The reasons for the use of this handstamp remain unknown. They were overprinted with a rubber handstamp. Lundy stamps are cancelled by a circular Lundy handstamp. The earliest known handstamp from Douglas is dated c.1767. In 1804 a straight-line "BAHAMAS" handstamp came into use. The Austrian post office used a single line handstamp with the text . The set was never used, though some were cancelled with an E.A.M. handstamp. A handstamp was applied to preadhesive ship letters. At this point, a handstamp reading "Malte" was introduced. One example is the handstamp, which can be seen in a photo on this page. A special handstamp was created depicting a Dakota flying "free" and not "boxed in". This handstamp effectively cancels the stamp while leaving the place and date information easily visible. A handstamp is known used from the head post office in Saint-Pierre in 1853. It was done by handstamp since all the printing works in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur had been destroyed.