Obliteration

A obliteration is a postal or tax Marque which makes it possible to cancel the validity (rising or not from the facial value) of a Timbre-poste or a Revenue stamp, and to also indicate the place and the date of its affixing (Departure of the mail, transit, or recording of the act) .

Functions of obliteration

the function of cancellation

The invention of the mobile stamp of port-paid, in 1840, involved the need for cancelling it each time it freed a letter. Because the cancellation of the right of use of any stamp used conditioned the good performance of the postal reform of 1840 at the origin of the birth of the Penny Black : it mattered that the postage stamp, intended to prove the payment of the port by the shipper, is not usable second once. For as much the old postal marks did not disappear and from now on were used jointly with cancellation, to indicate the name of the office and the starting date.

additional functions

Thereafter, as for the stamp, obliteration was seen investing new additional functions with that of cancellation:

the function of propaganda:

- Patriotic slogans or illustrations
- Tourist slogans or illustrations

the function of commemoration:

- Commemoration of memories historical, scientific, etc
- Commemoration of philatelic events (exposures, first days).

Colors of obliterations

After the experiment of cancellation in red of the first postage stamp, which had appeared not very convincing on a stamp as dark as the 1 penny black, the color par excellence of postal obliterations became the Noir.
However, blue was useful largely in the French colonies or for certain military seals of 1914-18. Other colors were also used punctually, like the purple one by the French post office in Crete, and the red or the green for certain seals commemorative of France or Czechoslovakia.

Forms of obliterations

Obliterations took several forms, even if the circular seal were going to become finally more running:

Handwritten obliterations

Handwritten postal obliterations

Postal obliterations were only exceptionally handwritten:

It was the case, in 1871, certain small offices of Alsace which, for a short period, in waiting of new obliterations, cancelled with the hand the first German stamps with which they had just been equipped.
In 1914, at the time of the French retreat, then in 1917-18, at the time of the reconquest of the invaded departments, certain offices deprived of their lawful seals, cancelled the stamps of the mail by registering with the hand the name of the office or the date of the departure.
the same practices reproduced at the time of the rout from May-June 1940.

The stamps thus obliterated are very rare, but must be preserved on the whole folds.

handwritten obliterations are also on stamps which were not touched by the seal of the office of departure, also at the time of the distribution the employee is held to cancel the stamp by all the means in its possession. Thus it sometimes happens to receive letters whose stamp is simply crossed out with the pen ball or the pencil. These " ratures" overflow obligatorily on the envelope.

Handwritten tax obliterations

Certain revenue stamps affixed by private individuals necessarily received handwritten obliterations (cf tax Philatélie). It is:

finance stamps of trade of 1860, then those of income tax of 1915-17, which had obligatorily to be obliterated with the feather and signed by the debtors. Only, by exception, certain great establishments, as the Crédit Lyonnais were authorized to use their seals deprived to cancel these stamps, but on the condition of depositing beforehand the model of these seals in their receipts of finances.
the receipt stamps used by the tradesmen and the private individuals were frequently obliterated with the feather.
the general revenue stamps used for one of the uses above are them also often obliterated with the feather.

Handwritten socio-postal obliterations

On the charts of French or German Social Security, the stamps of contribution were to be affixed in end of the week, and cancelled by cotisant itself, inscription of the date on each stamp.

Seals special cancelers or " killers"

the first obliteration was a Maltese cross, which was used in England on the very first postage stamps and entirety-postal.

- Thereafter of the seals made up of very brought closer parallel barses constituting an oval almost entirely black replaced this first obliteration with the the United Kingdom. One called these obliterations stamp killers (killers of stamp), before thus indicating, in the Anglo-Saxon countries, all the seals mackling the stamp.

certain cities of the west of the the United States had during a few years an obliteration in form of mule which street ( kicking mule ), work of a local craftsman.
in the kingdom of the Deux-Siciles, cancellation was a square on three sides, in the shape of garland, intended to be cancelled the stamp without attacking the effigy of the king.
in France, cancellation was initially made by a losangic grid or out of star, of 1849 to 1851.

- One then replaced this one by a number in a rhombus or a star of points, indicating the office of departure. This number was initially composed of Small figures (or PC), then, of 1863 in February 1876, by a number called Grands figures (or GC).
- But on this occasion, of new Grands Figures seals were created to replace the first seals Petits figures. It follows that, taking into account the new offices created, the majority of French offices used 2 different numbers successively, the first with small figures the second with large figures. He results from it that, taking into account new creations, the majority of French offices used 2 different numbers successively, the first with small figures the second with large figures.
- Following this reform, certain seals Petits Figures were redistributed at various offices, new assignees of their old numbers: The philatelists called them the " Small figures of large the chiffres".
- It should be noted that revenue stamps of dimension affixed on the acts, as from 1863 they of " were obliterated; rectangles of points" with numbers. These numbers do not correspond to in no case with those of the rhombuses of postal points, since the number of receipts of the Recording was different from that of the post offices.

Seals on date used as cancelers

Postal seals on date

Of 1849 to 1875, one mentioned it above, the grids of obliteration, then the rhombuses of points had been supplemented seals on date struck the folds, beside the stamp and qualified for that of " seals of lecture". These are the seals on date which, as from 1876, were affixed on the stamps and became themselves, as from this time and until our days, obliterations.

- But the seals on date were often struck 2 times, once the stamp to cancel it, and once the envelope, so that the office and the starting date are quite readable. At least it was not necessary any more successively to use two plugs for each letter. But the saving in effort remained however limited.

Certains postmarks took curious forms, like, in Bavaria, of the seals in half-circle or wheel of mill (see the “a black kreuzer”).

Tax seals on date

In the tax field, of large oval seals of obliteration appeared at the end of the Second Empire, in some registry offices of the Paris region.

But they coexisted with the rectangles of points and not taken their place, since the latter still remained in certain small offices like that of Guines, in Pas-de-Calais, until 1942.

In addition, as from 1919, of large seals on date of the postal type, said " rototypes" , started to enter in service part of the registry offices.
Lastly, in the tax field also, as many private seals on date of varied forms little by little served to obliterate the tax ones in many companies.

Joint obliterations

Great Britain having taken the practice, in its turn to apply its postal seals to starting date to the recto, in complement of cancellation, one was concerned with carry out both strike simultaneously, in order to cancel and go back to only one blow.

Thus was invented a starting seal called " Duplex" , including/understanding a seal on twinned date and a killer.

In France, a post-office employee named Daguin, wearied to strike 2 times each letter the same seal, imagined, in 1881, an apparatus which made it possible to strike of only one blow the two seals on date. This type of obliteration now required is recognized so that two obliterations are not perfectly identical.
But an improvement of the Daguin machine was going to make it possible to locate its strike even more easily. Instead of striking two seals on date simultaneously, this new machine was going to strike at the same time an obliterating seal on date and a tourist or different publicity (generally included in a square with corners rounded).

Typographical obliterations

Obliteration of the stamps of newspapers:

The stamps of newspapers emitted under the Second Empire were normally obliterated typographically: It were to be affixed, before their impression, on the paper of the future newspapers. This way, the impression of each newspaper cancelled at the same time the corresponding stamp. After the removal of the stamps of newspapers of the normal postage stamps continued to be affixed during some time on those and received same obliteration.

Obliteration of the stamps of posters:

When, at the beginning of IIIe Republic, a tax on the Posters was instituted, the new revenue stamps of posters, were normally stuck on the paper of the posters, before their impression, and thus, in their turn, summer obliterated typographically. Thereafter, when the stamps of Posters were removed, in their turn, in 1925, the general revenue stamps which replaced them, continued to be stuck on the posters before their impression and received, them also same typographical obliteration.

Mechanical obliterations

In fact finally the machines to obliterate made it possible to save the drudgery of striking of the post-office employees.

mechanical obliterations, after having been the object in the United Kingdom and in the United States, of multiple experiments, were inaugurated in France the day before the exposure of 1900, and during this one:

- A French flame of American manufacture (" Bickerdike"), comprising a floating hatched flag, with the letters " R.F." with several types was used in Paris departure, then with the exposure of 1900. - An American flame was used, in an American postal office to obliterate various covered folds of French stamps.

Thereafter a Machine Flier, in Paris RP. and Paris 81, printed another type of Flag, as from 1904. It then continued its career with various slogans of propaganda or publicity.
Of other obliteration mechanics is takings up the duties as from 1907, with undulated lines, parallel, dotted or diagonal, short or continuous.
the philatelists took the practice to name postal flames the slogans which often accompany the postmark, thus making it possible to place Publicité commercial or tourist, or information on the post office (reform of the zip code for example).

Conclusive force of obliterations

the seals on date gave rise to the expression “the postmark being taken”:

used by the administrations or the quizzes to check the respect of certain times, while regarding as valid the sendings according to their handover date at the postal service, goes back given by obliteration to departure.
also used by the shippers of sendings in quantity, to avoid ensuring themselves the work of dating of their sendings.

But for certain procedures envisaged by the law, the date of obliteration can be used as proof only on one registered letter with acknowledgment of delivery. By precaution, certain people send send these recommended on a simple sheet and carefully folded, in order to avoid certain disputes related to the theory of the envelope empties .

The statute of the used stamps

Last nines or obliterated?

The philatelists have, as of second half of the 19th century, often discussed of what they were to collect:

of the new, immaculate, perfectly visible stamps.

(In the beginning, the fathers of Philately highly advised to withdraw gum of the new stamps, this one being likely to be cracked and compromise their state.
- This system was abandoned, and one then admitted like collectionnables the not thinned new postage stamps carrying traces of hinges.
(It is besides always the case for the tax new stamps, which, according to tax the Yvert catalog which gives the reasons of them, are " of first choix" if they have light traces of hinges, on an intact gum) .
- But nowadays, concerning the postage stamps, the majority of the collectors prefer them with a intact Gomme. It is what involved the appearance in the catalogs, for the new ones, of two columns of dimensions, that with and that without charnières.

of the used stamps, having achieved their postal mission and whose study makes it possible to imagine the history of the fold.

The preference of the advanced philatelists went more and more on the new stamps meeting the conditions of quality evoked above, and these new stamps more required much than obliterated reached dimensions generally higher than the latter. There are however exceptions for certain categories of stamps, for example for those of the German colonies which dimension much expensive obliterated than new. At all events, for the young beginners, obliterated are much less expensive and are thus more easily accessible.

Nowadays, of many collectors the two types of stamps in their albums have: the new ones are used to have a complete collection of the emissions of its country, obliterated make it possible to have a knowledge of the foreign emissions. Nevertheless, vis-a-vis the inflation of the cost of the emissions of only one country, certain French collectors start to collect their country in only obliterated.

On letter or taken off?

Another great debate relates to only the used stamps: should they be collected with the whole letter, on a fragment of the envelope or taken off?

Certain detached even ordinary stamps deserve to be preserved on documents, for various reasons, such as the following ones:

Stamps very little used, for example those of the emissions " Seebeck" from Latin America (cf Nicholas Seebeck) on letter.
Stamps of postal parcels on their dispatch notes,
Stamps telegraph on their messages,
Stamps of newspapers on their newspapers,
Stamps of a given State obliterated in another country,
Stamps of strike on letters having circulated,
Stamps with maritime obliterations,
Stamps with obliterations of fortune of time of war,
Stamps of country like those of Héligoland or last stamps of Turn and Taxis sold in sheets to the philatelists, after their withdrawal
Revenue stamps obliterated postalement or postage stamps obliterated fiscally,
etc

The oldest letters and stamps often deserve to be preserved such as the collector finds them, because of their potential value and of the risks of destruction on takeoff with the vapor or in water.

For the current stamps, all depends on the wish of the collector, its interest for the part in question, and of its means in filing space.

Others

Certain postal collections make the good share with obliterations, in complement of a stamp collection of a country, or to completely renew its way of collecting: Marcophilie, specialized Philately, tax Philately, Philately set of themes, Maximaphilie, First Day.

Basic bibliography

(to be supplemented)

Jean Pothion, Nomenclature of the post offices French, 1852-1876, the letter post, Paris, 1971.
Jean Pothion, France Obliterations (without Paris), 1849-1876, the letter post, Paris, 1985.
Vincent Pothion, Catalog of temporary obliterations of France (Nonillustrated) 1855-1961 , the letter post, Paris, 1972.
Arthur Lafon, Catalog of illustrated or stylized mechanical obliterations with flame
Mr. Langlois and V. Bourselet, obliterations of the post offices of the French colonies , Yvert, Amiens, 1927.
Mr. Langlois and V. Bourselet, obliterations of the post offices of North Africa , Yvert, Amiens, 1930.
Mr. Langlois and L. Francois, obliterations of the post offices French abroad , Yvert, Amiens, 1924.
R. Salles, the French maritime post office (volumes 1 to 7), Paris, 1961 to 1969.
tax Prof Yves Maxime Danan Elements of Marcophilie , Marcophiles Sheets, n°s 270,271 and 272, Marcophile Union, Paris, 1992 and 1993.

Charles Ab der Halden and E.H. of Beaufond, Catalog of the postal marks and obliterations of Algeria, 1830-1876 , ED. E.H. of Beaufond, Paris, 1949.

Dr. J.T. Whitney, Collect British Postmarks , PBH. Publications, London, 1980.

See too

postal Flame postal History (general Data)

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