Which Country Issued The First FDC ?

Which country was first to come up with the idea
to actually apply a cancellation on a stamp on it's day
of issue?

In Canada it usually states DAY OF ISSUE/JOUR D'ÉMISSION,

USA - FIRST DAY OF ISSUE

Austria - ERSTTAG

Monaco - JOUR D'EMISSION F.D.C

Switzerland & Liechtenstein - AUSGABETAG

Denmark - UDGIVELSESDAG

ETC ETC ETC

Well you get the idea.

Well, I am sure there were a fair number of letters mailed on the first day the penny black was issued though I have not found one yet. That was the very first postage stamp anywhere in the world so these would have to be the earliest.

Kimo, I believe the question is, "which country acknowledged the first day of issue of a stamp by so stating it in the cancellation?" although the original posting didn't specifically say it this way.

Part of the answer: http://www.shaulisstamps.com/tips/FirstDay.htm

What is the difference between an Earliest Known Use cover and a First Day of Issue cover?

We're all familiar with First Day Covers. The USPS announces when a stamp will be released. Until a few years ago, the first day of sale was at a single town or city. Today, new issues are put on sale nationwide although the USPS usually still designates a town or city as the official site.

Earliest known usages come in two flavors.

Before 1920, US stamps were not issued with an official First Day of Issue. A few stamps like the 1893 Columbians and others were released on a specific date that was publicly known. But in most cases, the USPOD had the BEP print stamps for them and they released them as needed. So the Columbians and a few other issues are well known with First Day cancels. But for most pre-1920 stamps, all that can be determined is the Earliest Known Use by the postmark.

After 1920, the USPOD started officially issuing stamps on First Day date. Collectors could prepare covers for the official postmark. However, many of the modern issues were released ahead of time by local postmasters at other post offices. Just about every modern issue is known with a cancel that is prior to the official First Day of Issue. These modern Earliest Known Use covers are interesting, but of nominal value – usually a few dollars.

http://www.stamphelp.com/NEWS%20PAG...s%20page.htm

First Day Of Issue slogans (as illustrated) [see link] first appeared on the 1963 Paris cover. The first advertising slogan officially done on a FDC is the 1924 Wembley issue.

Kimo, you misunderstood what I wrote.

I did not mean just a date cancellation but with an official
cancellation somewhere on the cover which states Fist Day of
Issue or similar.
I listed a bunch of countries to show the wording
they use on their FDC's.
I thought it was obvious as to what I'm looking for.

Like this Canadian one





Or this Austrian example

Thanks bookbndrbob and KGB for the links but the 1924 Wembley
handstamp has nothing on it being a First Day




Does anyone have examples of these early ones?

The earliest I have found so far.

I recently posted this in another thread, but it does answer the question as far as US FDCs are concerned:

McCusker's website provides this historical information on the first US FDCs that were clearly marked "First Day of Issue":

Some info here: http://stamporama.com/articles/disp...Av1jgTnXho1c

"The Post Office used the FDOI machine cancel for the first time on July 13, 1937 for the Northwest Territory Ordinance commemorative issue (Scott 795), ..."

Overall, an interesting discussion about First Day of Issue covers.

Then of course you can always go here: http://www.afdcs.org/ The American First Day Cover Society. They should be able to provide a definitive answer to which country used the first official FDOI machine cancellation.

Thanks wt1, oldguy

So now we have 1937 as the earliest
First Day Cancellation at least for the US.

And here it is.

This is a little bit off the subject, but I wrote about the history of USA FDOI cancels in my First Day Cover columns in Stamp Insider in the May 2013 to November 2013 issues.

The Stamp Insider is an on-line bi-monthly publication which is free to all. The November/December 2015 issue will be published this weekend. My column is about Peanuts/Snoopy FDCs from other countries.

http://www.stampinsider.org

Going back to Kimo's point, cachet or not, this beats any FDC around!

https://goscf.com/t/46354#395587 ... by how many years did FDoI cachets precede FDoI slogans in the USA?

Thanks, Geoff. That is an incredibly nice first day Penny Black cover. In doing a bit of research I have found numbers in the range of 78 as the total number of known examples so far of Penny Black first day covers (May 6, 1840)

Here is a photo of another one with the date cancellation very clearly and boldly struck: