US Classic Stamps
US Classic Stamps of the Banknote Issues of 1870-1888 offer the postmark collector many different possibilities. Everyone is aware of the beautiful and ornate cork cancels of the New York Foreign Mail Office from this period, but regular domestic fancy cancels offer an even wider opportunity for the postmark collector. In the 1870's and 1880's, Post Office regulations forbade applying town cancels to postage stamps on envelopes. The postal clerks were required to use a "killer" or "obliterator" canceling device to cancel the stamps instead. This eventually lead to the use of "duplex cancels", those awful looking things that came into regular use in the 1890's and continued into the 1930's.
Illustrating the positioning of the postmark and killer. Many postal clerks used rubber stoppers or bottle corks as "killer" devices, and they often carved personalized designs into them. They used these home-made "killer" devices to cancel the stamps and then applied the circular town cancel elsewhere on the envelope. The GALLERY below shows images of many of the Banknote Issue stamps of the 1870's and 1880's with domestic fancy cancels. This is only a sampling. There are many hundreds of types and varieties in existence. Please enjoy the GALLERY! Hat, Eagle, Crossed Cannons?, Flower?
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