Cut square

A cut square is a cut-out of the indicium of an item of postal stationery. Many of these originate from old collections, as collectors of the time often collected everything. They can be easily confused with stamps if cut close to the design but can be distinguished by being on thin or medium card (postal cards and lettercards) or being on colored papers not listed in catalogs (envelopes and aerogrammes).

Current US collectors often prefer what is called full corners that include the back of envelopes of a minimum size that corresponds to the space given in Scott albums.

Cut squares are still being cut from modern stationery and collected today, but most stationery collectors prefer the complete item. Indicium designs can have been used on several major types of stationery, and that information is lost when postal stationery is reduced to cut squares. 



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