Please Help Me Identify These...

I was going to put these under the covers topic but I don't know if they are covers. Could someone help tell me what these are? They've been in my stock book for decades and I've never been able to figure them out. They are both on card stock, and each measures 3.5" x 5.5". The scan doesn't show it clearly despite being crooked, but that is a Margaret Mitchell stamp on the second one. Why is there a stamp on it? Thanks for your help.






-IBFS

Postal Cards
America the Beautiful is UX120 issued 1988.
The flag is UX117 issued 1987.

They are postal stationery postcards, similar to postal stationery. They are prefixed 'ux' in the Scott catalog.

Postal stationery includes envelopes, postal cards, air letter sheets, newspaper wrappers, letter sheets and letter cards in the US lexicon and even more items for the rest of the world. The postal card, 14c Flag, with the stamp added was just prepared for use in advance when the rate went up to 15c. Some collectors/dealers consider the stamp added not worth noting, others prefer actual mint examples. US postal stationery issued after about 1861 is still valid for use in the mail with the addition of appropriate stamps of course.

So add a 31 cent stamp to them and they can be used just like post cards. That's basically it?

-IBFS

Not quite. Postcards/Postal Cards/Stamped Cards are currently $0.33 to mail. Your $0.15 postal card would only need an additional $0.18 to mail at today's rate.

Keep in mind that modern versions of postal cards in mint condition generally command little premium above the face value of the postal cards themselves. The used copies are actually worth more, but the key is that the used postal card must have a contemporaneous postmark to command those higher prices. In other words, you can't attempt to mail to yourself today a postal card from 1970 or 1980 and expect that the cancelled card would be worth a premium. If the postal card was from the 1970 or 1980 period, the postmark would have to show a date in that time period in order to reflect that premium value.

Good...thanks everyone!

-IBFS