Translations:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Arts and Crafts/Stamps - Advanced/2/en

2. Know the meaning of the following:

a. Cancellation

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. They are to be distinguished from overprints, and, in the case of the British "Occasions - Multiple Choice" stamps, from the ticking of boxes on the stamps with a pen for which the stamps call.[1] 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.)

b. Perfins

A perfin (a contraction of 'PERForated INitials'), also called SPIFS (a contraction of 'Stamps Perforated by Initials of Firms and Society's'), is a pattern of tiny holes punched through a postage stamp. Organizations used perforating machines to make perforations forming letters or designs in postage stamps with the purpose of preventing pilferage. The size and number of perfins is usually regulated by law or postal regulation in the relevant country.

c. Blocks

a block is a group of postage stamps still attached to each other. Blocks are of interest not only because they are rarer than individual stamps, but they also preserve relative positions of stamps as they were originally printed, information that is crucial to understanding how the stamps were produced.

d. Plate blocks

A plate block - see the serial number

The most commonly-collected kind of block is the plate block, which includes the part of the margin where the serial numbers of the printing plates may be found.

e. Precanceled

A precanceled stamp, or precancel for short, is a postage stamp that has been cancelled before being affixed to mail. Precancels are typically used by mass mailers, who can save a postal system time and effort by prearranging to use the precancels, and delivering the stamped mail ready for sorting. The postal administration will typically offer an incentive in the form of a reduced price for precancelled stamps in volume. Precancels cannot normally be purchased by the general public, although they are often seen in one's daily mail.

f. First day covers

A first day cover (FDC) is an envelope where the postage stamps have been cancelled on their first day of issue. Depending on the policy of the nation issuing the stamp, official first day postmarks may sometimes be applied to covers weeks or months after the date indicated.

g. Cachets

a cachet is a design or inscription, other than a cancellation or pre-printed postage, on an envelope, postcard, or postal card to commemorate a postal or philatelic event. There are official and private cachets; they commemorate everything from the first flight on a particular route, to the Super Bowl. Cachets are also frequently made, either by private companies, or a government, for First day of issue stamp events or 'Second-Day' stamp events. They are often present on event covers.