US Army Covers From 2ww And Few Others From The Same Period

Rod, I suppose that in 1873. not many truly philatelists exist. I will need to read his journal once, maybe he mentioned something about stamps collecting in his writings.

Russ, in your opinion, what is the most interesting cover which I uploaded until now?

filipo, the free frank from Reed with the Portland, Maine cancel for historical reasons. From a philatelic standpoint, the 18 cent airmail rate from San Juan, P.R.

Thank you, Russ. Here I have one even older machine cancel, from the May 1896, Washington, canceled on the back side of the cover... I suppose that it could also interesting for historical reasons.

filipo, is the front franked (signed) and if so, by whom?

Russ, yes, but the stamp is damaged.

I also noticed unusual cancellation on another cover, it looks that is made by very used machine...



And I have one question... Is it unusual when cancellation is made twice one the same cover and on the same place (one on another, so that it looks "blurred")?

filipo, Looks like it was a rubber stamp. Larger post offices used steel stamps but many small offices used rubber stamps which produced the fuzzy appearance.

Thank you, Russ!

Here is another few early envelopes, and some Army ones... and pair of the stamps with nice color... I just like them.

Russ, I have just few questions more.

1. Are this 2 stamps Scott 552?

2. When I need a measure (for example, height) of the stamp, do I need to measure only printed part, or complete stamp (with perforations). On the picture right side - is a good measure black or red line?

3. When I need to find out a number of perforations, is a sample made down on the picture good? Starting in the middle of the "hole"?

Thank you very much, and sorry for bothering you so much!

filipo, First, it is absolutely no bother I enjoy both collecting and talking about stamps. For measuring the stamps it is the printed portion only as indicated by the black arrows. The perforations are as you indicated the total number in 2cm. The possibilities for these stamps are 552, 581 & 632 (common); 578 (uncommon); 594 (rare).
552 flat plate printing design 18.5-19x22mm perf 11x11
578 rotary press design 19.75x22.25mm perf 10x11 (Coil waste)
581 rotary press design 19x22.75mm perf 10x10
594 rotary press design 19.75x22.25mm perf 11x11 (Coil waste)
632 rotary press design 19x22.75mm perf 11x10.5
perfs are listed horizontalXvertical

Based on the appearance I would guess flat plate printing 552

Thank you so much, Russ. Than, I will continue to looking into my collections of old papers, and looking to find some interesting pieces.

For example, I found this stamp in a pocket of one 1879. diary... It looks usual, but could it be maybe of some special printing?

And one general question... Is this kind of damage, like it is on this stamp, fatal for it value at all? Could it reduce it's value 50% or 90% or maybe at all?

Generally speaking I would think the rip / tear in the upper left corner (I hope that is all the damage as my slow internet connection only oads 3/4 of the image and then times out) would totally ruin a common stamp.

But, as this is rather old and in nice shape otherwise, clean, fairly well centered, not sure of the colours of these though, it might still be wanted and valued. Some collectors who cannot afford a very fine example of an old stamp are happy with a damaged one for much less.

If selling on ebay I would start the auction at 5%-8% of catalog, note the damage in the description, and hope for the best.

But, I could be wrong. I do not even know the catalog value of this stamp, and if is an expensive stamp the 5-8% of course would probably increase a bit.

Puzzler, thank you very much for your advice! I am not going to sell this stamp, it is very usual (if it is not the special printing, and chance for that is probably 1:100.000), and it's value is probably only couple of cents!

I am just interested in some details about stamps, and I am using this opportunity to ask.

filipo, The stamps appears to be on soft porous paper which would be an American Banknote Co. issue. The special printing (Scott 203) would be scarlet vermilion. Your example appears to be vermilion which would be a Scott 183. The 183 was issued in Aug 1878 with a printing of about 547 million. The stamps is pretty well centered for this issue and the color is nice. The damage in the upper left corner significantly reduces the value. The lower right corner also shows an indication of something, I can't tell if it is a mark, tear or crease. I would think that this stamp is 5-10% of cat value

Hi again! I got these 2 covers with some other items... they looks pretty nice to me, so I decided to scan and to share them with you! :)