Someone started a thread yesterday challenging that all today's mail was boring and nothing said "Hey Collect Me". I kept the email notification since I wanted to respond to it, and when I clicked on the link this morning, the thread appeared to be gone.
What is interesting in our daily mail? It's all in the eyes of the beholder. Since I buy a lot of stuff on eBay, I get envelopes franked with many ancient US stamps. I don't consider those interesting since they are philatelic in nature and the stamps are being used way out of their time period. I still toss those covers into the big box.
This topic of what to save, goes two ways. One, covers you think are interesting and want for your collection. Two, covers you would give to someone else who collects a topic. Three, things that future generations of collectors would want.
Looking at my own 1903-08 collection, some of the most interesting and hard to find items are what was considered junk mail, and most likely to be thrown away. Think about that one and the parallel to what comes in your mail today. The things we glance at and throw away. Just as there were many first in my era, there were also many firsts-- changes in franking, automation and change today.
For my own Ben Franklin, hard to find items are advertising covers, especially those with the one cent unsealed circular rate... aka junk mail. Today I pay dearly for examples with private perforations, precancels or perfins especially.
So let's open up with a few covers I received in the not too distant past. And let's get some thoughts and predictions out there!
Here's an advertisement sent to me from Stamps.com Note that I have their sample sheet of stamps visible in the window, and I saved the entire contents. I find the print to order stamps interesting as automation and change. I understand the first trials with post office lobby kiosks were in the Washington DC suburbs and covers from those are already sought after. I save every cover with a self printed stamp, especially this past Christmas with the Peanuts version, which I believe is actually Scott listed. Since people had to get them from the machine, these could be quite sought after and scarce in the future. I also save those picture ones (I call them vanity stamps). We received a graduation invitation from our neighbor with a child photo of their son on the stamp. That's a keeper!
This one really stood out in my mail with the Mailers Postmark and use of the Presorted Standard mail stamp. It was designed to get your attention and interest you in opening it. This was a local guy starting a town website and email chain.
Here's a sports topical cover. Non profit rate on a current Pitney Bowes meter. This was from the local YMCA.
This first class presorted card usage may be difficult to find in the future. In fact for my collection of US stamps, I decided I wanted to collect all these limited use stamps and fractionals from the past 30 years or so on cover. Don't call this company though, I was suspicious and Googled them. They act like they are a private courier and have a package to deliver to you. It's a ruse to make sure you are home and they send a pushy salesman to try to sell you stuff. Still a decent cover.
All of the above are in my cover collection representing what they are, modern postal history and usage. I have more, different items and such, but this is what I pulled out on short notice to scan for this thread. Comments? Post covers you feel are significant? This can be interesting.
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bobgggg President Cortlandt Stamp Club 13 Aug 2016 10:39:37pm
re: Interesting Covers In Your Daily Mail..
Very interesting Tom, thanks for sharing... I find many of these covers in the recycle bin at my local Post office.. Folks throw out these " junk mail " covers when they pick up their mail from their P.O. boxes...I always go thru the recycle bins and pull out any interesting covers...
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bobgggg President Cortlandt Stamp Club 29 Aug 2016 05:13:57pm
re: Interesting Covers In Your Daily Mail..
I have three members from my stamp club now collecting these covers...
Here's postal use of the Presorted Standard rate coil stamp. I'm not sure if this was for a post card rate or the same as a letter. I like vehicles so I am pleased with their current truck on the card. This company has a large fleet on the road so you see them all the time. This one will be really cool to have 50 years from now!
My sister's usual birthday card mailed the day after my birthday. Looks like she got the stamp from the post office lobby vending machine. I don't know how scarce these will be in the future, so I save them on cover.
Political mail! My own personal mail from Donald Trump! With another Presorted Standard Rate coil stamp. This one is different than the one on the card above. I've alway saved the presidential election ads, I'd have to dig but I know I have them back to the 1970s, probably with a big gap where I wasn't collecting.
Modern postal history in the making...
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bobgggg President Cortlandt Stamp Club 24 Sep 2016 09:46:42am
re: Interesting Covers In Your Daily Mail..
Another thing that I like to collect are forever stamps on cover...
"Another thing that I like to collect are forever stamps on cover..."
Forever stamps on cover will be interesting usage in the future. They will need to have a postmark date that is readable, and you'll need a rate / time period chart to know how much postage they were paying on that day. We already have had two different rates applied to the Forever stamps. I wonder how much value was lost to the stamps in public hands when the rate actually declined!
Here's two more that hit my mailbox this week. Rather attractive looking permit indica! I'll put them in the collection. Note that the Pella envelope has a town cancel... may be the only way you will get a town cancel on mail today.
Yes, Randy I would add that one to the collection! I love postal markings.
Each year I do a mailing of 2000 postcards for our model car show. That gives me a bunch of "Return to sender"s for various reasons, mostly for people who have moved. And sadly we lose a few guys each year. That has given me a decent collection of these various types from across the country.
Some of them have reason for return on them. I have them with "Deceased" and my favorite was hand written "In Jail". We still chuckle about that one in the club.
I am glad you are saving the political mail. I have a (US only) topical collection of President Ronald Reagan. I've some neat covers for when he was running for president.
David in Ottawa, Canada
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"President, The Society for Costa Rica Collectors"
Looks like I may find a few more interesting covers in our current mail very soon!
Got these today;
That's a 15" ruler for size reference.
My daughter works for the city and she saves me all the incoming mail covers. She waits until the box is full, then delivers it. Looks like she waited so long this time that she brought 2!
Very cool Randy! Let's see the interesting ones. I got one today with a local mailers permit on a stamp.
Back when I was in my teens, figure 1972 era, my uncle worked for the local gas and electric company. He'd bring me big movers boxes full of the envelopes that people sent in their bills. Back then there were different town postmarks, and that's what got me started on the New Jersey collection.
Here are a couple interesting ones off the top of the pile from box one;
1) I thought this one was funny due to the business name in the upper left
paired with the stamp image on the right - would make a good children's book!
2) Next one is graphically cropped to show just the cancels - Rudolph appears to have fallen asleep in the right image
Randy you crack me up! As a fancy goldfish keeper, you don't know how many times I was confronted with that scene! I like your personal postage stamp as well, unfortunate that USPS decided to tattoo the children's faces! I believe these stamps will be collectible on cover in the future. I wanted to share a few...
Flipping through a cover box, I found this one that I saved years ago. That was my previous New Jersey address. Usage of the presorted standard rate.
Here's another of another Mailers Postmark Permit. Remember that statistics show that mail with a stamp and a postmark are more likely to be read.
Curse those financial advisers who have bought lists of people headed for retirement! Free dinner? Yea, but they will haunt you until the day you die! Still an interesting postmark thingie along with an actual stamp.
Then I got this in the mail! I wasn't sure if it was okay to open!
Randy's St Lake Indian School Stamps.com stamp is interesting. Most likely it is the stamp that accompanies the solicitation from the school INSIDE the envelope, sent with the hope that you will find it in your heart to use their donated 49c postage to mail them a donation.
This is the Theory of Reciprocity that posits that some of us are more likely to return a favor for having been done a favor. At worst, it's likely to be used on cover, thereby providing even more promotional goods for the dollars spent.
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
That's a pretty cover but it just screams STEAL ME! It completely identifies the contents as collectible stamps!
I've noticed that some of the dealers I patronize on eBay use their company name on their mailings along with an array of old stamps, while others use a personal address and a meter or internet postage paid stamp.
The owner of Dutch Country Auctions was the speaker at one of our club meetings. He was talking about the value of old stamp sheets, and how disappointing it is for people who come in to his store with a huge lot of old sheets their uncle had saved for 50 years. He has to tel these folks that they are without value, and best he can do is offer them maybe 50% of face value.
One of the club members asked him why he doesn't use it for postage to mail out his catalogs.. his response was that he's paying his labor $10 an hour or more, so any savings on postage would be outweighed by his labor cost. Interesting.
That's a pretty cover but it just screams STEAL ME! It completely identifies the contents as collectible stamps!
You know that is exactly what I thought when I saw it .You would think that the APS would take a more care and not disclose what was in the packages they send out.
Do they really have to say "This package contains stamps".OK you pay for insurance ,but by the same token you don't advertise the fact.
Brian
Here's a couple more that hit my mailbox the past few weeks...
The first cover came with an interesting group of stamps totaling five cents. I don't know what the current non-profit rate is. I like the mailers postmark.
Here's a colorful commercial cover beckoning me to attend a trade show. I liked the new presorted first class mail stamp. I don't believe I had any of these!
Astrophilatelist- Space Cover Collector 06 May 2017 05:38:21pm
re: Interesting Covers In Your Daily Mail..
In reference to the APS registered mail in the post above, there is no chance of it being stolen from the mails. the registered item is scanned when it was mailed; it goes into a registered bag; the driver when he picks up the mail signs for the bag; when it gets to the registry section of the processing facility, it is signed and so on until it reaches the processing facility at the destination. It then is scanned again when it arrives at the post office of the destination. It then is scanned delivered when the recipient signs for it. This is for domestic registered mail.
I think John was referring to the envelope in Brian's (Snowy12) post. The envelope traveled to Australia. But, I wonder if APS registers any domestic envelopes.
"I think John was referring to the envelope in Brian's (Snowy12) post. The envelope traveled to Australia. But, I wonder if APS registers any domestic envelopes."
Ah! All I saw today was the APS cover Angore posted yesterday! Imagine that, TWO APS covers in one thread. Carry on!
Does anyone know where I can find/buy/trade for 2004 and 2005 American Eagle presort covers? I've been looking to complete a set of eagles on cover for over 10 years. The 2005s are hard to find, the 2004s are d*mn near impossible - I have only seen them from 3 sources (one was Linns, one was Bosley hair restoration).
Some nice things arrived in this cover. It screams philatelic but sent insured so little chance of it being stolen. I will post the items in another thread.
Here is another cover from the same dealer who sent me the cover posted a few messages ago. There are twelve complete booklet panes, The two on the left side are complete but they didn't fit on my scanner.
I will post tomorrow what arrived in this cover/box. Actually I have quite a few new acquisitions I plan on sharing. I have been busy the last few months adding material and books to my collection.
Vince
Here is a cover a friend received in the mail. My friend expertise's sports autographs and this contained some Baseball Cards with autographs to be checked. There is three dollars legal postage but fifty cents made up from cut out squares from postal cards. This is the correct rate for a first class package under four ounces, $3.50. Sent from Bellaire, TX to Buckingham, PA. There are no markings on the front or back so I assume this was dropped in a mail box for collection. Neat oddity.
And, it's also an "illegal mail" cover - it's not legal to use pieces cut from postcards as postage on envelopes!
Is it a recent mailing?
I have a very small, but growing collection of 'illegal mail', some of which I created for myself. (I think I showed one of these covers to you when I saw you in West Chester).
2.0 VALIDITY OF STAMPS
Valid
2.1
All postage stamps issued by the United States since 1860, unless listed in 2.2,
are valid for postage from any point in the United States or from any other place
where U.S. Mail service operates. Precanceled stamps may be used to pay regular
postage and fees for special services if the mailpiece is endorsed under the
standards for the class of mail and service requested. Precanceled postage may
be used only by permit holders authorized under P023. Unless excepted by
standard, the total postage affixed must equal at least the postage charge for the
class of the mail and, if applicable, the fee for the special service requested. All
nondenominated postage and makeup rate stamps, including official mail stamps,
are valid at the original rates of issue. Except for precanceled stamps that bear rate
markings (e.g., First-Class Presort, Presorted, or Nonprofit Organization),
nondenominated postage stamps may be affixed to international mail. See IMM
152.2d.
Invalid
2.2
The following are not valid to pay postage for U.S. domestic or U.S.-originated
international mail:
a. Postage due, special delivery, special handling, and certified mail stamps.
b. Stamps of other countries.
c. United Nations stamps, unless on mail deposited at the United Nations, NY.
d. U.S. stamps that are mutilated or defaced; cut from stamped envelopes,
aerogrammes, or stamped cards; covered or coated in such a manner that
canceling or defacing marks cannot be printed onto the stamps; or
overprinted with an unauthorized design, message, or other marking.
e. Nonpostage stamps, such as migratory-bird hunting and conservation
stamps, U.S. saving and thrift stamps.
Yes, official mail stamps can be used with the Permit.
Thing is, an item with a permit number must be presented for mailing at the PO that issued the permit number. I would think that this would subject individual items to greater scrutiny...or maybe not.
Vince, does the item have correct postage on it? I would be hard-pressed to remember what postal rate "E" was, and I would not expect the average postal clerk to bother looking it up.
Paul,
There is a total of $3.20 postage including the officials. It is marked 1st class, non-machinable. There is also a tracking number and a label applied by the post office with $0.00.
edit The "D" coil is .22c and the coil "E" is .25c
Nothing illegal going on here, I thought it would be an interesting cover to share. I have been dealing with this dealer for a number of years and he uses old postage to mail my orders.
An eBay seller used this cover to mail a purchase. I think I'll add it to my cover collection for the use of 14 coils from a late issue in the Americana series, Sc. 1813. The downside is the cover is a #12 envelope.
I can't guarantee others will find this cover interesting, but I save several of the commercial advertising and monetary solicitation covers I receive in the mail. I consider them the 21st-century equivalents of 19th- and 20th-century illustrated advertising covers. The item below showed up in my mailbox in 2016 from the Commemorative Air Force. Since I collect aircraft on covers I added it to my collection. The cover carried a solicitation for money to help restore a WW II Boeing B-29 which is pictured on the front and rear of this cover, along with an image of a Consolidated B-24 on the front, both iconic aircraft of he WW II period.
I like you cover Don, and yes that's a cover I would save! Nice topical advertising envelope and private mailers postmark too! Most of them will go in the trash!
I save a lot of contemporary covers, especially usage of different stamps. I also save the political mailings for presidential elections as this may be part of someone's political cover collection someday after we are all gone!
"just notice, the B-29 shown has your initials, too"
Well, almost. The B-29 is named Fifi. The CAF has restored it and it flies to air shows. I have seen it at AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI. A fine restoration, but I'd sure hate to pay the oil and gas bill!
Here are a couple other contemporary covers I have kept for my Cinderellas on Cover collection. I bought some cinderellas from this eBay seller and, so far, he always includes a cinderella on his shipping covers tied with a hand stamp urging the recipient to open the envelope carefully and pass it on to a collector.
From Russia, probably not with love, but from Russia anyway, a cover franked with classy recent stamps that look like they might have been issued in the 19th Century if fine colour printing had existed then:
The cover a maximum card picturing Russian forces ready to cross the Volga to defend Stalingrad from the German army in 1942. The painting looks like it could be a still from the movie Enemy at the Gates:
To me, the Battle of Stalingrad is one of the most interesting and dramatic battles of the Second World War, and a battle that some Western historians don't give enough credit to. It seems all too likely that we Canadians would be speaking German today if the Nazis had won. I feel like I'm just separated a degree or two from that battle. I don't know anyone who fought in it, but I was born on January 14, 1943, just a month and 12 days after the Russian victory. Over the years I've developed a small collection of Battle of Stalingrad stamps and covers, including a cover mailed from Stalingrad by a German soldier. This maximum card makes a nice addition to my collection, and just might be featured at the beginning of a web pages I'd like to do one of these days.