Need Help With A 10 Centavo Mexico Cover

Hi,

I am not a stamp collector so I hope that I am right in identifying what I have as a cover.

I found, in a family estate, a number of 3 1/4 by 6" envelopes stamped as shown in the accompanying image. The envelopes are not addressed.

What do I have? Do these have any value?

Would you please post a full scan of the front and reverse of one of these envelopes.

I believe these date for 1889, but there are several varieties.

All are reported to be scarce when properly used.

Mike

Thanks for getting back to me. Scans of the back and front of one of the envelopes follow.

The envelope I scanned back and front is not the same one as I originally posted, but otherwise is identical. The black stamp (cancellation ?) is clearer than on the envelope I posted originally.

As a newcomer to this forum I am having a hard time figuring out how and where to post. Would this thread be a good place to post images of a similar envelope with a 5 centavo stamp and a cancellation from Tamaulipas?

Welcome.
Yes, posting related covers is fine.
Don

I have one other Mexico cover, the 5 centavo, shown in the following images, that probably is from the same era. The scans show both the fronts and backs since a previous poster asked to see both sides.

The family member who collected stamps was active in the 1930's.

Thanks for your help,

Steve

Boston Stamps:
Thank you for posting the scans of your covers.

The following are extracted from Postal Stationery of Mexico, by Peter Bamert and others, 2018.

These envelopes were printed by Waterlow & Sons, London.

Envelopes with the 5 ctvo and 10 cvto indicium, 1899, from page 13...



The Types mentioned have to do with an embossing (or lack thereof) on the reverse that identifies the printer. To explain the different Types, the following extract is from page 11...



I don't see a sign of any embossing on your envelopes, but it may be that the scan simply does not show it. If not present, then you have the Type I. You can visually inspect these and other covers to see if one is present.

Your covers do not appear to be postally used, the cancellations strike me as being more of a favor type cancel. That puts them in a limbo between mint and used, and I have no insight as to how to assign a value.

Mike

mml1942:

Thank you for all you could tell me. As someone who has little exposure to philately I had no idea what I have other than simply old stamped envelopes from Mexico. I feel fortunate to have found this forum.

The envelopes do not have any embossing so they must be type I from 1884.

Not being a collector, I was planning to sell them to someone who might appreciate them.

I have 25 10 centavo envelopes without cancellations bundled with what looks like the original blue band, 9 loose, and 49 with cancellations (all cancellations are the same).

I also have 4, 5 centavo envelopes, 3 with cancellations and one without.

Now that I know what I have I was able to search eBay and found many Mexico covers for sale, but none like mine.

Steve

The covers shown are E50 and E52 of the 1894 issue. They are on slightly thicker wove or laid paper than the watermarked issue (of the cataloge picture shown by mml1942) and havo NO watermark nor a manufacturer's embossing under the flap. The paper is either wofe or laid.
Both are cancelled to order (CTO) with the well known Ecatzingo, MexicoDF and Barranca de Tamp's. cancels.
The mint envelopes are of little value Cat.: $5.- each regardless if the paper of the enveope is laid or wove. With CTO cancels they are virtually without any value. With exception of the 10C envelope, commercially used one's are quite difficult to find.

wfycia:

Thank you for the correction. I simply did not look far enough in the catalog.

Mike

The following is page 15 from the referenced catalog, showing the entry for E50 and E52 mentioned by wfycia in his post:



Mike

The catalog: Postal Stationery of Mexico, by Peter Bamert, Wayne Menuz & Bill Walton, can be purchased from the United Postal Stationery Society for $58.00 for the card bound version, or $85.00 for the hardbound version, with reduced prices for members of either the UPSS or MEPSI.

http://www.upss.org/code/publications.php

An ePublication version can be purchased for $15.00.

http://www.upss.org/code/epublications.php

The volume of information in this catalog is astounding.

Mike

Wfycia has given you excellent information, especially about these being "Cancelled To Order" examples which makes them non-postally used and of little value. They were made to sell to stamp collectors. What gets most people's interest and willingness to buy are these covers that were actually used by people in the regular mail - ones that are addressed to a real person somewhere and that show signs of having gone through the mail especially when they also have the postal receiving cancel on the back to show how long they took to get there. Such actual use make them "postal history" which is the trend of interest of many collectors these days. Also keep in mind that there is a significant difference between catalog values and what one can actually get for them when selling to someone. Catalog values are typically in the range of double to quadruple of what an actual selling price might be.

Many thanks to wfycia, mml1942 and kimo. I am getting an excellent education in stamps, and covers in particular. This is all new to me and very interesting.

Next, I will be asking, in another category in this forum, about the many early 19th century American covers I have (all addressed envelopes with post office cancellations) and even earlier letters where the letter and envelope were one piece of paper.

What a terrific forum!