posted 07-07-2024 09:30 AM               

Space Cover 761: Expensive Space Stamps

This is the Stamps* and Covers forum, but we rarely do our Space Cover of the Week entries on stamps. But this week's focus is mainly about stamps and concerns Priority Mail and Express Mail stamps that have a space theme. They are expensive but can add a nice extra to our more special space covers as the covers featured will illustrate.

There have been a large number of stamps issued to commemorate and honor U.S. space achievements (see final image) and most of us like to use stamps with a space theme on our space covers. I certainly have and there are probably few U.S. stamps with a space theme that I haven't used.

In 1989, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the USPS issued a $2.40 Priority Mail stamp - designed by cS member Chris Calle - that certainly is one of the more impressive of all U.S. space themed stamps.

At the top is a USPS cacheted cover for the first day of issue of the $2.40 Apollo 11 Priority Mail stamp, and the cover below is affixed with one of the $2.40 Priority Mail stamps and canceled with four Kennedy Space Center (KSC)-area cancels for the STS-33 launch.

In 1993 the USPS issued a $2.90 Priority Mail stamp showing a futuristic spacecraft buzzing around above a moon. This cover was canceled on the stamp's first day of issue with three different KSC cancels. Below is an impressive $3.20 Priority Mail stamp depicting the landing of a space shuttle orbiter and with the cover signed by the STS-103 crew.

This is a $3.00 Challenger Priority Mail First Day Cover (FDC) and has four KSC-area cancels. The cover below has one of the Challenger in space stamps and is signed by the STS-78 crew.

This is an Artcraft FDC of the $11.75 Express Mail stamp of 1998 and depicts a shuttle orbiter on top of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at takeoff or landing. Below is an X-Planes Express Mail FDC for the $14.40 Express Mail stamp of 2006 and later canceled at KSC for the STS-134 launch.

As a comparison, here is a crew signed STS-49 cover canceled for the first launch of shuttle orbiter Endeavour. Affixed is a 45 cent stamp of an orbiter in space from a block of four stamps. Certainly not expensive, but at 45 cents, it was 16 cents over the first class postage rate at the time of issue. These stamps served me well, as I used them on a large number of space covers through the years, with the cover at the top a good example. The cover below, autographed by shuttle astronaut Gerhard Thiele, is another example of a low priced commemorative space stamp that was very useful on space shuttle covers.

Expertly done by Ken Havekotte, here is a sheet that displays a great variety of space themed stamps. It was canceled at Washington D.C. and several KSC-area post offices on the first day of issue of the Apollo 11 $2.40 moon landing Priority Mail stamp. Many of these stamps have been used on countless space covers through the years.

posted 07-07-2024 05:55 PM               

It was good seeing four of my older high-value stamp pairs, combos, and multi-cancels in your selection, Bob, as I did work very hard on those projects at the time. It was a lot of fun, but in some cases, very costly and challenging with a lot of planning and coordination for some of those space stamp first day issues. Also, some of the depicted FDI-events outside of Florida were not possible without the help and support of Stephen Stein (CSM Enterprises).

For the shuttle program, the depicted stamp panel far below at bottom left contains 14 different space stamp issues, of which include two hologram $3.20 Priority Mail space station stamps first released in July 2000 at the World Stamp Expo in Anaheim, California. In that same year stamp expo series were other released holographic space theme topics. With all the postage stamps added together on the shuttle stamps theme, it would be nearly $40 in U.S. face stamp value.

posted 07-08-2024 09:35 AM               

Below is a FDC celebrating the Apollo 8 flight around the moon in 1968, issued 24th July 1969 by the French colony of Dahomey (Benin). It was the first of an increasingly competitive streak amongst French African colonies to outdo each other in collectible gold stamps...

It is an embossed gold foil stamp made from 100% gold. Real gold, 24 carat gold.

Gold is currently trading at $2400 an ounce, and although this little beauty doesn't weigh very much it still carries an intrinsic value very few other stamps can.

I have tried to find out whether the Dahomey Franc was equivalent to the French Franc in July 1969, but to no avail. But assuming it was equivalent, then the exchange rate for the french Franc against the dollar was 4.9371 in July 1969. So a 1000 franc stamp would have cost $202.55 to buy at that date.