Obliterator

Obliterator - a device that cancels a stamp; may also be called a "killer".
Occupation Stamps - see Allied Military Government Stamps.
OCR - see Optical Character Reader.

Obliterator - Hand or machine stamp used to cancel an adhesive, especially a device other than a cds.
Obsolete - No longer on sale by the Post Office. Obsolete postage stamps must be demonetised before being invalid for postage.

obliterator
Another term for the cancel portion of a postmark which defaces or obliterates the stamp. [Back to top]
OE ...

: auction abbreviation term for obliterator cancel (grid cancel).
Obliteracion: (Sp.) cancellation.
Obliterare speciala: (Rom.) special cancellation.
Obliterat: (Rom.) used.

[1] A handstamp or mark used across a postage stamp as an obliterator to render it invalid for further postal use. It may be a pen marking or even the removal of a small piece of the stamp.

These are identified in A Key to the Lozenge Obliterators of French Colonies, 1860-1892 by Robert G. Stone and in French Colonies: the General Issues by the same author.

A postal cancel is any mark used to deface or “cancel' a postage stamp and prevent its unlawful reuse. In philately, they are sometimes called obliterator or killer.

See also: Cancels, Stamp, Cancellation, Used, Postmark