Marcophily, occasionally called Marcophilately, is the specialised study and collection of

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...

s, cancellations and

postal markings A postal marking is any kind of annotation applied to a letter (message), letter by a mail, postal service. The most common types are postmarks and Cancellation (mail), cancellations; almost every letter will have those. Less common types incl ...

applied by hand or machine on

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

that passes through a

postal system The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

and applied by the

postal operator This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes: *The governmental authority responsible for postal matters. *The regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of postal policies, postal r ...

through whose

domain A domain is a geographic area controlled by a single person or organization. Domain may also refer to: Law and human geography * Demesne, in English common law and other Medieval European contexts, lands directly managed by their holder rather ...

they pass. Commatology was a term used prior to

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 ...

but is rarely used today. Two branches of marcophilists exist - those who are mainly interested in the details, style and design of the markings, and those who take into account the political, social, and postal history surrounding them. Large cities that have many

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

s offer great study opportunities due to the vast range of handstamps or machine cancellations in use over any time period. It offers vast study areas to select a topic from for study or collection. While strictly speaking it is not a

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and Cover (philately), covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal system ...

topic, it can be collected and studied as such.

References

{{reflist

External links

Linns.com ''Glossary Of Philatelic Terms''

Post Mark Museum and Research Library
Philatelic terminology Postal markings fr:Marcophilie