Pitcairn Islands FDC Question

I came across a pitcairn islands registered fdc in my collection, Scott #'s 1 thru 5. The cover is sealed. When I held it up to the light I found that there is a correspondence letter inside the envelope.

Should I open the envelope to read the letter or not?

Hi Tom. The "correspondence" may just be something stuck in there to keep the cover nice. It is of course up to you to open this, but unless you can do it neat and careful I would not mess with it.

Peter

Thanks Pete. I think I'll leave it sealed. Shouldn't have shown it to my wife though. Her curiosity is something else. lol

Could you steam it open? Never attempted it myself tho.

Cutting or tearing open a First Day Cover takes away most of its value. Even steaming it open will usually diminish its value greatly since the water from the steam will normally leave wrinkles in the paper of the cover. The good news is your cover with the first 5 definitive of the 1940 series of 10 definitives does not have much value. Partly it is because the stamps are inexpensive and common, and partly it is because your cover has only 5 of the 10 stamps so it is just a partial set. If you wife's curiosity is strong, for the price of a Big Mac and a Coke you could let her satisfy her curiosity and at the same time you could gain points with her in two ways - you would be giving her a gift that she wants, and you would be listened to next time when you tell her that FDCs often have stiffeners inside that sometimes include text or pictures, sometimes related to the stamps, but whose only purpose is to keep the cover nice and flat and enable the cancellation device to have something to absorb the impression making the cancellation look nicer than if there wasn't anything inside. She would not want to be opening your FDCs in the future.

I disagree, especially if the cover has gone through the mail. I would open it. Pitcairn Island has great interest even outside of philately, and any message that identifies the sender would make an excellent addition to an album page.

I was a stiffener do not open guy until I read half way down this article.

Now I am considering being a stuffer and do open the cover guy.

http://www.jamesmccusker.com/edu/article.cfm?id=37

When it comes down to it I would not open a sealed cover. I leave things alone and the stuffers are just stuffers.

The mystery is worth more than the cover, but nothing beats making friends with your wife.

Agreed that steaming is a poor choice; I prefer a discrete cut along the bottom, if you can manage it.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Actually, the piece of paper inside the envelope is quite flimsy. That would rule out it was placed inside for a sharper cancellation. The size of the note is roughly 4" x 3". It is folded in half.

The plot thickens. lol

Just for fun, I mentioned to the Mrs. that it is illegal to read other people's mail. She gave me a wry grimace.

This is not over. LOL

Tell the Mrs. that there is a 99.9% chance that the correspondence is an ad for other FDCs/stamps/misc. philatelic goodies. Otherwise the receiver (who is quite possibly also the sender) would have opened it. Registered mail is normally opened by curious recipients unless they already know what's inside.