This site will provide a pictorial overview of Salvation Army (SA) philately. The first SA stamps were issued in 1932 (Netherlands Indies). By 2019, there are 53 main issues with 153 SA stamps from more than 40 countries . FOR DETAILED INFO, CLICK ON THE IMAGES
1989 – Belgium Lux FD sheet
The Salvation Army centenary in Belgium was commemorated on the Christmas stamp issued 18 November 1989. Here is a lux Sonstamp FD Sheet which was issued in a limited edition of 500. This is the French version (Noel), note that this is no. 001!
SA 48.1 – Guernsey FDC w/ single stamp
One of the Guernsey stamps in the “Stories from the Great War” set pictured the Salvation Army volunteer Ada Le Poidevin. The cover above with single stamp is an unofficial cover issued by Rob Kinnon-Brettle (Kinnon Covers). He persuaded the post office to cancel with the official First Day of Issue postmark. Limited edition – only 50 covers were issued!!! Below is the official FDC with full set shown.
1998 – UK – Kettering PM
The Kettering corps postmark on a United Kingdom Christmas 1998 FDC. The Salvation Army began its work in Kettering in 1873 (125 years anniversary). The special designed postmark is here placed on a BPCPA cachet. Nice cover!
1987 – Jamaica FDC souvenir sheet
Salvation Army FDC from Jamaica 1987 with Souvenir Sheet. Issued 08.10.1987 and postmarked Kingston. The cover pictures General Eva Burrows. The cover is quite common with set of the four stamps, but rarely seen with souvenir sheet. The sheet is noted as Minisheet 702 in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue.
1937 – Netherlands Indies Flight cover
A very pictorial flight cover from the Netherlands Indies was obtained. It’s a First Flight cover from the K.N.I.L.M. and commemorate the opening of the Soerabaja – Makassar route. It has Salvation Army stamps from the 1936 issue on it, but not full set. Very nice cover. I’ve seen this cover occassionally on Ebay, but never with SA stamps before.
1982 – Special Swiss town PMs
The Swiss Salvation Army stamp 1982 has been issued on special Werbestempel or Sonderstempel envelopes. These covers have some very pictorial PMs from various towns, e.g., Sion, Reichenback and Zurich tram. Nice covers.
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SA 4.19d – World’s fair exhibiton
This is an official and quite ordinary US FDC, but the postmark is unofficial and very rare. A specialist retailer noted: “There is no catalog which lists catalog values or prices for Unofficial First Day of Issue cancels. Unofficial cancels are generally fairly scarce on ANY stamp issue, as one had to be in attendance in the one city of issuance, and then go to some other location to secure the cancels ON THAT SAME DAY. So distance and time were needed. We are specialists in this area, and have a feel for approx value, and how often we have seen the cancels on items over the years. I must say i do not recall ever owning these NY World’s fair cancels on the Salvation Army issue, and so these also have two areas of collectors who might have interest in them.” (http://trentonstampandcoin.com/)
1983 – Isle of Man – Gutter pairs FDCs
The centenary of the Salvation Army Movement in the Isle of Man was commemorated on four stamps in 1983. General William Booth is featured on the 12p stamp. The founder visited the island in May 1897. Four official postmarks were used, Douglas, St. Sanctain, Ramsey and Castletown. The shown FDCs here have gutter pairs and Ramsey PM on the official post office issue. FDCs with gutter pairs are quite rare.
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SA 3 – Swiss Holland-America Line FDC
Salvation Army 75th anniversary in Switzerland, issued 05.03.1958. This Holland-America Line FDC is unlisted in the Salvation Army FDC catalogue and has not been observed before. Must be a rare item.
Salvation Army Scout covers
A few countries have issued Salvation Army scout covers. I have now listed those I have collected here, see also the menu. It is mostly Norway and Sweden who have the tradition of making a special PM to the national scout camps. The catalogue numbers refers to ArGe Pfadfinder’s catalogue about European scout covers and postmarks. The below cover is the first registered Norwegian scout PM; issued at the “Concordia” international girls’ guide camp in 1954.
SA 35 – Australia – RARE PMs on PO FDC
Faces of Australia official Post Office FDC issued 01.01.2000 with three pictorial postmarks: 2 x Sydney (Opera and Clock) and 1x Darwin. Extremely rare with PMs from different locations!!! How on earth did they do that?
SA 5 – UK – LA Grech FDC
UK Lawrence A Grech FDC with set of Salvation Army stamps. Limited quantity. Rarely seen on Ebay. Catalogue value £25 – but covers with set are sold massively above catalogue value, due to the scarcity. Estimated £80+ (a similar cover was sold for > £200 on Ebay, October 2017).