right|thumb|U.S. 2¢ stamp of 1938 with New York precancel, Scott No. 806, PSS type 71
A precanceled stamp, or precancel for short, is a postage stamp that has been legitimately cancelled before being affixed to mail.
History
Canada
Canada used precancels from 1889 to 1982. Initially, they consisted only of waves and bars applied with ink roller, but the town and province was added in 1903, similar to in the United States. In 1922, the precancel was changed to three pairs of horizontal bars. In the 1930s, town names were replaced with a corresponding numeral of either four numbers or three numbers preceded by an 'X'.
France
Widespread French use of precancels began in 1920 with cancels including the year and city. This was scrapped in 1922 in favour of a standard overprint in a semicircle reading AFFRANCHts. POSTES (Affranchissements Postes).
United States
150px|thumb|The 1903 standardised design with the city and state between two horizontal lines.
The first use of precancels (both in the US and globally) was by Hale & Co., an independent mail company in the United States in the 1840s which undercut the expensive United States Post Office Department (POD). The first precancels were created in 1843 or early 1844 and their complexity varies; most were "crude straight lines" across the stamps, but examples from Portsmouth, New Hampshire were precanceled with "P / N.H." in block letters. Hale & Co., along with all other independent mail carriers, was shut down by an 1845 act of Congress.
The POD authorised precanceling of stamps in 1887, and produced standardised guidelines on their design in May 1903.