Local Posts On Cover

Here are a couple of nice covers...









The white line is from the scanner (2nd cover).

I've always been fascinated by local posts, but unfortunately lack the wherewithal to pursue this collection avenue seriously, beyond a handful of Blood's covers.

One of the gems of my collection - one of 6 known Kellogg covers from Cleveland. It's the ugliest of them but tells the best story (someone tried to use 3 to prepay postage; two were ripped off and the cover was sent unpaid from the post office).

I will be surprised that the Blood and West covers comes back with a good cert's.

The Blood's cover came from Martin Richardson who is one of the expertiser's for locals. The West Town cover comes from a dealer I've never had anything questioned and it meets all the criteria for a genuine cover. The town postmark is correct; these were rarely cancelled. What is it that makes you question the authenticity of either of these?

Those two covers are worth $20.00 or $30.00 without a certificate with good certificates they are worth $1,000's . So tell me who would hold those covers and think they are real without spending the money for a cert . A scan or picture can never be certain if it is real ,do you have certificates for them .

Not sure what you are using for a value guide. The Blood's is valued at $800.00 while the West Town has a value of $150.00.

Stampman2002's Bloods cover is part of a known correspondence. It is not worth "$20 or $30" without a cert, especially since the stamp off cover is worth $250. I agree that it would be worth more with a cert, and that the Scott catalog price is for an example with a cert, but I see no reason to question either of the covers.

The downside of forums like this--someone starts a thread just to share something of interest to them and Debbie Downer shows up unsolicited with her bucket of ice water. It's happened to me, Stampman, and caused me to leave SCF for a time. The late great Bill Weiss convinced me to return.

"shows up unsolicited " really ,haven't seen much solicited responds here .
Debbie Downer is a great teacher.......This boards major focus is to educate not to pat each other on the back . If good'o Debbie helps new collectors understand what to look for and that covers can be faked and the stamp can be a fake it is telling them to ask not only if it has a certificate but a GOOD CERTIFICATE then they are learning something .
Back to the subject of who's showing up----I got 2444 postings ,you got 369 . So that's a losing argument for you . Shees what I got to put up with .
I truly believe a good disagreement on a chat board makes for interesting reading and a learning experience for all collectors .
TO NEW COLLECTORS ---Notice he never said he owns those two covers ,so they may be just taken off the internet . Also if not only if the cover is fake but also if the stamps are fake {I don't know anything about U.S. LOCAL POST} then its safe to call it a $20.00 or $30.00 cover if both are fake . If SPQR is correct in his statement ,that the stamp is real ,then it has more value then what I said .

I greatly appreciate the support. I do not have a cert because I don't feel like getting one. I've done my homework; I've got a massive library of research material, books and journals; I've talked with recognized experts in the field and having done my due diligence, I'm confident in what I have being genuine.

That being said, I do agree with the gentleman who was a tad bit dismissive about these, as there are many fakes, forgeries and doctored items out there. For most collectors, a certificate is a necessity as they don't have the resources I've amassed or the contacts. Additionally, the value of the covers would certainly be enhanced by having a certificate, so I will eventually get one when it comes time to liquidate the collection.

One of the reasons I haven't done so has been the on going revelations of previously certified material being returned now as less than it had previously been thought because of technological advances and new research. Take, for example the complete discrediting of "China Clay" papers, as an example. Additionally, I have no plans to go anywhere in the near future nor do I plan on prematurely closing my stamp albums forever, to use the euphemism commonly applied to philatelists. Most experts agree that any certificate more than ten years old should be resubmitted and updated.

Should I be mistaken on either of these covers, which I don't believe I am, I'll still enjoy them as genuine usages from now until then. That could be a long time to enjoy them....

How will you educate us then?



PFC 507686, genuine usage




Er, OK... I guess that's somehow relevant...

Gorgeous covers Stampman2002! I hope you'll share more of them. By the way, you learn rather quickly to distinguish between the experts and the braggarts on this forum . Fortunately the former outweigh the latter by a great degree.

Floortrader, Just to be absolutely clear - I own both covers. I also agree that a discourse between members would be a great help for new collectors and I welcome that aspect of it. I'm a long time member of the American Philatelic Society, the President of the local stamp club and have been for four years running, and also have memberships with the United States Stamp Society (USSS), the United Postal Stationary Society (UPSS), and the Precancel Stamp Society (PSS).

I DO NOT ever post anything which I do not own. I value the opinion of others and look to further my philatelic knowledge. You cannot do that by claiming to have something which you do not have.

If I could be so bold as to make a suggestion, I would recommend that when you cast doubt as to the veracity of an item, you add some concrete reasons for it. This would provide a more welcome forum and be both informative and educational, which was something which you believe this forum can provide.

I look forward to posting more items and learning your opinions about them.

STAMPMAN 2002 ----Thanks for your posting , I also was a long time APS member , I have been a member of the Air Mail Society ,member of the Austin Stamp Club in Chicago and last living member of the Ogden Hills Stamp Club of Chicago [they started the COMPEX STAMP SHOW}. I maintain active accounts with five of the largest stamp auction houses and buy actively for over 40 years . I am a worldwide collector .
I always enjoyed collecting stamps, and now active in making a collection of fakes and forgeries and a Cinderella collection ,my collection is a decent size but has room for growth . This week I decided to expand my collection to include U.S. Plate Number Coils [started this week and already had a dealer jerk me around --that's a story I will post here sometime this week ] .
I never looked at U.S. Locals or U.S. covers but know enough about philately that to question any cover to it being faked and also know most of the U.S. Locals have been forged ,so my first question is always is the stamp faked or is the cover faked and if not was the scan lifted off the internet . So those three questions will always be the asked .