The rate for cards from Lakehurst to Lakehurst was $1.76 so the card was over franked to start. It is also perhaps the most common leg of that flight and as a card it is less desirable than a cover. Also, it has a detraction and that is that it is cancelled in New York City. Also, first flight cover collectors tend to prefer flight covers and cards that are franked with airmail stamps. This one does not have any airmail stamps on it - just definitives. The flight was not from NYC, but rather it began in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The more desirable Lakehurst dispatches on this flight are the ones that were actually cancelled at Lakehurst, NJ rather than at other cities where the Zeppelin never went. As for the Special Delivery, as was stated above it did not really mean anything in terms of the flight since all of the mail on the flight went on the same Zeppelin and traveled together. It did get special treatment once it returned to the US and was forwarded to the sender in Washington, but for most all first flight collectors that is not something that matters since their are interested in the flight itself and not how it was handled or the final destination of the collector who prepared it after the flight was over. Cards and covers from this flight, either posted in Los Angeles or Lakehurst tend to sell regularly in the range of $30 to $50 on
ebay, though there are some dealers who have so called "auctions" where they have silly starting bids in the hundreds - of course those do not get bids unless they catch someone who does not know the market for these.
Posted 07/24/2020 3:44 pm
