Some Air Mail Covers For Review

I think this will be the last post for now as I dont want to wear out my welcome. I do thank those that have viewed and responded.

The one with the pilot name of Rowe is interesting as it's a family name but have not found a connection. Also interesting is the Air Mail from a Steamship Line.

I should also note that any marks notations or otherwise were on these and the other covers when I came into possession of them.

Mark

Just a follow up on the one addressed to Edward C Worden. It appears that he was/is of some importance to Philately community?

Some of these are nice. Well, maybe all of them, but some more than others. A couple are "First Flight" covers ("FFC"), philatelic covers created to commemorate the first flight of one of the early contract or foreign air mail flights. Note the first says "C.A.M. 11" == meaning "Contract Air Mail" route #11. I don't think there is anything rare about CAM 11 FFC's, but this one is a little odd with the cachet over the stamps (i.e. the round circle with details about the flight is not a cancel, but a cachet); these are usually found imprinted more to the left of the cover. Edward Worden serviced a lot of early flight covers. I would imagine it being worth about $5.

Technically, the B.L. Rowe cover is not a FAM (foreign air mail) first flight cover as it did not carry US mail. It is a nice cover. I am not an expert at valuing these kinds of covers, but might imagine this would would be worth $20 (or more?).

The Lindbergh cover would be described as an "event cover." A lot were produced for this event, so the value is modest, maybe $5-$10. Note, when I say "value" I mean a "retail value" as you might see it selling for on ebay. Dealers will offer you much less, since what they offer is a "wholesale" price.

The San Juan-Paramaribo cover is for the first flight of FAM 6. The leg to St. Thomas carried the largest number of covers, so this one would be worth less than some. But properly identified and promoted, it might be worth $20. The key would be to note that this is a "Lindbergh Cover," i.e. the pilot was Charles Lindbergh.

Nothing here especially rare or uncommon, but to air mail collectors still of some interest.

Learning some more:

Albert C. Roessler (1883-1952) was a stamp dealer who was best known for his cacheted covers, and examples of his work are sought by collectors.

Roessler was born April 7, 1883, in Newark, N.J., and spent a portion of his early years in Colorado. He was a founding member of the Denver Stamp Club, established December 13, 1905.

Within a few years he was established as a stamp dealer in east Orange, N.J., after a period of Nassau Street (New York) activity.

With the coming of air mail in the US in 1918, Roessler began the creation of cacheted covers. His first cover, according to Barry Newton (A. C. Roessler: Photo Cachet Catalogue, FDC publishing co., 1976), was for the first air mail flight between Washington, New York, and Philadelphia. He published Air Mail Stamp News from 1918 to 1938.

Something of a mystery man, Roessler would never permit his photograph to be published and no confirmed pictures of him are known. Dan Barber in his "Via Air Mail" column in Stamp Collector (September 13, 1980), reproduces two photographs which might be those of Roessler.

Roessler is reported to have gone out of the stamp business in 1940, and he died on January 26, 1952.

blcjr,

Sorry I over posted before seeing your post. Thanks for the details. I've have and am learning a lot today. I also tried to send you an email about your USMC cover but it wouldn't let me.

Mark

Mark,
There's also a great web site that I and many others use to help identify first flight covers and some other flight related philatelic covers - http://www.aerodacious.com/ They do have values indicated for many covers. Take those with a grain of salt as the market is saturated with the low end values an they usually sell for much less on ebay and elsewhere. The site is still a valuable starting point to learn about and identify FFCs and other covers.

Mark,

I am not sure what you mean when you say "your USMC cover." Can you explain?

Basil (blcjr)

Basil,

Sorry for the change in user name but the system booted or ate my original user name and I couldn't log in. You had made a posting in 2014 in reference to a cover of a US Marine Pilot. That was why I was contacting you or least trying to ask to please contact me if you ever decide to pass it along. I cant send PM at this time as I guess I dont have enough posts.

Mark
(MDS)

Hi.

B.L. Rowe's first name was Basil. He tried to start an airline to serve countries in the Caribbean and called it the West Indian Aerial Express. He was put out of business by a guy named Juan T. Trippe when he founded a new airline called Pan American Airways and used his political connections in Washington to get the US mail contract to fly the mail. Without this valuable contract Basil Rowe's fledgling airline could not succeed and so Juan Trippe bought out Basil and made him his chief pilot of Pan Am but with the big profits going to Trippe and not Rowe. Basil wrote a book called "Under my Wings" which is a good read if you want to learn all about the West Indian Aerial Express venture an failure.

A.C Roessler, or sometimes called A.C. Roe was a character to say the least. He started out as an early first flight cover dealer creating first flight covers in the 1920s but he was not exactly someone to look up to. He was eventually caught by the U.S. Post Office and indcited for postal fraud - he plead guilty to two counts of postal fraud in 1933. More than a few of his first flight covers are considered to be bogus or recreations after the fact to meet the demand of his customers. Some people collect covers addressed to A.C. Roessler or his alias of A.C. Roe because of his shady dealings. If you are looking for quality covers that do not have a possible shadow on their being genuine though you might want to look for ones not prepared by and addressed to this guy.

Kimo

Thanks for the details on both Rowe and Roe!