Socked on the nose also called Bullseye cancel, in philately

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

, refers to a cancellation of a postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

 in which the postmark

Postmark

thumb|USS TexasA postmark is a postal marking made on a letter, package, postcard or the like indicating the date and time that the item was delivered into the care of the postal service...

, typically a circle with the date and town name where mailed, has been applied centered on the stamp. The ideal SON has the entire postmark inside the margins, although this is not always possible, because the stamp may be too small or the postmark too large.

Some philatelists and collectors of cancellations have a special interest in, prefer, and/or collect SON mainly because the date, time, and place the stamp was used, or postmarked, can be identified by the cancellation. This allows specialised collectors to collect, for example, all of the postmarks of a particular country, state, city, county, date range, etc., without collecting entire covers

Cover (philately)

In philately, the term cover pertains to the outside of an envelope or package with an address, typically with postage stamps that have been cancelled and is a term generally used among stamp and postal history collectors. The term does not include the contents of the letter or package, although...

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Because modern machine cancellations are normally arranged so that the "wavy lines", slogans, or other killers are applied to the stamp, leaving the postmark clear, dealers and collectors desiring SONs will position the stamp on the cover so as to fall under the postmark.

The term Bull's Eye

Bull's Eye (postage stamp)

The Bull's Eye postage stamps were the first stamps issued by Brazil on 1 August 1843, having face values of 30, 60, and 90 réis. Brazil was the second country in the world, after Great Britain, to issue postage stamps valid within the entire country...

 also is used for the first stamps of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

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External links

• Bullseye Cancel Collectors Club official website
• Why Collect Bullseye Cancels?