Dissecting Covers: What do You Look For?
Apr 20, 2024 7:44:46 GMT
kasvik, Statesman Stamper, and 1 more like this
Post by Catweazle on Apr 20, 2024 7:44:46 GMT
I missed a Zoom meeting today with The New Zealand Society of Great Britain which featured one submission entitled 'dissecting covers'. Not quite sure what it was about per se but it made me wonder...
...a question for both dealers and collectors alike: What do you focus on when sorting through a bunch of covers?
Collecting or identifying covers can be tricky sometimes because what looks like a bargain bin item to some might in fact be another philatelist's ransom! For one, the stamp might mean nothing but the postmark is scarce, or to another person nothing is of interest except for the recipient or the sender.
So, what stands out to you first and foremost?
Where do you go from there, and would do you look out for?
Especially those odd and/or interesting sorts that we stumble upon in some auctioned box lot. What might be the first things you check for to determine its catalogue value, market value, its story or history, and its interest to you?
I have rather a niche collecting interest, so often I'll research as best I can the sender or recipient and have found some fascinating items that were in fact found in one dealer's bargain bin. In other cases, it might be rather a common stamp but I recognise the postmark – for example a postmark from the Chatham Islands coupled with 'Lyttelton' suggests that it left Waitangi and was carried by ship to Lyttleton before entering the mail system on the NZ mainland. This was common enough at the time, but to delve even deeper, the datestamp as well as other external records might provide some clue as to the vessel's name and departure date.
...a question for both dealers and collectors alike: What do you focus on when sorting through a bunch of covers?
Collecting or identifying covers can be tricky sometimes because what looks like a bargain bin item to some might in fact be another philatelist's ransom! For one, the stamp might mean nothing but the postmark is scarce, or to another person nothing is of interest except for the recipient or the sender.
So, what stands out to you first and foremost?
Where do you go from there, and would do you look out for?
Especially those odd and/or interesting sorts that we stumble upon in some auctioned box lot. What might be the first things you check for to determine its catalogue value, market value, its story or history, and its interest to you?
I have rather a niche collecting interest, so often I'll research as best I can the sender or recipient and have found some fascinating items that were in fact found in one dealer's bargain bin. In other cases, it might be rather a common stamp but I recognise the postmark – for example a postmark from the Chatham Islands coupled with 'Lyttelton' suggests that it left Waitangi and was carried by ship to Lyttleton before entering the mail system on the NZ mainland. This was common enough at the time, but to delve even deeper, the datestamp as well as other external records might provide some clue as to the vessel's name and departure date.