How to Cancel Stamps

Find out the address to which to send first-issue-cancellation requests. This address varies with each new stamp. You can ask at your local post office, go to the USPS website, or consult stamp collecting guides.

Address a cachet (special collector&'s envelope) or regular envelope to yourself (or to the person to whom you&'d like to send the first-day-of-issue cancellation). The best envelope size to use is #6. If you don&'t want your cancellation envelope to have any markings on it, print the address on a label that you can later peel off. Put a small piece of cardboard or postcard inside the envelope so it doesn&'t bend en route. Seal the envelope, or, if you prefer, insert the flap inside the envelope.

Affix the stamp to be canceled to the self-addressed envelope. If this stamp doesn&'t equal the current price of postage for a first-class mailing, affix additional postage to make up the difference.

Place the self-addressed envelope into an outer envelope, and address the outer envelope to the address for first-day-of-issue cancellation requests. Affix necessary postage to the outer envelope.

Mail the outer envelope within 60 days of the stamp&'s issue, or within the time frame allowed by the USPS to obtain the first-day-of-issue cancellation. The USPS stamps all requests with the same stamp within this time frame, so most stamps with the cancellation are actually canceled within two months of the stamp&'s issue.