help with i.d.

[swish513]

ok, this one may be easier than i am making it out to be, but...



i'm thinking it's u420, but the fact that it has the "overprint" of sorts makes me wonder if it has it's own number, or small letter?

any and all help is appreciated!

[khj]

Very nice penalty mail cover!!! I'm drooling and I don't even collect covers!

Unfortunately, Scott does not have a comprehensive listing of penalty mail covers -- not even in the US Specialized.

But I can understand. If you included all the different penalty franks and varieties, we're talking easily 1000++ if not 10000+ items! Even the simple modern Penalty Mail Envelopes (the one with the eagle silhouette in rounded rectangle) has dozens of varieties.

[swish513]

thank you so very much. i didn't know it had a special name. it's a shame grandma opened it the way she did, ripping part of it down the side.

[khj]

She was probably more interested in getting what was inside!

[swish513]

here's what was inside

[swish513]

[rayb]

Your grandmother was right: the contents here are, for once, probably more interesting than the cover. I think the first thing I would do is write to whatever their new equivalent is, asking for 'A list of Stamped Paper on sale for face value plus return postage' and see what their reply looks like 80 years down the line. And when I had that I am confident I could see an entry in the Social Philately class of the next local competition coming on.

[khj]

Very interesting letter! Thanks for posting, swish513!

Note the Scott catalog numbers listed in the letter are the old numbers, before the catalog number prefixes (e.g., C, E, Q...) were introduced.

[khj]

I think the first thing I would do is write to whatever their new equivalent is, asking for 'A list of Stamped Paper on sale for face value plus return postage' and see what their reply looks like 80 years down the line.

They most likely will simply send you a copy of their quarterly catalog.

I remember receiving printed lists like that up to the late 1970s. I'm pretty sure I threw them all away, though.

[swish513]

Apr 19, 2014 18:27:04 GMT -5 khj said:

Very interesting letter! Thanks for posting, swish513!

Note the Scott catalog numbers listed in the letter are the old numbers, before the catalog number prefixes (e.g., C, E, Q...) were introduced.

i noticed that as well. when did they start using the letters?

[khj]

when did they start using the letters?

1940

[cbavier]

Wouldn't it had been something if she had ordered one of each one and kept them somewhere safe for you or someone today?

[swish513]

Apr 20, 2014 5:49:36 GMT -5 cbavier said:

Wouldn't it had been something if she had ordered one of each one and kept them somewhere safe for you or someone today?

that would have been nice. sadly, she only ordered about half of them.