Bisect (philately)
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A Bisect is a genuine postal item like an original envelope, a wrapper or a postcard (or a fragment) showing an affixed cut half of a regular issued stamp, over which one or more postal markings have been applied.
When stocks of a certain stamp ran out, postmasters sometimes resorted to cutting higher denominated stamps in half, vertically or diagonally, thus obtaining two "stamps" each representing half of the original monetary value, or "face" value, of the uncut stamp. The general public could only resort to this practice if authorized by the local postal authorities and for a limited period only.
Many of these instances have been well documented in postal history. One example are the bisects of the Island of Guernsey during the German military occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II.
Bisects only have philatical value when the cut halves are still affixed on the postal item showing the postmarks and originating from a recognised historical event.
Loose halves of stamps have no philatelic value as the postal context, i.e. the postal markings, are not present.
Many bisects are considerably more valuable than the stamps from which they were made.
