Un Cover Question

United Nations 1 ½ Cent Precancel - Questions
I know that this issue has been counterfeited, but I am quite certain this one is not, because it arrived in the mail at our house in about 1951 or 1952. I saw an article on this cover in Lynn's in the mid to late 50s and have never been able to relocate it. I hope someone who sees this can give me more information about the cover with the Precancel. Thanks for any help.

I've never studied the UN precancel shown, but I did find this link that has a 60 page presentation on all the genuine usages and forgeries.

You can read the entire presentation for yourself, but the one item of note begins on page 9, where it is stated that the first UN precancel printing was delivered to the UNPA on September 2, 1952, so the cover shown would most definitely have to have been mailed later than that date.

Curiously, the presentation does not seem to show your specific cover example (i.e. with the wordy text under the return address, and yet with the typeface used in the indicia above the stamp). It could be an overlooked or undocumented example, but considering the overall number of pieces mailed, I doubt it would be unique.

http://www.unpi.com/exhibit_view_pa...PageNumber=1

Thanks wt1. I am fairly certain this would not be unique, but I actually doubt that many copies of this cover were kept. I do not know what was in the envelope, but I am certain that it was some kind of general information concerning the UN...Since my Dad had no connections whatever to the United Nations and I was just 10 or 11 years old at the time.

Unfortunately, I have no memory of the content of the article in Lynn's, except a vague image that it was saying that few of the covers survived even at that time - I just don't know. I wish Lynn's had a searchable online database!

I just noticed - the link you provided does show this cover on page 8! (Not as a precancel, however). See page 24!

Although there are many examples of the "wordy text" below the return address, I was specifically looking for the indicia above the stamp that reads "SEC 34.66 PL&R" (no period after "SEC" and weird ampersand "&" font). Such a cover is listed on page 31 (as Type "E") at the previously posted link, but not with the "wordy text" under the return address.

I see, thanks - you are way ahead of me! I'll see if I can catch up. I just sent my photos to them.

On page 24 of the exhibit, the type-B indicia looks like what you have. Census=34 reported. So Scarce, but collectors of this stuff are even scarcer!

But chasa - see wt1's note above...

Thanks to both of you for your help and discussion - now I know a lot more than I did! I suspect that this is more than the Lynn's article would have contained.

It's always fun to find a newspaper article on the subject online. This one happens to date back to December 19, 1958 when The Toledo Blade reported on the UN precancel forgeries.

Although it says nothing more than is already documented in the previous UN exhibit of the precancel stamps and their forgeries, it is interesting to note that the article states the UN bought these precancels in 1952 to "mail out a UN magazine in bulk":

Neat article...thanks!

Thanks to the link wt1 provided, I now have more information about this cover which I thought that I would share:

This cover, as it turns out, is a unique, previously unknown, variety. Originally 500,000 of the 1½ cent First Issue stamp were overprinted by Dennison and Sons. Of these, 361,700 were used with the remainder being destroyed. This is, of course, an extremely small production run for a modern utility stamp. Most of these stamps were used singularly to frank third-class bulk mail (a.k.a."junk" mail). Few entire covers were saved. Since 1993, a UN Stamp Collector, Tony Dewey, has kept a census of this cover type with fewer than 600 known. There are multiple varieties of this basic cover. And this cover is now (as of March 2015) the discovery piece for a new variety – soon to be the subject of an article in a journal. The corner card of this cover (upper left hand corner) is the same as those found in the first mailing (September 1952). However, the reference to the postal law section (PL&R) in the upper right hand corner is that from the second mailing (May 1953) on type E covers. It is known that the PL&R reference was added to existing stationery that the UN had on hand and it appears that this envelope from the first mailing was added to the batch being prepared for the second mailing. So far, this is the only instance of that happening which is known.

Interesting. So it seems I was right that the cover variety didn't exactly fit into any category shown in the previously posted link.

Obviously, the printing of envelopes with the revised PL&R reference must have been made in the hundreds -- if not thousands -- but the key is that no one apparently thought enough of it to retain the entire cover as a postal history item.

It just goes to prove that today's "junk mail" can very well become tomorrow's collectible (even if you have to wait 50 or 60 years for it to happen).

And I have held onto this cover for over 60 years! Amazing that, as a kid, I decided that I wanted to keep it!

You were correct wt1 about not seeing it listed!

I am absolutely delighted to have found a new, previously unknown variety. It is a first for me, and I would not have done it without your help. Thanks.

You're welcome!

Do you have anymore items you want to post?

All of a sudden UN items aren't as boring as some might think!

I do have a few more UN items I can post and I will work on that. I already posted a UN Stamp Club Cover and have a few more with the only difference being the stamps on the covers, so those probably would not be of interest. I will see what I can find.

I also have some US stamps with some questions I want to dig out and post.

Thanks for asking!