Cachet Catalogs

I have selected volumes of Mellone Specialized Cachet catalogs covering the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's. But there don't seem to be any editions covering decades before or after those? Have I missed them?

Other than the Planty volumes, are there any other catalogs I might look for? I only collect airmail and aviation themed covers, and spending nearly $300 on a complete set of Planty's seems excessive.

Basil

Yes, there are the Mellone Photo Encyclopedias of Cacheted Covers prior to 1940. They are Titled "Mellone's Planty Photo Encyclopedia of Cacheted First Day Covers, Volume xxx". They span Volume 1 - 18, starting with Volume one listing the years 1901 - 1928 (including Scott 294 - 645, C3 - C10, E15).

Are these the Planty catalogs you are referring to?

Yes, eighteen different catalogs, with Volume 18 including Scott 856-858.

Cheers.

Yes, they are. I was just wondering if there was anything else available. Those are too pricey for my needs.

Thanks for the reply.

Basil

I'm back on the hunt for something here, with some success.

First, I've realized that two "Planty" multivolume sets. The older, with 10 volumes, is just "Planty." A newer/reprinted version, with 18 volumes, is "Mellone/Planty."

Since I'm interested principally in airmail stamps, it helps to learn that Volume 10 of the original Planty covers 1926-1939, C7-C24, which is exactly what I'm looking for in terms of pre 1940 coverage. The same range of coverage, C7-C24, would require ALL eighteen volumes at a cost of several hundred dollars. (Luckily, for me, the original Planty didn't list the airmails until the final volume, whereas Mellone/Planty strings them out across every single volume.)

So I've got coverage of interest for 1926-1969, C7-C76.

But what about after 1969? The 18 volume Mellone/Planty only goes up to 1939. The little "specialized" Mellone volumes cover the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's. Are there any cachet catalogs covering the more recent decades? If so, please let me know. And if not, please let me know also, so I will not keep looking for something that doesn't exist.

Basil

How about something like this (first cachets only)?



Or these volumes available for the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s?



Still not cheap, as prices range from $49 to $149 per volume, but all are available at this link:

http://www.afdcs.org/fdccatalogs.html

Interestingly, on another stamp collecting website someone was asking the publisher of the Scott Catalog if they have any plans to re-issue their US First Day Cover Catalogue and Checklist which went out of print some years ago. The reply was that the rights to that work are now owned exclusively by Michael Mellone and it is up to him whether or not any revised (digital or print) editions may be coming in the future.

I'm wanting a catalog of more than just "first cachets."


I picked up one of those volumes off Ebay for $19.99; that was the starting bid, and I was the only bidder, shipping was extra. I already had the selected volumes of the original: those are reprints. The originals were issued in multiple volumes for each decade, typically 2 or 3 per decade, with the airmail covers in the final volume for each decade, so I just bought those. The originals are widely available on Ebay, and having acquired one of the reprints, I'm not convinced of their utility. The images are larger, but the originals are adequate. The reprints claim to have "updated pricing" but that consists of a single page with a table of multipliers along the lines of "if the original value was xxx, use yyy now;" very generic, and not really worth what they are asking for if purchased for valuation. But I'm simply interested in identifying cachet makers; I can form my own estimate of value from Bidstart and Ebay sales.

The Scott catalog you mention which is out of print is actually of no use for identifying cachet makers. Even if it were brought back in print, it wouldn't really be a catalog of cachets. Maybe I haven't been clear in expressing what I'm looking for. I have the 2002 edition of the Scott "catalog" and all it does is contain an entry for each US stamp (like a...stamp catalog) with a generic valuation for a cover for that stamp, and then a "pricing multiplier" for various cachet makers. So again, the focus is on valuation, not identification.


It appears to me that there may well be no catalogs of cachets for issues after the 1960's. I find that hard to believe, but I'm finding it harder to actually find anything later than the 1960's.

Thanks for trying, though.

Basil

You might consider contacting James McCusker, a FDC and postal history auction/dealer in Massachusetts (www.jamesmccusker.com). They probably have information regarding the most recent references for your FDCs.

Thanks for the suggestion. If anyone knows, surely he does. I wasn't familiar with his website, so thanks for pointing me to it. I returned to collecting a few months ago, after a decade of indifference to me collection. Back "in the day" when a lot of sales were made after getting catalogs or lists via mail from individual dealers, I seem to recall being on McCuster's list for mailings. I'll see if I can find anything out from him.

I collect cacheted postal card first day covers and have searched the Web looking for a database that shows all known cachets for all U.S. postal cards, UX, UY, UXC, UZ. So far, I have found nothing like it anywhere, so I am in the process of creating a postal card cachet database. I hope I am not duplicating something that somebody else has already done. Am I?



Fleugel cachet, one of 37 cachets I will be showing for this issue.

Doug

AFDCS & APRL Life Member

PostalCardCachets:
A nice article in "First Days" some years ago covering US UXC's.
I know of another person who was going to catalog all known US postal stationery, FDC cachets.
The present status of that project is unknown to me.
Respectfully submitted:
jrc

PostalCardCachets:
Minor correction: the afore mentioned article in "First Days" was for
UXC1 only. Volume 53, No.8, Whole Number 371, December 1, 2008.
Sorry.
Respectfully submitted:
jrc

As was posted to TOPIC_ID=38258 (Cachet Catalogs) by blcjr 07/05/2014 08:48 am
http://goscf.com/t/38258#326893
"Are there any cachet catalogs covering the more recent decades?"

I searched the entire SCF for "Steenerson" and this has not been replied to or mentioned anywhere else.

In 2010 (B&W) and 2021 (color) Chris Steenerson published two editions of his two volume "Steenerson's Illustrated Catalog of Cacheted First Day Covers of the SEVENTIES". When I purchased these books I found that all issues are listed in FDOI and not Scott number order. So I created a Scott Number Index on my site to his 1970's volumes. My Index includes links to both his website and to Amazon where these books can be purchased. I did this only as a service to others who might find it useful. I receive nothing from the sale of these books. Chris is working on similar Catalogs for the 1980s and 1990s but I do not know when they will be published.

https://www.folklib.net/fdc/bibliog...-index.shtml