U.S. Machine Cancel Identifier – Pre-1900 Machines
The American company manufactured and marketed several machines, based on several patents, during the late 19th century. Most of their machines were used in Boston. William Barlow’s Award-Winning Boston Machine Cancel Exhibit is a great starting-place for learning about the evolution of these machines.
Ah, but you say, I came here because my cancellation is pre-1900, not because it is necessarily an American machine example. If your cancel does not fit the following description, (for now) your only course of action is to try to check the web page with the combinations of postmarks and killers for machine cancels of this time period.
![[american 1893 machine cancel]](../machines/american_nonflag_1893.gif)
American Bar Machine from Boston, 1893
An American machine from before 1900 will have the characteristics:
- The great majority of the earlier American cancels are from Boston, Massachusetts.
- See above for the typical dial type. This dial is designated type ‘D’ by collectors. The primary identification is that the year is curved in the bottom of the circle.
- Early machine models had 5 killer bars (see images below), but in most later models of machines, there are 6 and only 6 bars, and they are fairly thick. In any machine model, the bars may or may not contain a diespace. If there is a die space present it can be empty (gap in bars), or contain a letter or number amongst the bars. The example above has a large ‘3’ in the diespace.
The American company created other non-flag markings, some of which are shown below:
![[american bar 1890 machine cancel]](../machines/early_american_bar.jpg)
American Bar Machine from Boston, 1890
The 6 bar killer is positioned above center, bars arranged convex on left, nearest to the circular dial postmark.
![[american bar 1889 machine cancel with rimless dial]](../machines/american_rimless_boston.jpg)
American Rimless Bar Machine from Boston, 1889
The dial is rimless, often used on 3rd class mail, killer has 5 bars, convex on left.
![[american bar 1890 machine cancel ]](../machines/american_straight33.jpg)
American Bar Machine from Boston, 1890
The 5 killer bars are convex shaped on left.
![[american bar 1892 machine cancel with vertical bar in killer ]](../machines/american_boston_bar_vertical.jpg)
American Bar Machine from Boston, 1892
The 5 killer bars are convex on left, and have a vertical bar crossing them near the postmark.
![[american (barnard patent) 1893 machine cancel ]](../machines/barnard_fitchburg.jpg)
American (Barnard Patent) Machine from Boston, 1893
This is a different machine from those shown on this page, the primary identification point being the ‘gripper’ marks to the left of the circular postmark, and the use of a 7-bar killer.
Use the BACK button on your browser to return to the previous page