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1. Greg Wilson May 12th, 2010 6:02 pm

   Great series of articles about the various provisional cancels – super helpful. I find it useful to see the cancel in color on stamps and covers. These articles are forcing me to dig in deep to my collection to figure out what exactly I have (and need!).

   There are a couple of items that I would love to see:
   Pictures/scans of fake cancels and could you list the number of known cancels (either on stamps or covers) rather that state “several collections”. Even groups (less than 5 or 6-20, etc) would be very useful.

2. Vytautas Doniela May 13th, 2010 3:54 pm

   To Greg Wilson May 12th

   Thank you for your comments.
   One or two fakes of provisionals have already been noted and more will follow. By the way, this is a touchy area. In order to determine that a cancel or a marking is a forgery one may have to inspect the real object, i.e., the stamp or the cover. A scan – which now tends to be the usual means of communication – may not faithfully reproduce the size, colour, ink etc. of the object. What also makes analysis more difficult is the fact that a fake provisional may be a one-off production. But, of course, some forgeries (especially older ones) as repeats are easy to identify and deserve to be listed without further fuss.

   Yes, “several collections” in the case of stamps is not detailed enough and will give way to a more precise listing. The problem is sometimes created by the fact that when working with old bw copies or copies of copies it is not easy to see the details of the stamp (which issue, which value etc.) and yet some sort of recording is needed.

3. Raimundas June 11th, 2010 3:26 pm

   Kelmė and Skuodas are probably two of the most prominent provisional cancellations that might raise eyebrows as to their validity and authenticity. However, at the same token, we have to keep in mind that some of the covers or cards sent were produced by or for philatelists, including German military personnel. No doubt our friend Greg Wilson is looking for Vytautas, Audrius or for that matter myself to create a rarity table for provisional cancels. As Greg suggests, it would be a good idea to have an idea of how many copies (singles, multiples, on postal history) currently are registered. How that reflects in dollar or euro evaluations is a different matter. In my many years of experience of collecting this material I do feel that prices for single stamps have been illogically inflated by several collectors. The majority of such singles should cost no more than $ 10 or $ 20. If collectors are paying $ 50 or more for a single, how much is a provisional cancellation on cover worth? $ 200 ? $ 300? $ 500 ? Or maybe in euros? Remember these stamps only costs even today pennies. In my opinion we are doing a damage to the hobby by driving up such prices. By doing so only dealers win. Yet it is not to say that more appear on the market because of these ridiculous prices! What I think is more important is to redefine the classification chart to be more accurate. Also a more precise write-up of the cancellations would be also useful, as often the case (for example, Skapiškis) one notes that lettering differs from one item to another (and this is not where inking is a factor). Historical background is no doubt important, but closer attention should be addressed to each cancellation and its varieties. As a student of this aspect of postal history I would also like to see the reverse of these items which can clarify approximate dating or the item (either sent or received).

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