Editing Cancelled-to-order (section)

{{Short description|Postage stamp cancelled by the postal administration before sale to a stamp collector}}
[[File:Block US 1952 newspaperboy.jpg|upright|300px|thumb|A Cancelled-to-order [[plate block]] of the US newspaper boy stamp of 1952.]]
[[File:Stamps of Fujeira 07.jpg|right|thumb|Cancelled-to-order "stamps" of [[Fujairah]], one of the [[United Arab Emirates]], showing unobtrusive placement of cancellations in stamp corners]]

A '''cancelled to order''' (also called and abbreviated '''CTO''') [[postage stamp]], philatelic symbol [[File:CTO symbol.svg|16px]],<ref>Michel (2007) Übersee-Katalog. Band 1/1 Nordamerika 2007/2008. Unterschleissheim Schwaneberger, p. 18.</ref> is a stamp the issuing postal service has [[Cancellation (mail)|cancelled]] (marked as used), but has not traveled through the post,<ref name=Bennett>Bennett, Russell and Watson, James; ''Philatelic Terms Illustrated'', Stanley Gibbons Publications, London (1978).</ref> but instead gets handed back to a [[stamp collector]] or dealer. They can come from withdrawn stocks of stamps cancelled in sheets and sold as remainders or from new sheets for sale at reduced rates to the stamp trade.<ref name=Bennett /> Postal services of various countries do this in response to collector demand, or to preclude stamps issued for the collector market being used on mail. Some of the history of CTOs is from stamps being given to collectors on an [[Stamp dealer#Methods of sale|approval]] basis, in person or through mailings; the first CTOs began in the late 19th century.