Articles & Research

Hussey’s Cancels

Byways of Philately Chapter XV, Preface by Larry Lyons

Most collectors of Hussey’s stamps and covers use Byways of Philately pages 139-171 as a guide for identification of the various different Hussey postmarks. Byways was written by H. Warren Hale. After Hale’s death, the book was compiled and arranged by Elliott Perry at the request of Hale’s wife Esther and published in 1966. Those pages are available below with this preface.

In the forward, Esther thanks Elliott Perry and George Sloane, as well as John Fox for “his considerable time and valuable assistance.” A few years after the book was published, Elliott Perry found that some of the covers pictured in the book were John Fox fakes. Today John Fox is recognized for creating many fake covers. These fake covers are sometimes written in his own hand but frequently Fox used at least two others to help create his fakes. In addition to the Fox fakes, other fakes have appeared over the years.

After years of personal study on the subject, I was able to expose many of the Hussey fake cancels. My article was published in The Penny Post in the April 2025 edition (Vol 33 No 2) pages 7-28. The nomenclature identification of the various Hussey postmarks found in Byways is still very important and helpful, but the reader should be aware of the fact that not all the Hussey postmarks identified in Byways are genuine and John Fox was responsible for inserting some of his fake creations into the book. Hussey stamps and covers are very collectible, and the reader is urged to read articles in The Penny Post on the subject.

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