This Close To An Early Usage...

Today I was at a small post office, getting some postcards hand canceled, and I asked the clerk what day I can buy the new muscle car stamps. She said the 22nd, though I thought that was the first day of issue, not first day of sale.

But I digress...

She opened a drawer, took out a folder, and next thing I knew, I had a sheet of the not-yet issued stamps in my hands. All of a sudden, thoughts of early usage covers and pre-issue cancels darted around my brain.

"Just think of the bragging rights you'd have!"

...... Then I handed the sheet back to her and said she might see me later this week...

So close...

Remember, these postal clerks now have POS registers that when the barcode of the item is scanned it will prohibit the transaction if it predates the announced first day of issue, presumably as a protection against early release of the stamps. Of course, they could override it (but it would probably mean their job).

Hmmm... good point!

Not all post offices have POS scanners/registers. A lot of the real small post offices still have to calculate via calculator and enter values manually. My local post office is one of those and the clerk has let me hold many an issue earlier than the first day of issue, but he also knows not to sell it earlier than the first day of issue. The pack card on top has the date in which he can start sell a particular stamp.

Nowadays, the pack card on the top has the statement "do not sell before the first day of issue as announced in the Postal Bulletin" presumably because first day of issue dates in recent years have been VERY fluid. Take for example, the Lydia Mendoza stamp that was slated for March and has now been moved to June 2013. The stamps are already printed, I'm sure, so it's more cost effective for the printers to omit the specific date of issue when preparing the stamps for distribution.

wt1: I just checked some pack cards I've accumlated recently and you're right -"Postively DO NOT SELL untiol the FIRST DAY SALE DATE as announced in the Postal Bulletin" as read from the pack card for the Great Film Directors.