Cancellations: Struck on Stamps Part 1-1847 Issue by Wade Saadi

Join Us on Wednesday, June 10^th 5:30 pm EDT

for

Cancellations: Struck on Stamps Part 1-1847 Issue by Wade Saadi

Part of the Collectors Club’s

 Virtual Philatelic Program Series

The 5¢ and 10¢ stamps of 1847 represent to most collectors, the beginning of U.S. philately. (Postmaster provisionals and locals may have preceded this issue, but their uses were generally restricted to a specific geography. Traditionally, the 1847 stamps occupied the first two spaces in albums, and, to young collectors, these spaces were almost certainly empty, due to their high catalog value. They hold a special place in the minds of most collectors of U.S. stamps, as they are the premier issue and represent a genesis of sorts.

Simply put, the cancellation’s purpose is to prevent the reuse of a stamp. As well, they show that the stamp has fulfilled its intended duty of having prepaid the fee for delivering the mail. But cancellations are much more than that, as they add interest and variety to the issued stamp. Some are colorful; some are attractive, while others such as railroad, steamboat and foreign cancellations can stimulate the imagination as to the routes traversed and the places sojourned during the trek of the posted letter.

In Part 1, we will explore the cancels used; as these ares the first federally issued stamps, there were no cancels necessary before 1847.

About Wade Saadi

Wade, a businessman, has been collecting since childhood and specializes in the U.S. classics period, and early to mid-century U.S. 20th century issues. He also is a writer, researcher, and exhibitor of these issues and has won numerous awards for exhibits and research. He is past president of the APS, U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, and the Collectors Club of New York. He has served as editor of the 1847 section of The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues since 1997. He served as president of the World Stamp Show-NY 2016 international exhibition.  Wade was selected as president of the APS in 2008. He was re-elected as president in 2009 and 2011, and served on the board as past president from 2013 to 2016. Before becoming APS president, he served on the APS board as a director-at-large, and as chairman of the Board of Vice Presidents, as well as chairing the Membership Recruiting Committee.  Wade was actively involved in promoting youth philately, and has been a member since 2003 of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists.

He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 2010, was awarded the Lichtenstein Award in 2015 and is the 2017 Luff Award recipient for Outstanding Service to the American Philatelic Society. In 2013, he received the Neinken Award from the Philatelic Foundation for Meritorious Service to the hobby.