Bluejay Collection: 1983 German Immigration Joint Issue Covers (And More!)

In 1980, US President Ronald Reagan signed into law a Senate Joint Resolution (PL 97-472) that established the President's Commission for the German-American Tricentennial ("Commission"). The purpose of the Commission was "to plan, encourage, develop and coordinate the commemoration" of the 300th anniversary of German settlement in America which formally began in October 1683.

The Commission was required to be self-funding and so it sought donations (in the form of cash, goods and/or services) to cover its expenses. No commemorative coin was authorized by Congress on behalf of the Commission. In fact, no coin was even proposed! The Commission did, however, authorize a commemorative medal on its own that it sold in bronze, silver and gold versions. (More on these in a later post.)

The first German settlement developed north of Philadelphia; it became known as Germantown. (Today, Germantown is within the city limits of Philadelphia.) The town was settled by 13 Menonite families that came to America on board the sailing ship Concord.

In 1983, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the US released a joint issue of stamps to mark the tricentennial of the full-scale start of German immigration. Each of the stamps depicts the same core design, the sailing ship Concord under sail on its voyage to America.

Following is a plate block of the US stamp (Scott #2040):



As with other joint issues, Fleetwood created a standalone cover for the US stamp, and a set of three FDCs for one of its Joint Issue Series. In this post, I'll present the standalone US cover. In follow-up posts, I will showcase: a) the three Joint Issue Series covers, b) the official cover of the Commission, c) a bonus cover that highlights the story of the primary proponent of the stamp issue, d) the official medal of the Commission and e) a cover that presents an image of the obverse of the official medal. Much more to come!


Fleetwood Standalone Cover for German Immigration 300th Anniversary

Here are the three Fleetwood covers from the Joint Issue Set:









The German stamp's issue city was Bonn, Germany - Beethoven's birthplace!

The cachet image found on each of the covers was originally painted by American artist Charles Lundgren (b. 1911; d. 1988). Lundgren was known for his paintings of marine subjects, especially sailing ships.

Here is a joint First Day of Issue Cover bearing the US stamp and the German stamp along with a cachet of the proposed (but unsuccessful) design for the commemorative stamp. The Cover was produced by Fleetwood and, as with the Joint Fleetwood Cover (above), each stamp is postmarked in its respective country.

Next up is a plain First Day Cover, as available from the USPS - no cachet, just the cancelled US stamp on a plain #6 envelope.

Collectors had until May 29, 1983 (First Day of Issue was April 29, 1983) to order First Day Covers from the Germantown, PA Postmaster.

Rounding out my exhibit of covers for the German-American Tricentennial, here is a FDC that features the obverse of the official commemorative medal of the President's Commission for the German-American Tricentennial.




And here's an example of the silver medal in its original holder.

Coming to take a look after reading the related topic at CCF.

Very nice!