Blocked value

A blocked value is a stamp that is controlled by a post office and is/was not available through normal channels. For example, the German Democratic Republic/East Germany/DDR typically had one value of a set blocked from general sale. That stamp was only available by buying a full mint set in hard (non-East German) currency from state-owned stamp shops.

By extension, blocked values would never be released as CTOs. Nonetheless, collectors favoring used stamps could take stamps from first day covers as a substitute.

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