Remainder

A remainder is a stamp from post office holdings that are sold off to collectors long after their period of validity has passed. These can also include stamps that were never actually issued. Since remaindered mint examples often cannot be told from issued stamps, values of mint stamps overall can become quite low compared to previous valuations or used stamps. To prevent that and to prevent attempted re-use, post offices often deface stamps or use specific cancels to identify remainders, likely sold at less than face value. Those remainders are still collectible but are typically worth less than issued stamps.

So we also get the term remainder cancel for the specific cancel types used to deface/cancel remainders. A sampling is shown below. Stamp Encyclopedia will warn you of remainders lurking in the shadows, as will most but not all catalogs.  File:Amur 30r remainder.jpg|Siberia – Amur Government unissued stamps. Remainder cancels exist as printed bars or crayon/pencil bars in various colors. File:Mauritius QV cancelled.jpg|Mauritius 2d Queen Victoria definitive with a somewhat confusing "CANCELLED" overprint. File:St Helena Remainder.jpg|Barred purple box cancels on St. Helena Victorian issues are remainder cancels (and not revenue/fiscal cancels). File:Spain 1862 remainder.jpg|Spain. Earlier issues often have this style of remainder cancel. File:Switz Seated AUSSER KURS.jpg|Switzerland Seated Helvetia overprinted AUSSER KURS. The remainder overprints come in various styles. 

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