Bureau precancel

Bureau precancels were those US types that were indeed printed by the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP).

Precancels were authorized in the US in 1887 but the overprints were produced privately resulting in an interesting range of types and styles including the famous Glen Allen, NY star precancel.

From about the beginning of 1917, the BEP released typographed overprinted stamps experimentally for Augusta, Maine; New Orleans, Louisiana and Springfield, Massachusetts. These had the city name and state abbreviation in sans serif letters with a continuous line running above and below them. In 1923, regular production fired up with New York City precancels being the first produced, eventually expanded to many, many other cities and towns. Horizontal format definitives like the 20c Mayflower had the inscription printed and reading across the narrow sides of stamps.

The basic design remained largely the same, though the typefaces varied somewhat at times, serifed or sans-serif, upper and lower case or all capitals. In 1978, the precancels became generic with only lines printed on stamps. In 2007, printed precancels were eliminated with stamps with special rates (like bulk rate) so inscribed and did not require cancellation. 



See

 * Precancel

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