Canadian Precancels

Precancels are stamps that have been cancelled prior to being affixed to letters. This is with a view to saving time and effort with large quantities of mail. Often, the cancel consists of a couple of horizontal lines and a place name printed from a device specifically designed to apply them to the sheet of stamps.

As far as the Jubilee is concerned, precancels are not easy to find. They occur only in Canada and only with the two low values. Furthermore, they are only found for Rock Island, a small community in southern Quebec near the Vermont border.

Block of nine 1 cent precancelled “1142” for Rock Island - unmounted “mint”

With commemoratives so rarely used for precancelling, one might suppose that this Rock Island use was an emergency measure - taking advantage of the fact that, unlike some other Jubilee denominations, the 1 cent and 2 cents values fitted the definitive format. If anyone knows the truth of the matter, perhaps they would drop us an email.

A.J.A. January 2006