Monday 14 May 2012

First day covers

I am doing some research into first day of issue covers/stamps as I think this would be a really relevant addition to my British isles type brief to accompany the postcards and stamps. 


Definition of a first day cover :


First day cover refers to an envelope on which a stamp is pasted and the stamp gets cancelled on the very first day of issue. A cachet is placed on the left side of the envelope that describes the stamp's issue. The cachet is a design that will explain the event or anniversary being commemorated. The stamps affixed are related to some events. The first day cover stamps are must haves for the first day cover collectors. These stamps are issued by the Post Office and the prices are fixed by them. First day cover stamps can be ordered from the Philatelic Bureau, which is a section of the Post Office that handles all the orders from collectors and dealers. One can subscribe with the dealer to get the first day cover stamps. Collectors can store the stamps properly in the first day cover album. Few of these albums are compact and fully padded, enabling convenient storage of stamps in these albums. There is a huge market for the British first day cover. A number of associations cater to the British first day cover collectors. These associations help to initiate communications between the collectors. They also provide more information about collecting the British first day covers.


At the Elmwood talk on Friday they mentioned their Thomas the Tank Engine stamps and first day cover which they did which gave me the idea.








This is the stamp that they designed :



An old Thomas first day cover :


Old Thomas first day stamps :







Some other examples :





Ideally I would like to design a stamp and order it, however I have not budgeted for this, and looking at various stamp websites that have been recommended to me, I'm not sure that I can afford it. I am waiting for some money from a live client so perhaps if that comes through soon I will order one! Otherwise I might try to mock up how the stamp would look as a print.

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