Used stamps exchanges.

Today I received a swap with about 50 CTO stamps in it.
I don't know what you guys think but I consider CTO's as "not real" stamps.


A cancelled to order (also called CTOs) postage stamp is a stamp the issuing postal service has cancelled (marked as used), but has not traveled through the post, but instead get handed back to a stamp collector or dealer.

Can we agree that these are not real stamps or do you have a different opinion?

Dear fellow collectors,
If you want to collect per country and to complete all the stamp years for that particular country, example given Romania, well then you have to collect the CTO stamps too. Since indeed CTO's are official stamps, are present in the official stamp catalogs and so if you do not collect them, you will not have your years complete ;-) Cheers, Paul

I received a 'neutral' rating for including CTOs when her profile stated that she didn't want them. My problem is that I apparently can't tell a difference on some of them! Some are EASY to spot...slick on the front, kinda thin and from places like Uzbekistan, but others- not so much! So, unless the collector is a thematic collector, I of course wouldn't send those to someone specifying 'no CTOs'.

I didn't think I had sent her any CTOs, so I was very surprised to get a 'neutral' rating and a rather terse PM on the subject. But I ALWAYS try to meet the receiver's wishes. I don't have a HUGE collection and I am doing my best to eliminate the CTOs.

So, how do tell for sure? I have some that are cancelled and appear to be in pristine or MINT condition, so I'm guessing they would be considered CTOs? But, is there a surefire way to tell that they have NOT been affixed to postage?

If a stamp has been gently removed from an envelope or paper, is there a way to see that it is not a CTO?

Being a thematic collector, I have no problem with CTOs or even definitives that fit my various collections. A stamp is a stamp is a stamp to me!

Thanks in advance for any input on how to spot them. I'm wanting everyone to be happy with my selection for them!


Christy aka pinkpolarbear

I would not send them to people who say "please no CTO" in their profile. But for those who say they like big/colourful/animal/train/flower etc. stamps, without saying anything about CTOs, it' probably ok to include some CTOs connected to the topics from the partner's wishlist.

i do not like cto either but i often receive them anyway -so i do send them too, otherwise my cto collection keeps on growing ;) i have still rated envelopes 4 or even 5 -even there were cto and definitives as long as they were not more overpowering :)

Personally, I don't like CTOs and I marked it in my profile. Normally we say "send stamps that you would like to receive". But now I wonder whether it is considered ok by the collector's community to send CTOs of, let's say, dogs, to someone who puts in his wishlist that he/she collects dogs, and who does not mark that he/she dislikes CTOs?

So should you be marked down for sending CTO's as I have twice which impacts my future swapping and I cant do a thing about it. Very unfair I say.

Addition:
@Krepki; in the Netherlands CTO's can never be used on a letter or card

I'll try to explain why I don't consider CTO's as real stamps.

In the Netherlands (and I think in many other countries) a stamp is a valid method of payement.
You pay for postal services with the stamp on the card or letter.

CTO's are especially made to sell to tourists to make money. CTO's are not issued by official postal services.

I respect everyone who does collect CTO's

Since I am thematic collector,I collect CTOs as well (I try to find mint, used and CTO stamp of each)
Some are impossible to get in different shape than CTO - especially higher nominations

I find them good for my collection, but other thematics I try to awoid, because I know, that people dont like them... CTos are official stamps, listed in catalogues

Different thing is with Cinderelas (unofficial issues)

I'll welcome CTOs as long as the main subject of a stamp isn't covered by the cancellation mark. I was looking the other day at some CTO stamps with cats from Africa that someone was selling on Facebook and was turned off by the cancellation marks covering the faces of some of the cats. CTOs like that, I wouldn't trade or pay for.

CTO's the bane of the postal world...
I do realize some countries are mostly CTO, and for those countries, such as Hungary, Romania, and Czechoslovakia... I will accept CTO...
For countries I don't collect, I would prefer not getting any CTO's.
And Yes Zorad, even if the gum is gone, the cancellation is what makes the CTO, cancelled to order...so due to the cancellation, it is still a CTO.

You often see it on the cancel mark they used. Not same as the normal post service use and most of the time perfect in the corner of the stamps. Often you find they use the fdc cancelmark or is cancel on the first day of issue.

If you wash the CTO stamp, eliminating all the gum, the stamp still be a CTO?

Yes I know, but if you put it at an envelope and then soak it, then the mint isen't there any more. Will it still be a CTO? And if so, how can you see it's a CTO?

CTOs are those cancelled stamps issued by Eastern European countries, Mongolia, Vietnam, Sao Tome..... (among many other countries).
Never have been used in a letter. Usually have gum in the back, and were issued for collectors..
Some collectors collect real circulated stamps, they dislike the CTO as they have never been circulated, and they still have gum.
Some CTO are impossible to obtain real circulated...
I don´t have personally any problem with CTO.

Before I got a member here, the word CTO was new to me. Of cause I knew the concept. But I have been wondering. what is the exact problem? Is it that the stamp never have had a real postal travel (from sender to reciever) or is the problem that it's a mint stamp with a cancellation?
The reason I ask is that I have been thinking, what if you put the CTO at an envelope and then soak it of. Is it still a CTO then? Many of the CTO's is cancelled so it's only the mint stamp revealing that it's a CTO

In my opinion, a CTO is a complete and valid stamp.
There are, however, countries such as Ajman, Sharjah, Liberia, and so on that issue an abusive number pf stamps with topics that have nothing to do with the country.
Where were the stamps from?

We have to distinguish from CTO and stamps cancelled with commemorative cancellations (as first day cancellation or other special occasion imprints).
In my opinion, the name CTOs is normally given to those stamps which have been cancelled in high volume by the issuing post, with a standard cancel imprint and then sent to a dealer. They were never sold by the post office directly nor have they ever been glued to an envelope.
The stamps cancelled with a commemorative or first day imprint were (still are) normally glued on an envelope and sold by the post office for collectors at a higher price. So I think these are completely different things and we cannot call them CTOs. Many people still make collections of first day stamps and first day envelopes.
Still there are a few people who also collect CTOs and yes, there are some countries were you must have some CTOs otherwise it is to difficult to complete the collection, as some stamp with very odd values rarely circulated on the mail.

Thank you both for your explanation.
Nice to hear how you feel about CTO's.

I think as urindianfriend. Jess, so many stamps are issued from the postal bureau in several countries with the purpose of make money, with high and impossibles facials, but those stamps are officlal issued. So, will be not possible to build a collection about some countries without CTO. Moreover, in the past from some countries was not possible to export his stamps if minth. I collect an southamerican country that yearly costs about 100 Euro, buying at the facial price directly from the Philatelic central bureau, when I' m there. So, we only can collect those countries on 2 ways: minth or CTO.

No! I totally disagree with your opinion. A stamp is always a stamp for collection when it's issued by the postal authority. Many collector's get their stamps cancelled with special cancellation from the philatelic Bureaus and these are valid for collection.