Was John Dillenger A Stamp Collector When He Wasn't Robbing Banks?

Hi Rod222,

I agree - there is a fascination among a handful of collectors with Roessler to the point where they actively collect his creations. I am not sure, though, that I would assign high values to them such as the group of labels you mention with a reserve of $300. One can put a reserve of whatever amount one likes on an auction or sale, but unless it sells that reserve is just a hope of the seller to get a high price. Actual sales set real values.

Here is one of his creations. I love the US Jenny's on cover so I snatch up any of them I can.

A C Roessler
Graf Zeppelin over Statue of Liberty

Several Roessler covers from my collection.

Here's a couple more, the 1st is one of my favorites;





This next one doesn't look like much but I sold it on ebay for $250;

Could someone explain why that cover fetched $250?

Ken also sold this interesting overprint cover ($160)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Graf-Zeppel...AOSwtJZXUabV br /

Don

Jenny I don't know, but a couple years ago I sold one with the same cancel for $140 unfortunately I've lost the picture.

Asked & answered, as they say, by Kimo, above:




Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

ikey you can buy some of his covers for $10-$20. Hopefully Kimo can explain why this one fetched so much.

Roessler forged overprints on some stamps. This "Graf Zeppelin" overprinted stamp is an example of one of his forgeries and he came close to getting sent to jail for forging US postage on this one, but in the end he skated on it. These Graf Zeppelin forgery overprints of his are not common (they are not all that rare either) and the handful of collectors who are fascinated with this criminals' illegal activities do pay some silly prices for his fantasy materials. I think it is kind of like how there are some collectors in the art world of forged paintings that were made by well known art criminals or how there are collectors of anything to do with famous murderers such as the fantasy John Dillinger cover that started this thread. It is not for me and I do not condone it, but I know that there is a dark side to human nature that manifests in a few people who get a kick out of observing such behavior in other people and they wind up collecting materials associated with criminals.

I came across this thread when looking for info on Roberta Roe having picked up the item illustrated below for my "Philatelic Mail" collection -- I hadn't realised this was an alias for Roessler! Although I should have, given the address and because part of the contents refer to "Roessler's Cover Service":







Still, as a Buy it Now on ebay for $12.25 including postage, I guess that counts as a good price. You have to wonder how many of the covers on offer were genuine!

I assume the Potato Stamps referred to are these?
http://www.stamp-collecting-world.c..._RI1935.html

Hi Jenny2U.

The cover has a postmark that is very rare. It is the Sacramento Air Mail Field cancel. It was first used on July 1, 1925 which was the day of the first flights from Sacramento on the US government operated transcontinental air mail route. This Air Mail Field cancel was used until this airport branch office was closed on June 30, 1927. I personally think that $250 is on the high side for this cancel, but there are very few known and if two collectors needed it for their collections then I can see a bidding war bidding it up to that amount. Or, the seller could have shill bid it up and bought it him or herself to "create a 'demonstrated' value" in hopes of using that in the future to put one over on an unsuspecting buyer. I have seen that done on ebay before though I have no idea whether that was at play in that particular auction. The fact that this is a Roessler cover would make me think twice about spending very much for it as his covers always have that element of possible doubt attached to them.

Thanks Kimo! Just for the record, the seller is quite reputable (and a member of this board), so it was a lucky bidding war for him.

Thanks, Jen! It is good to know it was a real value in a real auction. I am always happy to see one of the folks here do well on ebay either buying something at a bargain or getting a real bidding war on something they are selling. This cancellation is quite rare and it is one of the key ones for air mail field (AMF) cancel collectors. Most AMF cancels are relatively common and can be had for very modest prices - usually just the cost of the value of whatever the cover might have as a first flight or a cover with some nice postage stamps on it.

By the way, did you know that the name Jennifer is a diminutive of the original name Gwenhwyfar which became Guinevere and finally Jennifer? I minored in medieval and old English literature and Gwenhwyfar is one of the heroines in several old Welsh tales which later became Arthurian tales where the name was changed to Guinevere. In old Welsh it means "white or pale enchantress". Pretty cool name. :)