philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is poss ...

a cut-out is an

imprinted stamp In philately, an imprinted stamp is a stamp printed onto a piece of postal stationery such as a stamped envelope, postal card, letter sheet, letter card, aerogram or wrapper.Carlton, R. Scott. ''The International Encyclopedic Dictionary of ...

cut from an item of

postal stationery A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related servi ...

such as a

postal card Postal cards are postal stationery with an imprinted stamp or indicium signifying the prepayment of postage. They are sold by postal authorities. On January 26, 1869, Dr. Emanuel Herrmann of Austria described the advantages of a ''Correspon ...

letter sheet In philatelic terminology a letter sheet, often written lettersheet, is a sheet of paper that can be folded, usually sealed (most often with sealing wax in the 18th and 19th centuries), and mailed without the use of an envelope, or it can also ...

aerogramme An aerogram, aerogramme, aérogramme, air letter or airletter is a thin lightweight piece of foldable and gummed paper for writing a letter for transit via airmail, in which the letter and envelope are one and the same. Most postal administration ...

or wrapper that may have been used as a normal stamp.

Historical aspects

In Great Britain the postal use of cut-outs was banned under the Post Office Act of 1870. This prohibition was in force until 31 December 1904. In 1905,

Herbert L'Estrange Ewen Herbert L'Estrange Ewen (1876–1912)Birch, Brian. ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. 9th edition. Standish, Wigan: 2008, p. 504. was a British stamp dealer and philatelist in Swanage, Dorset and later in Norwood, London who was an a ...

published a booklet "The Unadhesive Postage Stamps of the UK" meaning postal stationery cut-outs.

Forms of cut-outs

Cut Square

A cut square has been cut in a square or rectangular shape. An alternative use of the term is simply any stamp, from sheets or postal stationery, cut in a square or rectangular shape and not cut to shape. It is distinguished from the ''entire'' (the complete postal stationery item) or the more common practice of earlier eras of '' cutting to shape'' by removing all of the paper apart from the imprinted stamp. A variant of the cut square is the ''full corner'' which is a cutting of the corner to include the intact flap and back of the envelope as well as the front. Just as used postage stamps were cut out, soaked and placed in an album, collectors also cut out postal stationery indicia and mounted them conveniently in albums. Now, the practice is frowned upon by most collectors who collect the entire, thus saving the envelope's

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

, the

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

of the envelope and the

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...

. To illustrate how far things have shifted in emphasis from the collection of cut squares, the most recent

United Postal Stationery Society The United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) was formed July 1, 1945 from the merger of the Postal Card Society of America, in existence since 1891, and the International Postal Stationery Society, founded 1939. Current membership stands at about 1,0 ...

publication on US 20th and 21st century stamped envelopes does not even mention cut squares,Undersander, Dan, Ed.; ''Catalog of the 20th and 21st Century Stamped Envelopes and Wrappers of the United States'', Third Edition, UPSS, 2011. . whereas its predecessor edition, just seven years earlier, devoted a section to their pricing. The term ''cut square'' is differentiated from the term ''used on piece'' which denotes an adhesive stamp cut out in similar fashion from the original cover so as to preserve the entire postmark.Bennett, Russell and Watson, James; ''Philatelic Terms Illustrated'', Stanley Gibbons Publications, London (1978). File:Russia March 1849 30k postal stationery cut square.jpg, Russia 1849, 30k unused cut square File:Warsaw 1860 cut square.jpg, Poland 1860, 3k unused cut square File:Uruguay1866 5c CutSquare.jpg, Uruguay 1866, 5c unused cut square Gwalior 4A6P cut square.jpg, Gwalior 1886, 4A6P unused cut square File:Salvador 1887 10c CS yp.jpg, El Salvador 1887, 10c unused cut square File:ColumbianEnv1.jpg, USA 1892, 1c unused cut square

Cut to shape

Cut to shape refer to a indicium that has been cut to the shape of the design, such as an octagon, circle or oval, instead of simply cut into a square or rectangular shape. Stamps cut to shape almost always command a lower price than those that have been cut square, and sometimes have little or no value, especially envelope indicia cut to shape. Although many stamps unfortunately have been cut to shape by stamp collectors, some early stamps were produced without perforations and were often cut to shape by people before they affixed the stamps to their envelopes. This is true, for example, for the octagon-shaped 4 Annas stamp of India issued in 1854, which is most commonly found cut to shape on envelopes or pieces. File:Inverted_Head_Four_Annas.jpg, India 1854 (inverted head), cut to shape File:Four annas H3 F2 smaller.jpg, India 1854, cut square All of the surviving examples of the India 1854 (inverted head) are postally used. Only two (or three) are known cut square; another 24 or so, are cut to shape (in an octagonal shape). One from the collection of the Earl of Crawford was exhibited in the World Philatelic Exhibition in Washington in 2006.India's 1854 Blue and Pale Red Inverted Head
/ref> The "world's most famous stamp" — the unique 1856

British Guiana 1c magenta The British Guiana 1c magenta is regarded by many philatelists as the world's most famous rare stamp. It was issued in limited numbers in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1856, and only one specimen is now known to exist. It is the only major p ...

— is cut into an octagonal shape. Consequently, it has been referred to as being cut to shape, although technically that term is incorrect as the stamp design is rectangular in shape.

References

External links