posted 10-04-2010 12:57 PM               

Space Cover #77, Did Harry notice?

Do you notice anything peculiar about the scanned cover for the Telstar 2 launch? Would you buy this cover for your collection to commemorate the launch of Telstar 2?

The cover is addressed to noted astrophilatelist Harry Gordon who created his distinctive covers from the 1950s to 1970s with most having his "photo stamp" cachet added to an airmail envelope with his address rubber stamped to the envelopes (in the 1970s some were addressed to "David Gordon" instead of to Harry.

It appears Harry didn't notice something was wrong with this cover when he received it. Did you notice? The cover is dated May 7, 1962 but the Telstar 2 launch was May 7, 1963, a year later than the postmark on the cover. In fact, the Cape Canaveral post office did not exist on May 7, 1962 as the name change between Port Canaveral (August 31, 1962) and Cape Canaveral (September 1, 1962) had not taken place. Thus the Cape Canveral cancel device most likely wouldn't have been in existence in May 1962. The second scan shows the envelope was most likely mailed to Harry on the proper date in May 1963 as the cover has a backstamped postmark of Bronx, N.Y. is May 9, 1963.

So the mystery is - why, after more than four months of use in 1963, was the postmark set to have a 1962 year? Obviously a post office error as the date doesn't match a launch date. Harry presumably didn't notice as he added his Telstar 2 cachet (as similar ones with the correct May 7, 1963 postmark exist). How many were postmarked and mailed before the post office noticed the error? You may have one in your collection. If nothing else, an interesting "earliest known - error - Cape Canaveral postmark" to add to your collection. So if you find one...