banknoteguy
Member 
Posts: 324
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Dec 12, 2022 13:01:34 GMT
This may be a dumb question but as I am still puzzled, I am going to ask and see what more knowledgeable people say!
Looking through an old stockbook (like 50 years old) that I acquired somewhere/somehow as a kid, I found two pages of used (cancelled anyway) stamps from (what was then) Czechoslovakia.
I flipped a couple over and to my surprise, they all have original and in most cases undisturbed gum.
But the cancels don't look CTO, at least to me. Below is an image of one I scanned which has a small disturbance to the gum, possibly lightly hinged at one time. Also a blurry cellphone image of the gum side.
Am I missing something or are these just common stamps with favor cancels?
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kgvistamps
Member
Posts: 201
What I collect: British Colonies - King George VI from all countries and King Edward VII & King George V from the West Indies.
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Post by kgvistamps on Dec 12, 2022 14:39:10 GMT
A lot of the Russian occupied countries in the 1960's and 1970's issued Cancelled to Order stamps (CTO) that were actually unused stamps with full gum where a cancel had been applied. I remember seeing a lot of them from East Germany, and I would guess your stamp was issued around that time period. The cancel made them unusable for postage. They were sold by a number of dealers to new collectors.
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jdtrue66
Member
Inactive
Posts: 287 
What I collect: US&US FDC, Keys & Locks, NUDES, Rubber Ducks, USS NJ covers
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Post by jdtrue66 on Dec 12, 2022 15:09:19 GMT
What makes you wonder if these are not CTO? Its almost exactly 1/2 the cancel high up on the stamp and uprite. Is this the correct domination for a letter at this time? (I really do not know myself)
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 324
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Dec 12, 2022 16:02:49 GMT
I don't really know why I thought it was not CTO. I don't really collect anything modern and all the CTOs I have seen are either SON or a quarter of a cancel so they could hit four stamps at once. And all the ones I am sure were CTOs are clearer.
I expect that kgvistamps had the right answer. And thanks for that!
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jdtrue66
Member
Inactive
Posts: 287
What I collect: US&US FDC, Keys & Locks, NUDES, Rubber Ducks, USS NJ covers
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Post by jdtrue66 on Dec 12, 2022 16:13:13 GMT
I don't really know why I thought it was not CTO. I don't really collect anything modern and all the CTOs I have seen are either SON or a quarter of a cancel so they could hit four stamps at once. And all the ones I am sure were CTOs are clearer. I expect that kgvistamps had the right answer. And thanks for that! Yea the corner hit 4 is the most common this could be the 5th column I see it even in the dunes ((abusive stamps) what ever you call them.) I do collect lots of them. |
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hdm1950
Member
Posts: 1,887
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Dec 12, 2022 17:25:03 GMT
I go with a CTO and possibly it was just a case of the person doing it missing the corner. I was a sucker for these in my early teens. Much of my paper route money was wasted in buying CTO short sets of eastern block countries. Czechoslovakia had especially nice stamps and I have many of them. As has been said by others this is the normal look. And yes, this one is mine   |
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Post by captphil on Dec 12, 2022 17:31:08 GMT
I understand exactly what you are saying. Czechoslovakia was better than any other country at making the CTO items look genuinely postally used. They most often used rollers that ran from one side to the other, giving a more random look. Also, the paper is generally thinner than other Warsaw Pact countries, so the stamps curl easily and ink from the cancel can seep through. Even so, Czech stamps have a distinctive look and they are often as appealing as the best French stamps. The large art stamps are really cool and collecting them mint in the miniature sheets of 4 is a niche specialty.
I have read that in Europe CTOs are avidly collected without the stigma that we have always attached to them. And, yes, never hinged CTOs are preferred.
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kasvik
Member
Posts: 607
What I collect: Cancels mostly, especially Sweden Gävle and Lidingö, Switzerland Geneva, Germany Pforzheim
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Post by kasvik on Dec 12, 2022 23:46:14 GMT
CTOs seem the explanation here. But there is more. I see used with glue most with Nineteenth Century revenues and postage used for revenue. Anyone else?
For reasons unknown to me, the postal clerks would attach bunches with just the top row pasted, maybe to leave the rest of the document legible. Obviously this worked best with unperforated. Conjecture on my part. That or some fruit loop has been re-gumming used stamps.
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