Cutting Covers Question

Hi Everyone,

I'm relatively new to the hobby and had a question about cutting stamps from covers. Someone donated several boxes of covers ranging in date from the late 50s to early 70s to out junior stamp club. I have been cutting the stamps and cancels off the covers from the 70s but have hesitated to cut the earlier ones. What would you say is a good rule of thumb date-wise when it comes to NOT cutting a cover? I have been saving the obviously more "interesting" covers- slogan cancels, return to sender, etc.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated!
Aimee

it really depends on who is collecting them.. many folks collect only first day covers (those will be clearly marked for first day of issue) others collect all covers that have something of interest to them.. and folks like me would pass on first days to others and carve up the rest as you have been doing LOL... but that is just me ....let ssee what other have to say ....

I would tend to keep covers that had the following aspects. A crisp clear circular date stamp cancellation well placed. Covers that required more than standard first class postage. Covers with other postal documents and stamps such as "Return to sender", "Postage Due", certification and registration stamps, numbers and tags.

I definitely think you're doing the right thing saving the slogans etc. Its always a matter of personal choice and judgement, but here's some things to ponder...
The stamp club members might enjoy exploring this area of collecting too. Imagine - if they have a cover from the 1970s in their collection, by the time they are my age (quick mental arithmetic here) the cover will be 70 years old...
Tha stamps on these covers may well be common ones, and you will end up with many duplicates Having some "on piece" makes a common stamp more interesting (to me, anyway!) and can help put them in their historical context.
Perhaps you could let the club members have a look through and choose some covers they would like to keep before you cut any more?
Covers can add another dimension to a topical collection.
Just some random thougths from someone who regrets cutting a lot of covers in the past!

Another one of those questions with no right or wrong answers. However, I agree pretty much with smauggie.

1. Keep covers intact that may contain any special postal markings (i.e. return to sender, certified/registered mail, postage due, etc.)

2. I'd also keep all airmails on cover to show period use of the stamps and cancels.

3. Also keep on cover any unusual denomination stamps (i.e. priority mail, express mail, larger denomination stamps), clear and sharp postmarks, slogan cancels, unusual locations, etc. (Remember, today's cancellations used on stamps are pretty ugly and usually reflect a regional postal facility location; the older style postmark with the date/time and specific city/state shown on the cancel is fast becoming a thing of the past and gives one a lot more history.)

4. Even covers addressed to/from certain people or businesses may be of interest to keep on cover. (With the internet, it's relatively easy to determine if you have a notable person or interesting business entity that may be depicted on the cover, which would make it more desirable to keep intact.) In fact, sometimes the history of the person or business depicted on the cover makes it more desirable than the stamp or cancel would by itself.

Just remember the obvious: Once the stamp is soaked off the envelope, all history is lost as to it's usage, so it makes for a much more interesting collection to have the entire cover. Of course, storage and logistical problems prevent most of us from keeping everything.

but sure is fun to try!!

Welcome Spanishmoss

For the earlier covers, I would leave them intact.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I am also new to the hobby (but getting near to my first birthday) I tend to err on the side of caution and I keep all covers as intact as possible. I store them in plastic envelopes and I leave that decision to my children. I live alone and have plenty of room to store them

The plastic envelopes cost around $7.00AUD for 200 and I buy re-cycled 3 or four ring folders to keep them. It is probably a bit useless, but I have plenty of stamps on paper and off paper to keep me going without cutting up some more to soak off.

Most recent covers have those pesky peel&stick which are a pain to soak off anyway.

Interesting covers I store in Hagner-like pages as part of the collection they belong to.

cheers,

alex

Thank you all for the advice. I think for now, since I don't really need the stamps, I will leave the rest of the covers as they are. It has been a lot of fun going through them and looking at the different cancellations, especially the slogans. It has also been interesting seeing how beautifully most people wrote back then. I think cursive writing is becoming a lost art. I have set aside some of the more nicely addressed covers. I don't think they will ever be worth anything, but they are such an inspiration to me to improve my own handwriting and take pride in my work!

Today's junk mail and correspondence is tomorrow's philatelic history cover. LOL!

I always liked old postcards because they had the letter included.