Bisects and splits refer to

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s that have been cut in part, most commonly in half, but also other fractions, and postally used for the proportionate value of the entire stamp, such as a two cent stamp cut in half and used as a one cent stamp. When stocks of a certain stamp ran out, postmasters sometimes resorted to cutting higher denominated stamps in half, vertically or diagonally, thus obtaining two "stamps" each representing half of the original monetary value, or "face" value, of the uncut stamp. The general public also resorted to this practice, sometimes pursuant to official or tacit permission and sometimes without any express authorization. Many of these instances have been well documented in postal history. One example is the bisects of the Island of

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

during the German military

occupation of the Channel Islands The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are British Crown dependencies in the E ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Early Mexican stamps are known to have been used cut in half, three-quarters, quarters and even eighths. Many bisects and splits are considerably more valuable than the stamps from which they were made. These, however, only have

philatelic Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

value when the cut portion is still affixed to the envelope or a piece showing the postmarks, as otherwise it cannot be confirmed that the stamp was in fact postally used as a split and not simply a complete stamp that was cut up after use.

Gallery

File:Cuba1868-BiscectedStampCover.jpg, Bisected stamp (with regular full stamp) on an 1868 letter from Matanzas to Guanajay, La Habana Province, Cuba. The 20 céntimos stamp was cut in half to be used as a 10 céntimos de escudo stamp. The bisect is cancelled with a parilla handstamp and the other is a pen cancellation. File:Stamp US 12c bisect on Sonora cover (Siegal 2004).jpg, United States 1851, provisional or unofficial diagonal bisect of 12 cent stamp

Scott catalogue The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...

, United States, no. 17. used as 6 cents File:Bolivia 1924 revenue stamp 6 times 10c bisect used on piece 17 Jun 1926.JPG,

Revenue stamp A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, ...

s of Bolivia bisected on a fragment of a 1926 document File:Horta 1894 Sc1 bisect.jpg, Horta 1894, 5 reales bisected for use as 2.5 reales File:Uruguay 1883 bisect.jpg, Uruguay 1883, 10 centimos bisected for use as 5 centimos

References

{{reflist Philatelic terminology