Monthly Archives: September 2018

New US combo FDC

SA 4.3 – combo

A new US combo FDC was recently discovered on an auction. Combo FDCs are quite rare, and I haven’t seen this one before. The catalogue number on the cachet is SA 4.3 – an Artcraft cachet that pictures William Booth and the centennial medal. The combo issue has a “religious freedom” stamp attached as well as a 500th Anniversary of the printing of the Holy Bible stamp.

US – Ranto cachet – SA 4.56

SA 4.56a – PO bulletin FDC

Stamp Posters w/First Day Cancels (SPFDC) are the forerunners of the USPO Souvenir Pages which have been issued since 1972. The USPO began distributing Stamp Posters to post offices in 1959. These 8 x 10-1/2 inch posters soon caught the eye of stamp collectors. Soon, some collectors had the idea of affixing a copy of the stamp(s) depicted to the poster and having the stamp(s) first day cancelled. Exactly, when collectors began this activity is uncertain, but by 1963, a stamp dealer started a service where he would apply the stamp(s) to copies of the posters for mailing to subscribers (Ranto). Usually, his work can be identified because he folded the posters twice for cancelation and mailing to his customers. All SPFDC are scarce, and many are rare, especially if they are flat (unfolded). In fact, SPFDC are unknown for quite a few issues. The shown poster bulletin here is unfolded and rare!

Canada FDC with two PMs

The Post Office FDC commemorating the Centenary of the Salvation Army in Canada is very common. The covers pictured here have extra PMs, and voilà; they are very seldom seen.  There is even one with TWO extra PMs. These are rare variants listed as SA 16.1b in the SA catalogue.

SA 16.1b - PO - w/ two extra PMs!!
SA 16.1b - PO - w/ extra Maple Leaf PM
SA 16.1b - PO - dbl PM - centennial logo

Rare First Flight cover!

1969 – First flight Jamaica – Baltimore
First flight Eastern Airlines Montego Bay, Jamaica to Baltimore, Md. Flown 13 Dec 1969 – Arrived next day (PM backside). Eastern Airlines Airmail cachet, “Par Avion”. Jamaica SA stamps of 1965 commemorating the centenary of the international SA. Remark: Very rare item – only 52 pieces flown. Estimated value: £50 +

Isle of Man single William Booth FDC

SA 19.1k – RARE Colby PM & single WB!

The 1983 Isle of Man issue commemorated the Centenary of the Salvation Army on the Island.  This Official FDC cachet is very common, but the cover shown here has a rare PM (Colby) and a single William Booth stamp on it, and voilà; this is a rarity, not seen before and not listed in the SA catalogue. Suggested catalogue number is SA 19.1k.

Danish SA FDCs with local PMs

SA 7.3 – Centennial logo – Aarhus PM!!

The usual PM for the Salvation Army 1967 FDCs was København (Copenhagen), which is seen on all the Danish FDCs. The only exception was a FDC issued in the Old Town of Aarhus, which had a local Aarhus PM. The Aarhus PM has now been found on two other FDCs; SA 7.1 and 7.3.

SA – 7.2 – Danish SA Crest – Middelfart PM!!!

Another unusal PM has also been found; a local PM – Middelfart – on the SA 7.2.  Such local PMs are highly unusual on the common Danish SA FDCs (except on the Old Town cover), I’ve never seen them on common covers before.