Some More Of My Recent Proofs

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Since these issues date back to the time when the various Banknote Companies did the printing, did they just print quantities of these proofs and place them in collectors hands? How did they get on the secondary stamp market to begin with?

Just looking for a brief history lesson as to how these proofs first came into collectors hands.

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Up until a half century ago or more, stamp proofs were available to the stamp trade. In early days, congressmen could secure them for their constituents upon request. Thousands were distributed in this manner, creating a collecting irony of sorts: The proofs of modern U.S. stamps usually are not available, while older proofs are frequently offered for sale.

Today, proofs are retained only by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Postal Service. Engravers were allowed to keep a proof for themselves long after they became unavailable for congressional requests, but those were the only copies outside of government ownership. Occasionally, a retired engraver's estate may include a proof for outside sale, but that is extremely infrequent. The last 1953 airmail proof may have come from that source.

For all practical purposes, modern U.S. proofs are now akin to a dead country that no longer issues stamps. They are no longer obtainable by anyone.