I was puttering through a stack of album pages on my worktable. By puttering, I mean removing the stamps from the album pages, grading the stamp and putting them into G&K 102 Collection cards. I noticed a 733 with an odd looking cancel. On closer examination I discovered that it was a signature. Admiral Byrd had actually autographed the stamp honoring his Antarctic Expedition II. The stamp is mint with about 1/4 of its gum gone (probably stuck to an album page).
You certainly do have a Byrd signature,
He most always signed his name RE Byrd for Richard Evelyn Byrd,
Here is my Byrd stamp from my Autographs Across Stamps collection.
Regarding my Byrd signature, he charged me a dollar for it, but I got a very rare signature, for I made the check out to Richard E Byrd. If I had been a little smarter, I would have made the check out to Richard Evelyn Byrd.
I wonder how many signatures are that way?
Here is the check.
Richaard
Put the following into Google to see my autograph collection, richard novick autographs
Article per Stamporama
In my research after discovering the autographed stamp to compare the signature to other examples of the Admiral's signature, I found examples of his autograph on the web. It certainly appears to be a match. There are at least two plate blocks with "REByrd" autographs on sale for over $900. And on one site I found a typed letter to President Roosevelt addressed as "Dear Franklin" and signed "Dick Byrd". In the letter he forwarded two Christmas Island stamps to the President. Here is the link:
Regarding my Byrd signature, he charged me a dollar for it, but I got a very rare signature, for I made the check out to Richard E Byrd. If I had been a little smarter, I would have made the check out to Richard Evelyn Byrd.