherine Lemmon Manning, of Washington, D.C. served the philatelic community by her work in several philatelic societies, and the American public by her service at the National Postal Museum.
Walter R. McCoy, of New York City, was an advocate of the hobby of stamp collecting and created award-winning collections of his own. He was the husband of Ethel Bergstresser McCoy who was famous for her United States airmail collection.
Washington Stamp Collectors Club is an organization of stamp collectors in the Washington, D.C. area, serving collectors in the district, northern Virginia, and Maryland.
Peter P. McCann, of University Park, Florida, is a philatelist who has supported the hobby of philately on a national scale. For his varied services to the American Philatelic Society (APS) over several decades, he was awarded in 2008 the Luff Award for outstanding service to the society.
Svend Yort (1908–1981) was a noted collector of the postage stamps and postal history of Scandinavia, and was a writer and expert on the subject.
Judge David D. Caldwell, of Washington, D.C., was a noted philatelist known to his stamp collecting friends as ““Washington's Number One Philatelist.”
Leo August, of New Jersey, was a philatelist who, as a stamp dealer and publisher, created interest and awareness in the collecting of first day covers through the introduction in 1939 of "ArtCraft" engraved illustrated envelopes for use as first day covers. He also established the landmark line of "White Ace" stamp albums. ArtCraft became one of the world's most popular cachets.
The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society (USPCS) is a society dedicated to the study of United States postal issues and postal history from the Stampless era up to the Bureau Issues.
Presidents of the United States have frequently appeared on U.S. postage stamps since the mid–1800s. The United States Post Office Department released its first two postage stamps in 1847, featuring George Washington on one, and Benjamin Franklin on the other. The advent of presidents on postage stamps has been definitive to U.S. postage stamp design since the first issues were released and set the precedent that U.S. stamp designs would follow for many generations.
Clair Aubrey Huston was an accomplished and chief postage stamp designer at the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) early in the 20th century. He was the great-grandson of Michael Leib (1759–1822), an American physician and politician. Huston worked at the BEP for more than 21 years and was the designer of numerous United States postage issues. Entire series of stamp issues were designed by Houston, including the Washington-Franklins and the Regular Issues of 1922. Huston often used paintings and sculptures of famous American artists like Gilbert Stuart as models for his stamp designs. One of the postage issues Huston is most noted for is the 24 cent Curtis Jenny airmail stamp of 1918, whose image became famous when the biplane was printed upside down. In another aeronautical design, six years earlier Huston had pictured an airplane on the 20 cent parcel post issue. This was the first postage stamp in the world to depict such a machine.
The origins of the Collectors Club of Chicago (CCC) are traced to the informal meetings during the 1920s of specialized collectors residing in the local area.
