A Handbook of Cancels on United States Federal Wine Tax Stamps

Compiled by a Harvard Ph.D. and a retired Air Force Colonel (both avid stamp collectors), this handbook contains lists of cancels used on wine tax stamps. A cancel is short for cancellation. The French word for it is obliteration. It is a postal marking applied to a stamp or envelope to deface it to show it has already been used. Because cancels come in all shapes and sizes, they have created a frenzied following among philatelists. Cancellations can actually increase or decrease the value of a stamp collection. To take it a step further, a heavy cancellation is called a killer. These killers sometimes cover up the entire stamp, making it impossible to re-use. This book can be used to augment the Scott catalogue (which is the primary philatelic resource). In the beginning of the book, there are 10 glossy color images of wine stamps issued by the Federal government.