Mark or imprint, e.g., CANCELLED, SPECCIMEN, SAMPLE, applied to a stamp to render stamps invalid for postal use.

Markings or defacement placed on a stamp by a postal authority to show that it has been used.

any postal marking applied to a stamp to prevent its reuse. Cancellation is not synonymous with postmark, although the two terms are frequently confused by using them interchangeably. Cancellations have been applied by handstamps, machine, and pen or marker.

Also known as Cancel. A marking intended to show a stamp has been used and is no longer valid as postage. Modern cancels usually include the name of the original mailing location or a nearby sorting facility and the date of mailing. Most cancellations also include a section of lines, bars, text or a design that prints upon the postage stamp to invalidate it.

Any authorised defacing mark on a stamp.

Defaced plate, block or stone after an edition is pulled.

A mark used by the post office to show that a stamp has been used. Centering - The position of the design on a postage stamp. On perfectly centered stamps, the design is exactly in the middle.

mark on withdrawn notes from circulation by punch hole, perforation, cutting, overprinting, stamping or writing.

An official mark on the face of a stamp which renders it 'used'

An impression used to mark a postage stamp to prevent its reuse. May be done by machine, hand stamp, or (when missed by initial processing), indelible pencil. A date, time and location is usually included in the cancelling die. (oblitération)

Another term for postmark or franking.

Mark on stamp to show it has been postally used.

A mark on the back of your returned check and the simultaneous notice appearing on a television monitor in the passenger waiting area that you won't be going anywhere today.

A marking applied to the stamp to deface it in a manner to prevent its reuse. Dated cancellations also provide a mailing date record.

A marking applied to an envelope, usually stamped, to denote mailing and to render the stamp, if any, unfit for further use.

A mark placed on a stamp by a postal authority to show that it has been used -- some may be somewhat more artistic than the usual simple postmark.

On mail, a cancellation (or cancel for short) is a postal marking applied to a postage stamp or postal stationery indicating that the item has been used. Modern cancellations are often applied simultaneously with a postmark, for efficiency, and commonly the terms "cancellation" and "postmark" are used interchangeably, if incorrectly. (The confusion arises because of the practice of some postal administrations of applying the postmark directly on the stamp, at the cost of legibility.)