1) What is the purpose of this web page?
2) What is a machine cancel?
3) When were machine cancels first used?
4) How do I identify machine cancels?
5) Is there any good literature for machine cancels?
6) What are machine cancels worth?
7) Why should I collect machine cancels?

1) What is the purpose of this web page?
These pages are designed to serve as an introduction to US postal markings made by machines, with a strong focus on pre-1920 material, when there was much more variety in postmarking machinery than there is now. Browsing around these pages should help the collector understand the basic contours of the field as well as to be able to identify a variety of the more common machine cancel types.

2) What is a machine cancel?
A machine cancel, simply put, is a postal marking impressed on a cover by a mechanical device rather than by a simple handstamp. This distinction is not always as easy as it sounds. For example--is a self-inking handstamp with a ribbon-advancing mechanism a "machine cancel"? The general consensus seems to be that only free-standing mechanical devices are true "machine cancels", though those machines may be hand-fed one piece at a time or may be capable of handling thousands of pieces of mail per hour.

Machine cancels are, generally, readily distinguishable from handstamp markings. With a few exceptions, machine cancels are long and narrow, and consist of a postmark "dial" containing town, date, and time information, and a "killer" that is usually vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or wavy bars, or some sort of slogan. In contrast to a handstamp, which usually has killer bars that are quite short, a machine cancel's killer bars will often exceed 50 milimeters in length. One interesting "hybrid" between the two is the so-called "pseudomachine", which is a handstamp marking made to look like a machine cancel. The 19th century ones are generally scarce and are quite popular.

3) When were machine cancels first used?
While a few experimental devices may have been used in the United States in the 1860s, the first regular uses of machine devices for postmarking mail came in the mid-to-late 1870s with the extremely rare Palmer&Clark and Myers machines, as well as the much more accessible, but hardly common, Leavitt devices. Most of these early markings look very similar to contemporary handstamp designs. The first large-scale use of machine cancels in the United States occurred starting in 1884 and 1885 in Boston, using American Postal Machines Company machines. By the early 1890s, most large US cities were using machines to process much of their mail.

4) How do I identify machine cancels?
Experience is the key. While it's fairly easy to pick up the difference between most machines and most handstamps, it can be much more difficult to identify the manufacturer of the machine that made a particular machine postmark. Much research has been done to identify patents granted for postmarking machines; such patents often include sketches of the postmarking dies. Experienced engineers can also make at least educated guesses as to what kind of machine could make a certain type of marking.

While there are still some "unknown" machines, most have been identified. There are two good pieces of literature that are useful in identifying machines: Russ Hanmer's A Collector's Gudie to U.S. Machine Postmarks 1871-1925, and the Machine Cancel Society's US Postal Markings Impressed by Machines handbook. Both should be available from philatelic literature dealers at $25 or less; the latter is also available directly from the Machine Cancel Society. For a more immediate solution, try the Machine Cancel Finder produced by Bob Swanson.

5) Is there any good literature for machine cancels?
You bet there is! In addition to the two general works cited above, the Machine Cancel Society has published monographs or book-length works on many machine manufacturers, from the minor to the major. There are also additional reference items to be found. They will be cited in each of the company sections below.

6) What are machine cancels worth?
As with any other collectible, they are worth what a knowing buyer is willing to pay! Machine cancels vary widely in price, depending partially on supply but more on demand. High end machine cancels can fetch into the thousands but those are few and far between. Thousands and thousands of machine cancels may be found for a dollar or less. Many of the various literature works cited throughout these pages include scarcity guides, which may help. The Hanmer work on machine cancels also includes a multi-tiered scarcity/price scale, but the general nature of his work makes his pricing suspect, to say the least.

7) Why should I collect machine cancels?
I can't presume to tell you what to collect, but I can offer a few observations about machine cancels in general. The first is that machine cancels, as a group, are abundant. It's very easy to start a collection right out of your own junk box of covers, or even from what you find in your own mailbox. The second is that the field is broad enough to offer many opportunities for specialization. A collector can seek an example of each different manufacturer and each type of machine from each manufacturer, or can seek to find all known examples of machines made by a particular manufacturer. A collector may also limit geographically, for example focusing on all machine postmarks used in Ohio (or any other state, city or county). Third, while the machine cancel field is growing in popularity, it still offers quite a few opportunities for original research and discoveries. New towns, types, and varieties of machine cancels continue to be discovered. I have had the pleasure of discovering numerous new varieties of machine cancels, including a new flag cancel (which is hard to do!). You can see that one as one of my show and tell pages.