Question About Cover Value Overrun Countries Censor Plus Oc-12 And Oc-15

Just wondering if anyone could give me their best guess on the scarcity and value of this cover. Thanks.

To what country was it attempted to be sent?
Is the enclosure still there?
"Return to sender" - is there a return address on the back side?

No back stamp. The form shown is enclosed with the matching censor number (tape and form numbers match) and it was actually sent to France. Thanks.

Backside has a printed sticker return address on the flap.

Looking at ebay sold listings for this cachet cancelled as an FDC, the value would be about $5. The censor tape and the fact that it went through the mail would add to its value to a specialist, but I would think not more than 2-3X the basic FDC value.

John might know something about the nature of the markings and insert that would make it more valuable.

Evaluating postal history is an art and not a science. I agree with the direction that blcjr takes. This is a philatelic item turned into postal history by its journey. (BTW, it never left the U.S.) Many FDC collectors would want the cachet without all the censor/return "clutter". Many postal history collectors would want the censor/return aspects on a non-philatelic cover. Supply of this cachet used in this manner is no doubt very small. I would sense that demand is very modest also, being within a very small specialty niche. With both the small supply and demand for any specialty item, it is hard to pinpoint a monetary value short of putting it up for sale, but the 2x-3x estimate sounds reasonable as an upper limit.

Example of usage of a similar one for Luxemborg by a "specialist" can be found in the following:

https://sescal.org/wp-content/uploa...f-US-FDC.pdf

John's comment about FDC collectors generally preferring unaddressed and unmarked covers is generally correct. In my case, however, I find WW II patriotic covers that are addressed far more interesting. They played a huge role in my exhibit of the WW II patriotic covers of Victory, VT., and the unaddressed covers favored by most philatelic collectors were humdrum in comparison.

Basil

Thanks. Appreciate the responses.

Those censor labels and enclosures are collected, and some are quite scarce. I know that there is a listing of them someplace, but I do not know the name of the book that has them.