Hi Everyone,
I received a postcard in the mail today that I purchased on ebay. It is from Morris, MN. I need some help understanding the cancels. The seller thought the card was from 1914. The round cancel is date stamped September 30. What is the 1915 stamp immediately to the right of the 1 cent stamp?
Support the Hobby -- Join the American Philatelic Society 27 Mar 2014 06:05:12pm
re: Need some help with a card from Morris Minnesota
The year, Tim.
If you are getting into Minnesota post marks now, I am happy to put any I come across aside for you. Unless there is a big back story on Morris, which I am not aware of, this really is not a good strike. Because it is a steel cancel, you should expect better. I understand that with postmarks, it is not like stamps. If one comes up, you have to pull the trigger, because who knows when one will come up again. On the other hand, you want legible strikes. It is like buying stamps for space fillers. Eventually you will end up buying the same stamp again, just to have a better copy. So, the key is having a feel for which are rare postmarks (= pull trigger NOW!) and which will likely turn up again.
This is a steel duplex cancel, likely from a second class post office (which is very decent size) and it is from the post card craze era (1900-1920), where lots of postmarks survived on greetings and view postcards. I recommend the Helbock book "Postmarks on Postcards" as a great and inexpensive introduction into U.S. postmark collecting.
This particular cancel is called a "Duplex" cancel. This particular type with the year in between was used from about 1890's to 1920's had the year between the two parts of the cancelling device. The two parts that made the "duplex" were the CDS (Circular Date Stamp) and the killer (football shaped stamp cancelling device). Various types of duplex cancellers were used into the 1970's in the US.
re: Need some help with a card from Morris Minnesota
Tim, having the year between the CDS and the football killer is the most common form for this type of duplex cancel. Don't know the reason, but i'm used to seeing it this way rather than any other on these duplexes.
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
I still have more questions than answers 28 Mar 2014 12:58:47pm
re: Need some help with a card from Morris Minnesota
Tim,
Some sellers will list the year the stamp was first produced in their listing. I find this confusing. Do a search in US postal history for 1870 some time. You may go through several pages of banknotes on cover and never come across one actually cancelled in 1870. If you are buying postcards you will see a lot listed with W/F's that are listed as 1908. When you inspect them the majority are cancelled from 1909 on. It is very tough to find W/F's actually cancelled in 1908.
Don't spend a lot on common Minnesota cancels. I have thousands that you can search through. I'll message you.
Pat
