I recently updated my computer to Windows 10 and had to go through the process of updating drivers and software for my old scanner to function. There's a nice story about how I came by these covers that I'd like to share, but wanted to do a test run of uploading the scans before I did. Please bear with me if this doesn't work the first time.
There are just over 50 of these covers on 5" x 7", 6" x 8" and 9" x 13" envelopes. I'll post a few at a time and tell the story along the way. Most of the covers themselves aren't anything the die hard cover collector would likely drool over, but they have a little history behind them and I hope I can tell it in a way that at least some can appreciate them as much as I do.
Here's the first pair, they all date from about 1980 to '89.
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re: DDR Covers
Beautiful covers!
As a DDR collector myself, I drool over any postally used DDR covers. When opportunity presents itself at a stamp show, I grab any DDR or USSR postally used covers and postcards.
I look forward to seeing more.
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Thank you Poodle Mum! You sound like someone who might be able to answer a couple of questions for me along the way. (yes, I am very much a rookie in many areas)
First, as with these two covers, the stamps are identical and sent from the same person. The only difference is the numbers on the register stamps. What do these numbers represent and is there an official name for them? They appear to have been cancelled at the same post office. There are a handful of these duplicates scattered throughout the lot, but not with all of them.
Oh and as a side note, from what I can tell none of these covers have ever been opened. They certainly contain something, but I have no idea what. Maybe mint sets of the same stamps on the outside? Maybe just filler? Or maybe a letter from the sender?
A registration numbers is just a serial number to identify a registered item; this number is logged as the item is passed thru the postal system, and will also appear on the receipt the sender got from their clerk and the receipt that the addressee signed for their clerk. The number allows the item to be traced & accounted for, and only matters if it is your birthday, 666, etc.
As to the contents, try 3-D Xray Tomography.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
"... So any of these with ... consecutive numbers would have been sent at the same time, through the same window at the P.O. ..."
Let's not over-reach. A roll (or sheet) of registry stickers might be shared or split amongst the clerks, with consecutive numbers being used whenever they were at-hand.
In this specific case, the fact that the covers are nearly identical would suggest that they were brought by one customer to one clerk and processed in one 'go', but sequential registry numbers alone would not be a reason, for example, to insist that an illegible date in one postmark was necessarily the same date as that on another cover.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
Oh sure, I understand your point completely and being where I am as a collector, I would never presume to insist on anything.
However, in this case, I believe there's enough info to back up the theory. I know for a fact that both of these covers were sent from the same sender to the same recipient. Cancellations are both legible and both are dated 5.8.87 from the Berlin-Neiderschoneweide location. (all covers in this lot have this cancellation or a Berlin-Triptow cancel)
Before asking, I had wondered if the number on the registry stamp might be a teller i.d. number. i.e. teller #062 or #063. Now that I understand that it is basically a tracking/confirmation number (see I learned something already) and as such, feel fairly confident that these particular covers were sent one right after the other through the same window and teller, at the same time.
To me, the odds otherwise would be pretty high.
Here's another pair with the Berlin-Triptow cancel.
The address for these covers is Protem, MO. That's a wide spot in the road in southern MO near the Arkansas border. Don't know if it's true or not, but the story given is that when the people there were trying to pick a name for the place, they couldn't agree on one. Someone said they'd have to come up with a name to use pro tem until they could decide. They did - Protem. And apparently they never did agree on another one and it's still Protem.
Nice group of covers snowy! They fit right in here. Thanks for posting them.
Dollhaus, story is 100% true. And yes, the town proper is just a wide spot in the road, it consists of a small general store and a post office. Both are in the same building. Great place to live, nonetheless.
" Dollhaus, story is 100% true. And yes, the town proper is just a wide spot in the road, it consists of a small general store and a post office. Both are in the same building.Happy Great place to live, nonetheless. "
I wonder if the OP's cover could have been used by a collector sending material for exchange to the address in MO? The registration label looks like what I recall the DDR stamp exchange control people used on outgoing mail to foreign collectors.
Exchange with a private person in the DDR was full of hurdles and most people gave up on it- too many hoops to jump through.
Pedroguy, 2010 census would be spot on. 2009 must have been a good year for baby's being born.
Snick1946, I believe that's exactly what these were. I found written documentation between the collector who's estate I got these from and the collector he exchanged with in Germany.
Not sure how much trouble they went through, but it would appear they did the exchange for a number of years. I believe he also exchanged with other collectors in a few other countries.
Maybe just filler?
Or maybe a letter from the sender?
and as such, feel fairly confident that these particular covers were sent one right after the other through the same window and teller, at the same time.
