John Ranto was a collector and cachet designer of first day covers of US issues. I came into possession of Ranto cover as I specifically acquired one containing USA Scott Number 1590A and 1623B. These 2 booklet stamps are much rarer than their similar counter parts and were obvious holes in my collection for […]
Posts with the United States of America tag
Colors of the 1977 USA Valley Forge Issue
The 1977 Christmas issue consists of 2 definitive sized stamps, one of which (Scott #1729) is of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. I immediately noticed variations in the colors of his hair, coat and clothing. The catalog doesn’t mention any color differences, but I began to save various copies of this stamp, and you […]
First Day Covers – Lois Hamilton
Although I don’t specifically look for First Day Covers, when I end up with some, I keep them. And the more I look into them, I begin to understand the market a little bit and how it works. For the most part, a cover becomes collectible more for its cachet then the stamp. It […]
USA 1934 Admiral Bird Sheet of 6 First day Cover and More
In my quest to complete the Major Numbers of my USA collection (at “least” from 1930 through 2010), I have, as you can imagine, quite a few holes. Filling these holes is sometimes a challenge, so I have decided that, when possible, fill the hole with something interesting. This brings us to the Admiral Byrd […]
USA Scott 703 – Shifting Heads
More color shifts coming to you from USA Scott #703. These are very common varieties and for the most part, the challenge is to find copies of this stamp where the black section is perfectly centered. Interestingly this stamp is Scott 703 and was issued right after Scott 702 – The shifting Red Cross […]
USA 1931 – Shifting Red Crosses
Recently I posted on this group of stamps from Czechoslovakia with shifting red crosses. I also have a few examples of a similar shifting red cross from the USA. This 1931 issue (Scott #702) has quite a drastic shift in the red printed red-cross As you can see, the cross moves left right […]
College Post Office forgets to change the year on their Hand Cancel
I received this cover in the mail, postmarked out of Richmond, IA (College Post Office at Earlham College). I received it today (February 2nd, 2015), but, I noticed that the postmark said it was cancelled on January 28th, 2014! – The Neopost label shows the correct year (it was printed), but, the hand cancelling device […]
My First Mounted Stamp
When I finally elected to use Vario Stock Sheets for my collection back in early 2012, I resurrected my old childhood collection that was stored in an old kids USA album and began removing the stamps and loading them into my stock sheets. For whatever reason, I decided to start with the USA Airmail Stamps. […]