The Classic Cancel

Updates and Announcements

The Roger Curran Collection

I am pleased and honored to offer a selection of stamps and covers from the collection of Roger Curran, the long time past President of the U.S. Cancellation Club and editor of the club's NEWS publication. Roger is highly regarded in the area of cancellation collecting, possessing a great depth of knowledge and having a keen eye for killers and covers beyond the ordinary. Please click the link below to view the items. You are sure to find something of interest.

View the Offering (New Items Posted 7/2/25.)

Dr. James Milgram Late 19th Century Covers

I am pleased and honored to offer a selection of late 19th century covers from the collection of Dr. James Milgram. Jim is a highly regarded postal historian, the author of numerous books and articles on 19th century United States postal history, and has built important collections of this material. While Jim's principal collecting interests have centered on early U.S. and Civil War postal history, he has always demonstrated a keen eye for interesting cancellations, postal markings and postal usages for the entirety of the 19th century. Please click the link below to view the offering. You are sure to find something of interest.

View Jim's Offering (New Items Posted 9/19/25.)

10/14/25: New items have been added to 1851-57 Issues, Covers; 1861-67 Issues, Covers; Banknote Covers; Later Issue Covers; NYFM Cancellations & Covers; Advertising Covers; Postage Dues, Dead Letter Office; U. S. Possessions; Postal Cards; Railroad, R.P.O., Related; Registered Mail; and Civil War / Confederate States. New discounts available.

7/31/25: Announcement: Effective today two new sections have been added to The Classic Cancel: Registered Mail and Vessel-Named Waterway Markings. Into the former I have copied all currently offered registered mail covers; new covers will be added as they become available. The latter contains all new covers organized by the numbering system used by Dr. James Milgram in his book Vessel Name Markings on United States Inland and Ocean Waterways 1810-1890. They are further divided into separate pages for stamped, stampless, and stationery entires. (See New Items page for more details.) Most of the vessel-named covers come from the Milgram collection. Many of those offered are illustrated in his book.

7/15/25: New items have been added to Used Blocks; Banknote Covers; Later Issue Covers; NYFM Cancellations & Covers; Destination Covers; Department Officials, Penalty Mail; and Postage Dues, Dead Letter Office.

I hope that you enjoy your visit. Please browse my selection of quality 19th and early 20th century used United States stamps and postal history. My emphasis is on cancellations and covers with strong visual impact. It is this element of our hobby that I believe draws many of us to it. My stock is organized by stamp issue and generally grouped by stamps and covers. Items will be displayed as reduced size images. Click these to view the enlarged images. (Press your Back button to return to the original page.)

The items that you will find on this site are not my entire stock. I sell most of my merchandise through direct and regular email offerings to customers. If you like what you find here, I encourage you to contact me with email address and collecting interests so that I may add you to my mailing list. You will then have the earliest opportunity to acquire the best items.

Direct access to any individual page within a category is available through the New Items page, where you can easily locate recently updated pages. Additionally, you may perform word searches against the content of The Classic Cancel. Just click Site Search [currently disabled] to link to the search page.

All items are priced net (see Terms of Sale regarding postage, handling and insurance) and are offered subject to prior sale. Items will be sold in the order that customer purchase requests are received. Items no longer available will be labeled SOLD.

To order from the site, send an email to classiccancel@att.net. Please indicate in your message the item numbers of the stamps and covers that you wish to order. I will contact you regarding availability, payment and shipping. Feel free to ask me any questions about items or to provide comments regarding the site. I strive for accurate and complete descriptions and welcome your input. My entire stock is not displayed on these pages, so inquiries are encouraged. I also maintain records of customer interests to better serve your collecting needs.

I will be continually updating this site as New Items arrive. So, check back frequently. Something of interest is sure to show up!

Member: American Philatelic Society (122441), U.S. Philatelic Classics Society (RA2572), U.S. Cancellation Club, Collectors Club of Chicago