What Is Your Oldest Dated Cover?

As a newbie to SCF, I have seen some posts but forums may have been locked, perhaps due to inactivity? In any event, thought I'd share my oldest cover.

George Anson Byron - 7th Lord Byron. Front panel of an envelope free franked "Byron" at lower left and stamped "Free 2MR, 1827" addressed in Byron's hand. He was a naval officer and the cousin of the famous poet Lord George Gordon Byron, whom he succeeded as 7th Lord Byron. He was the commander of the H.M.S. Blonde, which transported the bodies of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu of the "Sandwich Islands" back to Hawaii, after their deaths due to measles while visiting England. Next image "Crede Byron" Trust Byron. Coat of Arms.

What is your oldest cover?




*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Nice cover front

Retained back in the day by autograph hunters!

The addressee was a Director of the East India Company.

Thank you Bobby for the addressee info. I fell short in doing further research on this cover. Always learning though, or trying to.

I stand corrected. I found in my collection an older cover dated May 7, 1800. Signed by James McHenry, Third Vice President of War.

James McHenry (November 16, 1753 – May 3, 1816) was a Scotch-Irish American military surgeon, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. McHenry was a signer of the United States Constitution from Maryland, initiated the recommendation for Congress to form the Navy, and was the eponym of Fort McHenry. He represented Maryland in the Continental Congress. He was a delegate to the Maryland State Convention of 1788, to vote whether Maryland should ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. He served as United States Secretary of War from 1796 to 1800, bridging the administrations of George Washington and John Adams. At the time of his death, McHenry owned 10 slaves, most of whom either worked as household servants or maintained his estate.
Above Wikipedia credit

Pretty cool where I have a signed cover by someone who signed the United States Constitution. Interesting note on the delivery of this cover.

Oops, correction, not the 3rd Vice President of War, should be the "3rd United States Secretary of War", in case anyone was seriously interested or cared.

He is credited with establishing the United States Department of the Navy, based on his recommendation that the "War Department should be assisted by a commissioner of marine" on March 8, 1798. (Wikipedia)

Brian, thanks for sharing with us your old covers. You have the option to edit your posts by clicking on the "pencil and paper" icon on the top toolbar.

March 2, 1779



The beginning of the 1.5 page business/legal letter:

The letter's close with the 1779 date:


Picked out of a $1 box many years ago because it looked very old and examined it when I got home. It does not fit any of my areas of interest, but still interesting enough to take a chance.

Thanks for sharing John. 1779!! You got me beat as the earliest cover. Don't know about your cover, but my cover from 1827, from Lord Byron at the top of this topic, permeates a somewhat strong musty odor, with a hint of the salty ocean, when you hold it up to your nose. It's as if you are smelling something going back 196 years. Growing up in Hawaii, I am familiar with the smell of the salty breeze. Strange but interesting. Thanks again.

Not nearly as impressive, but the oldest cover in my collection is from 1906. Still contains the innards, which I think is pretty cool!

Great topic.

A few years ago I was enamored with old letters. Here are two of my oldest covers.

The first one is from Aug 23, 1520







The next, according to the lot description, is from Oct 14, 1419. Can't understand how they figured that out.

My earliest hand stamped cover


Don

Here's an earlier thread on this topic with some nice covers and entires:

https://goscf.com/t/65149

The 15th and 16th century covers are very interesting, but of course bear no postal markings.

The 1419 cover is dated by the looks of the first image.

Eighteenth century covers should be prized. Even early nineteenth century covers are abundant.

But dated in a different hand.

You can see "1419" on the cover, the smaller scan. As for the exact date, I can't decipher the writing.

Thank you all for the clarification on the date. Looking more closely, the first line of the second scan shows the Oct 14, 1419 date. The lot description also mentions that it was signed for in Alexandria on Oct 19, 1419, which is the reason for the different handwriting. Alexandria is the destination according to the last line.

Obviously, the third line on the front is not contemporary.