Pen cancel

Pen cancellations, or manuscript cancellations, trace back to the earliest days of stamps, where stamps were cancelled, i.e., permanently invalidated, with pen marks. Eventually, cancellation by handstamp and later machine became the norm to speed things up. Otherwise, there would be cases where postmarking devices were not available and pen cancellation was used. This is even done today where parcels and letters that miss cancellation may be pen cancelled.

In the case of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, dated pen cancels with and without initials were used to cancel stamps for revenue/fiscal purposes. However, the common exception is Victorian and Edwardian stamps in British Asia including India with security marks made in pen to avoid theft of stamps when mail was handed to a courier to carry to the post office. Those markings are disliked by most collectors but are collected by specialists.

Pen cancels have been chemically removed to appear unused or to have a forged postal cancel added. REmoval can be detected by examination under UV light.

 File:Cuba del la torre 40c.jpg|Cuba File:Tasmania 1d engr pencxl.jpg|typical dated cancel for revenue/fiscal purposes on a Tasmanian stamp File:India QV bluis paper.jpg|security marking on an India stamp 

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