Hundred Years Later Cover Anyone??

Has anyone ever thought of making a cover and having it post dated hundred years after the fist day of issue of a stamp? I was thinking about the other day and thought it could be a neat idea for an issue that was special to a person... if the money is the same of course!

I have made "last day covers" in the past on the last official day of sale of a stamp.

Just thinking out loud...
Regards from a rainy day in New Zealand.
Gavin

A nice idea in theory, but most stamps that are 100 years old are merely a fraction of what the current postage rates are and the stamp itself is likely to be much more valuable that any effort to apply it to a cover for a special cancellation signifying its centennial. If one were to apply a 100 year old vintage stamp, supplemented by a modern commemorative to make up the first class postage rate, it would probably be looked down upon by most collectors as nothing more than a curiosity.

In fact, to take stamp issues from the US for example, there are few exact first day of issue dates known for most stamps that are 100 years old. Many have only a month and year identified, with earlier known usages popping up from time to time. It was only beginning in the 1920s that a formal postmark was intentionally applied to covers to identify the first day a stamp was officially placed on sale.

I guess this can be overcome in the future when permanent or forever stamps make it to their centennial you just have to live long enough to see that day!

Agustanz,

An intruiging and whimsical idea, though I concur with WT1's practical observation.

Still, I am married to a Kiwi and love Vespas, so thought it would be fun to explore the math--using my own Newfoundland collection (its all that I collect) as an example.

So, since I know that Newfoundland stamps are still valid in Canada, let's then figure out how many stamps would be required from my mint stamps.

Currently, I would need 63 cents to mail a letter from Canada to say myself.

Let's then assume I did this in June 19, 1911 and used stamps from that issue date of June 19, 1911. (Or alternatively wait until Jan 2, 1919 for the next issue date of Newfoundland stamps).

Now how many stamps of what kind?

The cheapest permutation would be 63 of the 1 cent stamps (#104--attached image from my collection just to put some images around this lark). That would cost me using catalog values about $315. (Of course real market value would be far less, maybe 50%, but still)

The most expensive permutation would be to use 8 of the 8 cent stamps (#110a peacock blue variety, also attached image), with a little bit of overpostage, but now a catalog value of $880.

Of course, once used, the value plummets to not even a used value (substantially less than above), but a cover value. Covers are extremely hard to value, but the NSSC places a market value on a cover of the stamps above at $5 and $100 respectively (not allowing for multiple franking or the 100 anniversary appeal)

So the question would be would someone invest $315 to $800 of catalog value to perhaps create a unique cover with a value of greater than this? Probably not a wise investment, but perhaps crazy and whimsical like some guy named Edmund Hillary climbing Mt Everest without oxygen? Or calling on Stephen Donald to kick the winning goal over France for the ABs)?

Hmh....

I was thinking along the lines of one vintage stamp to identify with the centennial of the stamp, accompanied by one modern stamp that pays the first class postage. However, even at that, the value of the vintage used stamp is diminished because it does not have a "contemporaneous postmark" but merely a spray-on cancel that is more often than not used in the 21st century. Of course, a post office handstamp might be a better choice, though it would still be a contemporaneous use.

What if it gets lost in the mail?