General Question About FDC/Cachets (I Think)

Hi again, everyone!

Apologies in advance because I'm not entirely sure I know what I'm talking about - so thanks for patience :)


I've been in stamp/coin shops and purchased First Day Covers. Most often, they have been addressed to someone specific. And, sometimes, they have nice artwork on the side of the envelope.

I finally found someone at the USPS who could help direct me to how to order a First Day of Issue cancelation. - I send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the correct postmaster for that particular stamp and they will run my envelope through the "first day of issue" mark and send it back to me. (I think)

But, just a plain envelope with the plain stamp seems kind of boring, and I'd love to be able to send one with artwork on it like I've seen so many times at the stores.

How do I get those? I've tried google searching but can't seem to find anything. The closest I get is something about a digital postmark from USPS and I don't think that's it.

I'm a bit confused about the whole thing and could really use a little clarification.

Thank you so much in advance!

The philatelic term for the "artwork" is "cachet." These are a few options:

1. You can hand draw or hand paint your own, or hire an artist to do so.
2. You can create digital images of your own on a computer and then print them on blank covers, or hire someone to do so.
3. You can download digital images and print them on blank covers. For example, the American Philatelic Society (www.stamps.org) offers free downloads of cachet graphics.
4. You can buy commercially printed blank (unserviced) covers from sources like this one.
https://washpress.com/artcraft_envelopes.jsp

See also the American First Day Cover Society:
http://www.afdcs.org/

Thank you for that! Would you mind listing a couple others that you might know that offer that service? I'm definitely no artist! And don't know anyone to hire.


I noticed on their site they have a lot, such as this one: https://washpress.com/showArtcraftI...?itemId=5561

The issue date for these stamps is in April. The person at the USPS mentioned that you only have 60 days to request the First Day of Issue cancelation. Is that correct? I couldn't send one like the one above (issued in April) and receive it?

Again, I know these are basic questions from a novice - I appreciate your patience!

Some folks prefer to collect FDCs with cachets from larger publishers.

Some folks prefer to collect FDCs with artist-hand-drawn cachets.

I will eschew the psychobabble mind-reading about who prefers what, and why.

But I will urge you to spend your time (look at lots & lots of FDCs) before you spend your cash.

Two of my faves are ...

http://www.collinsfirstdaycovers.net/ ... Collins First Day Covers ... Fred Collins

http://www.anonemousecachets.com/ ... Anon E Mouse Cachets ... Cynthia Scott

... but I suspect that, were I to look at more artists, I'd have more faves.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Based on the story given in the original post, it sounds like interest is in obtaining only a couple of covers for every new issue. That can get to be very expensive. For example, you have to buy the preprinted cacheted covers, which can be very expensive in small quantities, pay to have them shipped to you (postage), then you buy the new stamps and affix them to the envelopes (more postage) and send them off to the USPS (more postage) for a first day cancellation to be affixed and returned to you either in bulk (more postage that you have to provide) or individually (which means you have to buy removable address labels) as addressed covers are all but frowned upon for modern day issues.

After all that, what do you get for your money? A first day cover that may be worth $1 (catalog value) and probably only 10% or 20% of that figure on the secondary market.

Back when postage was 10 or 15 cents, it may have been a gratifying endeavor; today the costs far exceed the value of the cover to the point where you are better off either buying the prepared covers or buying the uncacheted ones from direct from the USPS and printing your own aftermarket cachets on them.

Of course, if value doesn't enter into the picture, do what you want. But if you're looking at it purely from an economic standpoint, with today's postage and printing costs it's just not very practical to service your own first day covers anymore, especially if only a very few covers are involved. Dealers who send in dozens or hundreds or even thousands of cover are the ones who find it helpful as they typically process and ship them in bulk and get preferential treatment from the USPS in doing so.

This link might be worthwhile reading on the subject:

http://uspsstamps.com/stories/deter...st-day-cover

Wow.. that definitely adds a lot of insight - thank you! As mentioned, it's all quite new for me. I'm definitely not in it to "make a profit" or increase the "value" of my collection economically. I suppose I just like the idea of having a few that are addressed to me personally. It does sound quite pricy though as the model you described sounds like what I had figured I'd need to do. Some of the cachets in the links above are gorgeous but very far out of my price range. I suppose I will really have to pick and choose which few I really want to make it all worth while.

You mentioned the art cachets are frowned on today. If I send them a self addressed stamped envelope that includes an art cachet, you think they will just send it back to me without the first day cancel?

Thank you kindly for your thoughts! I know you aren't the USPS but any insight and thoughts are really helpful -

Thank you again, everyone who has replied so far! Really appreciate it!

JDcompy - A Digital Color Cancel from the USPS is just a specially made cancel for a stamp that is a touch more artistic than the standard three line FDC. They cost a little more, a standard FDC for a 49¢ stamp is 93¢, a Digital cancel is $1.64. Some are really nice, others I prefer the standard three line cancel. Here is a scan of one of the Batman stamp's digital color cancel from page 7 of the USPS Philatelic 2015 1st quarter catalog:



Have you tried to make your own cachets using downloaded images from the internet? If you have a good printer that can print envelopes it is a cheap alternative to professional cachets, and artistic talent is not needed. If you plan to resell the cachet, then you must be aware of copyrights to any images you download. But my understanding of the laws (which may be incorrect) are that if you can download the image, you can use it on projects for your own personal use.

The ugly truth of FDCs is that they are vastly more expensive if you want to collect them as the stamps are issued, and available for pennies on the dollar if you wait for them to arrive on dealers' tables, in auction lots, etc.

A subscription to an FDC service pretty much guarantees that you will build a complete set, of whatever you want, as the stamps are issued. Pricey, but you get to be the first on your block. Call it the cash-drainer-no-brainer option, with the subscription price set with an awareness of what it would cost you to DIY one-by-one.

Buying them later in the cycle may require a bit of hunting to reach completeness (should that matter), but maybe that adds to the fun?

In auction lots, I've seen FDCs with artist-hand-drawn cachets selling for U$D 4-5 each, eg, ~1/3 the new issue price.

https://goscf.com/t/44031 ... do you collect Israel?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Preparing your own first day covers or first flight covers or event covers of any kind is a fun hobby. The whole experience of finding out the details, deciding on what kind of cachet you will want, sending your prepared covers off to the correct postmaster, and then eagerly awaiting them to show up in your mailbox to be lovingly put into your cover storage book where you can look at them forever is worth every penny you spend. Of course they will have no commercial value but the fun of the whole process is where you get much more than your money's worth and you should not let future commercial value affect your great decision to service your own covers and have them addressed to yourself. Just think of the cost of going to a movie these days and that only gives you 90 minutes of fun.

If you join with a group like the FDC society or other philatellic societies you can get all sorts of ideas from them and get advance notices of what is coming up. For FDCs, for example, you can get creative on trying to get first day cancellations from post offices other than the official one from post offices that have names that tie into the stamp. Christmas is a good example - how many small towns are there that have names that tie into the Christmas theme? For example there are 9 towns in the US that have the word "Christmas" as their name or part of their name. Two are named Noel. Eight with either Santa or St. Nick in their name. Four are named North Pole. One Mistletoe, three Holly, one Jolly, two Reindeer, two Rudolph, eight Bethlehem, and three Nazareth. I am sure there are more. Of course for many of these you should contact the postmaster in advance to see if they are willing to make arangements for a cancellation on the day of the issue of the stamp, but since many are very small towns they sometimes are willing to be very accommodating.

I concur with Kimo's post. Although I don't specialize in FDC's I, like many other hobbyists, have ended up with a small accumulation of FDC and event covers. Last year I prepared for the US Batman stamps release by planning to develop some FDC covers postmarked at the Batcave NC post office. This PO is about 20 miles from my house. I had to run around to find and buy the stamps early the morning of the release and then drive down to the PO to see if they would hand cancel them for me.

I had a blast that day and met several new friends during this small, day-long adventure. The postperson at Batcave, which is a VERY small PO, was very nice and helpful. She offered a variety of hand cancels for me to choose from and then cancelled a single FDC and handed back to me for comments on any improvements might offer. She even offered to allow me to hand cancel them myself if desired.

All-in-all it was a memorable day that I will always enjoy recalling. It also increased my interest in certain covers, even if they have little monetary value.
Don

FDC servicing seems like a nice way to add a special touch to a birthday card, thank you card, etc, so I had the clever idea of sending non-time-sensitive mail (eg, my personal mail addressed to other people) thru the FDC system as a way of re-awakening interest in The Hobby. One my of first efforts was a pack of family photos which, sadly, never arrived.

On another occasion - preferring my FDCs to have traveled thru the mail - I brought a self-addressed FDC to a post office FDoI sub-station, watched it get its FDoI hand-cancel, and ... it arrived with a supplementary shpritz cancel. Sigh.

I wish all self-servicers, everywhere, better luck than mine.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

That will almost always happen. The only away around this is to ask that the postmarked cover be hand returned to you at the window (and some postal clerks refuse, even though there is provision for it in the POM) or have it returned in an outer envelope at an additional cost for postage. Either option sort of defeats the idea that the collectible cover actually traveled through the mail, though.

Don't get me wrong, I've had some fun through the years (especially as a pre-teen) sending in envelopes for FDOI cancels and getting them mailed back to me. However, as a practical matter economics just don't show that it pays (other than for the enjoyment factor). Further, we all know that with a 60 day grace period to buy stamps and send them in for FDOI cancels, no cover is really postmarked on the actual first day of issue.

As a result of all the above, I've resigned myself to servicing covers without seeking special postmarks and to ignore the first day of issue city. I simply buy the stamps the first day they come out at my local post office, affix them to my desired envelopes, place a removable return address label on the cover and drop them in a mailbox.

Sure, the FDOI city is wrong and the ink jet cancel is not really very attractive, but on the other hand it represents absolute and undeniable proof that the stamp was purchased on the FDOI and was mailed through the post office on that first day of issue date, making it a true "first day cover".

Of course, when stamps get issued on weekends problems do exist when post offices don't always have the new stamp available for sale until the next business day or if you mail the covers too late in the day whereby the stamps may not be date cancelled on the actual day they were placed in a mailbox.

The shpritz cancels up by you must be a whole lot more legible than the shpritz cancels down by me; I only see proof that I should have kept up with the hobby back when I could still read the cds.

Despite my unwavering ideological commitment to collecting only addressed & delivered covers, I happily admit that those pristine unaddressed FDCs can be pretty, and offer a nice presentation of the stamp ... I know that because I own some.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

JD,
One of the things that I like to do with first day covers is find what I call tie in stamps (see example).

Another example is the Ingrid Bergman stamp being released next month http://about.usps.com/news/national...pr15_039.htm
I plan on using Bogart, Peck, Hitchcock, and Steiner among others. I've made arrangements to obtain the Swedish issue also. As pointed out in previous posts these have no value at all but to me I like doing it.

This is another example of what you can do.
https://fdcstudy.wordpress.com/2013...-in-the-sun/

Feel free to PM me if you want further information.

Nice!




Please don't forget Katherine Hepburn! (I have extra MNH if you need one/two).

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

sdtom - Where did you order the Swedish issue of Ingrid Bergman? I have been unable to find it, even Postnord didn't have any information on their website, even though Linn's said that they did. I followed the link but found nothing about the joint issue.