Dilemma; To Float Or Not To Float?

I have a decent US collection including many of the 'classics'. I have not spent much time or money on anything post-1976 but have the albums/pages and whenever I come across something I add it. (On the one hand I find it hard to spend good money on stamps printed by the millions but on the other hand my OCD rewards my intrinsic desire to 'fill a space' in the album.)

So here is my dilemma. I recently have come into a lot of unaddressed first day covers that included Fleetwood albums 1990 through 1998. I usually just sell off these kinds of unwanted items but in looking at the values of this kind of material it strikes me that I doubt I would glean even 15 to 20 cents per FDC.

Would I be committing an egregious sin by floating these stamps and adding them as singles to my collection?

"Just do it" Most modern FDC are pretty much worthless as far as monetary value. I floated a few to fill spaces and never looked back.

I know some people would say leave it be because someone somewhere will collect it as a FDC and maybe you could make a trade. Me personally - I would float. If there is nothing at special about the cover and you want to fill holes then why not? At the end of the day you need to satisfy your collecting needs.

Enjoy!

Drew

The only covers worth keeping intact are genuine postal items. The produced for collectors garishly illustrated unaddressed envelopes that overhadow the stamps they bear are generally pretty much worthless (to me anyway) and I would happily soak all the stamps off. Do it.

Terry

Float.

Float em'

Float or keep them no big deal either way.

I usually reach for my six shooter when I hear the word 'float', but this case is an exception. Unaddressed FDCs that have never passed through the postal system? Retrieve the stamps and junk the envelopes.

I'll be a bit of a "contrarian" here. My father passed away almost 21 years ago and as the only heir (after Mom also passed), I'm maybe half-way through using up all the 3, 4, 5 cent US stamps he left. If it was me; and depending on the stamps already on the unaddressed FDCs, I'd add make-up stamps and send them into the mails. While I do much of my business on line now, I still pay most bills by regular mail so I can keep using those old stamps.

If you get rid of the FDCs, please consider recycling rather than adding to a land fill somewhere.

Fill the gaps.!

Interesting comments from people who do not collect first day covers and don't know much about them. I wouldn't put too much stock in their advice.

I collect first day covers from various countries including the United States. Here is an example of what I collect:

http://postalhistorycorner.blogspot...canadas.html

I appreciate and collect FDCs and believe that these "philatelic" creations are worthy of study. I am not alone. In early September this FDC was sold on ebay:

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I don't know much about this specific issue but I know that I would not hesitate to include it in my collection.

Perhaps those who have provided advice about FDCs might want to guess what this FDC sold for. You can check for yourselves on ebay. I'll post the selling price later. (Yes I know it is postal stationery and not a stamp)

Those who have contributed to this topic so far have no real understanding of this field. It is true that many FDCs cachets are common but the same can be said about stamps. The Fleetwood cachets you would like to soak may have little resale value. Although I collect FDCs I don't know anything about modern Fleetwoods and could not advise one way or another. Prices realized on ebay will give you an idea of what collectors are willing to pay for them.

I would just put them in a shoebox in catalog order. The time and effort involved in soaking them off and then hinging them in is more than the effort is worth. To me that time would be better spent reading philatelic literature or some other learning tool to improve my knowledge base.

No doubt I'll keep my eyes open for a Sinclair Dinoland FDC once lorddenning posts the price realized. You might convert me to an FDC collector. Actually, I have a few FDCs that I would not destroy for the stamp. I'm not an anti-FDC guy, they're just not my thing. So, 51studebaker, I still say sink the cover and rescue the stamp if you need it for your album.

There were 9 different bidders. Two of them HAD to have this first day cover.





At the specialist level, FDC collecting is a hobby distinct from stamp collecting. I'm not posting this to convince any of you to become FDC collectors but to show you that this can be a serious pursuit, every bit as challenging as stamp collecting.

All anyone has to do to know it can be serious is look up the catalog values of 19th century FDC's. Or C1-C3. Or many pre-1935 FDC's with the right cachets (or sometimes even without a cachet).

Revcollector

You have missed my point.

I am talking about MODERN first day covers. You know, the ones that philatelist consider to be junk and not worthy of consideration. Just read the comments posted for this topic alone.

You're right that "all anyone has to do to know it can be serious is look up catalog values of 19th century FDC's..." But I can assure you that it is not easy to demonstrate that collecting modern FDCs (and really it's about the cachet) can be serious business.

Why do I know? Because until recently I had the same opinion of FDCs as most philatelists. I never bothered to look at them at shows or on eBay/Delcampe. Fortunately I came to my senses and began to appreciate the beauty and historical significance of the various cachets.

My interest has grown to include the FDCs of the Philippine Republic, a neglected area of study. Here is an example of what I collect:

http://philphilately.blogspot.ca/20...f-first.html