Early Use Of "From Me To You"

I was at the post office on March 24 and my 12 year old asked to see what commemoratives they had. The clerk showed us the two newest ones she had- the water lilies booklet and a sheet of the From Me to You. My son chose the water lilies. After we got home, I realized the From Me to You sheet wasn't supposed to be available until April 1. So, we went back the next day and bought a sheet. A different clerk offered them to us and then had trouble ringing them up. She said to the clerk next to her, "This says these aren't for sale." The other clerk replied, "Yeah, that's what it said for me when that other lady bought two sheets. I just rang them up as another stamp." So.... we got our stamps a few days early. Out in the car I happened to have some left over envelopes from a Christmas project I did with my junior stamp club. They were rubber stamped with Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. I had one blank envelope. Below are scans of the covers. The stamps were sold in Janesville, Wisconsin, but all our mail is sent to Milwaukee, hence the cancellation.

Congrats those are modern rarities!

Clearly "contrived" (per a discussion recently about philatelic vs. commercial usage). And they may well enjoy a premium over actual FDC's of the stamp (though if this happened elsewhere, or enough of these showed up, there could be a debate over the real FDOI like with C19) in time.

But for the sake of discussion, if one of these had simply been mailed, say with a letter inside, and no other adornment on the cover other than the stamp itself, would it qualify, say for exhibit purposes, as commercial/postal history, or would the mere fact that the sender knew it was being posted pre FDOI make it philatelic?

But, yeah, what Crouse27 said. Congrats on taking advantage of a rare opportunity.

I would drop a handful more into tomorrow's mail for the 3/30/15 date and let them look more commercial. Greeting card to a relative perhaps? If you have the only few EDU examples they should value perhaps 20-30 times what a mass produced FDC might cost over the short term, but value appreciation beyond that may be a 20-40 year waiting period.
Thanks for sharing. Keep visiting the post office and if you get similar chances on other issues it would make for a funny exhibit.

Thanks, everyone. I did put a few more in the mail, this time without "adornment." It occurred to me today, that I should have offered to send some to a few lucky SCF members. If this happens again, we'll have a drawing.


blcjr said:


I've often thought about that, too. It doesn't seem fair to penalize a stamp collector just because they are "paying attention." All the information is out there for anyone to access.

Those are really cute covers spanishmoss. I was just sorting through some US the other day and found some mint that could be used for postage if your Junior Club could use them I will gladly send them to you.

Dianne

Do these kind of things demand a premium value of some kind?

I think it depends on the stamp. The more popular or collectible stamps probably enjoy a premium. If a stamp is popular, then that creates a demand for it on cover, and certainly compared to the regular FDC's, one with an early postmark may enjoy a premium. It may not be great. It all depends on supply and demand.

Dianne, sorry for not responding sooner. I was taking a break from the computer during Holy Week.

Thank you so much for your kind offer. I would love the stamps for the kids. In return, I will send you a "little something."

Do you still have my address?