Philatelic Cover Collecting

One area of stamp collecting that I have followed is to collect envelopes with stamps attached that have been sent through the mail. This is called cover collecting since a collector collects the entire envelope or cover of the envelope. A philatelist is another name for a stamp collector. Hence the title of Philatelic Cover Collecting. There are several specific divisions of this sort of collecting. Here is a summary of these types:

There is First Day cover collecting category where a collector tries to get an example of each stamp on an envelope and cancelled the first day that stamp was made available by the post office. This is a large area of interest for many collectors. Here are examples of a few of these from my collection:

Another area of collecting is event cover or commemorative cover collecting. This sort of item has on the envelope some art work, a stamp which is usually related, and a post office cancel which ties or joins the stamp to the cover. Many of these covers are quite interesting and very informative. Here are examples of a few from my collection:

Commercial covers are my favorite. They are envelopes with stamps on them that are interesting and have seen postal use. Often these covers have higher value stamps which are harder to find. These higher fees pay for special delivery, airmail, priority mail, express delivery, or registry. There are collectors who seek each of these subcategories. Here are a few samples from my collection:

Then there are advertising covers. These envelopes have a commercial message written on them to advertise a product. These covers are highly desired. I don't have very many just because they are harder to find and thus more valuable. Here are a few samples not from my collection:

Airmail covers are quite collectable. I like airmail covers from Switzerland. I do not have many. They are not extremely valuable but some can be five dollars each or even more for the more difficult to locate. One subcategory is the Zeppelin Covers. That would be an envelope which were flown on the German Zeppelin balloon. I certainly do not have any of these since they are quite valuable and beyond my collecting budget. But I do have a few images of these covers to share with you not from my collection:

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Stampless covers are also an interest of mine. Stampless because there is no stamp to show that a fee was paid to send them. Rather, an ink notation was made to show that the amount was paid. These are folded pieces of paper which have been sent through the mail with no stamp. They were often sent before stamps were available. Here is a short representative image of a few from my collection:

The category of foreign covers is perhaps my favorite. I like to imagine that each item started some where far away and then ended in my collection after traveling across the world. A collecting interest of mine is to gather a collection together of covers from as many countries as possible. These covers usually cost a dollar each so it is quite affordable. Here are some samples:

I do not have many philatelic covers for sale but I do have some duplicates. Click HERE to go to my Philatelic Cover Gallery of items I have for sale at this time.

Books are very important tool for a serious collector. Here are details about books for sale about stamp collecting for the specialist. Click HERE for more.

Other Countries covers just about everything except for US, CSA and Canada. Please look up your interest under the various name combinations as this section is not cross-indexed and unfortunately it is also not consistent in the listings. A current or former colony could be listed under the original parent country or the current or original colony name. Sorry about that!

Falkland IslandsThe Postage Stamps of the Falkland Islands and Dependencies by B.S.H. Grant 1952, 140 pages, cloth, $45.00 1998 reprint, 140 pages, cloth, £25, $45.00

Falkland Islands Philatelic Digest A compilation from the UPLAND GOOSE for the 1970-1975 period.

Falkland Island Mails, The Kosmos Years, 1880-1900 by Rev Jeremy Howat The sailings of all 265 contract mail voyages are detailed along with the contracts and known covers. 1989, 144 pages, cloth, $40.00

Falklands, Postal Service of the Falkland Islands by R. Barnes 1980 second printing, 104 pages, cloth, $22.50

Falklands The War Stamp Overprints of the Falklands, 1918-1920 by J. P. Bunt 1987, 28 pages, 2nd edition, printing of 400, $9.50

Falkland Islands, Postcards of.., A Catalogue: 1900-1950 by H. & F. Heyburn 1985, 256 pages, 310 illustrations, $22.50

De La Rue Definitive of the Falkland Islands 1901-1929 by Bunt 1986, 100 pages, cloth, only one copy number 178 of 600, $70.00

War Stamp Overprints of the Falkland Islands 1918-1920 by Bunt 1981, 40 pages, cloth, $45.00

Fiji, The Postal History of Fiji 1911-1952 by J. G. Rodger Covers the transport of mail on land, sea and in the air, postal tariffs and stationery, post offices and postal agencies, revenue stamps, 1915-20 War Stamps, George V 1½d stamp. 1991, 112 pages, card bound, edition of 300, numbered $65.00

Fiji, The Postal History of Fiji by J.G. Rodger Published by E.B. Proud but still a Rodgers book. 1999, 528 pages, cloth, $77.50

Finland, The Serpentine Rouletted Stamps, Issues of 1860 and 1866 All in English, translated by Kauko Aro, SPF

Finland, European Letters to Finland 1819 to 1873 by B. Lundh Illustrates covers, full size, explaining the markings, routes and rates. Contains 207 covers from 13 countries, 5 maps, in English. Edition of 300, numbered 1990, 234 pages, 24 color plates, card, $75.00

Finland, The Railway Parcel Stamps of Finland by Hellman & Saarinen Well illustrated, text in English and Finnish, edition of 800, numbered 1993, 112 pages + 4 color plates + color map, card, $30.00

Finnish Christmas Seals 1908 - 1993 by Philatelic Federation of Finland A beautiful book in Finnish, Swedish and English As with the US ones unused seals are of moderate value but those on cover and cancelled are most desirable, also post cards, proofs and imperforates exist and often were produced for the collector, again as with US ones. 1994, 216 pages, card, limited stock, $35.00

France, A Bibliography of Philatelic Literature on the French Colonies, Protectorates and Overseas Territories, Vol. One by R. G. Stone 1981, 110 pages, card, $10.00

France, Philatélie à la Française, Philatelic Foundation Monograph No. 2 International Mail, 1699-1869 by Martin F. Stempien, Jr., The Hulot Plates of 1849-1876 by Marc W. Martin First Issues by John E. Lievsay Guadeloupe, 1859-1915 by Edward J.J. Grabowski, all in English. 1992, 101 pages, card bound, $25.00

France, Nomenclatuere Des Bureaux De Poste, De Belgique et du Nore de La France Occupés Guerre 1914-1918 by J. De Bast A detailed study of the WW I markings of Belgium and Northern France. 1990, circa 400 pages, marking card, cloth, Dutch and French, $45.00

TIMBRES DE FRANCE AU TYPE MERSON

France; The Merson Type by Dr. Jean Storch and Robert Françon A magnificent study, mostly on the adhesive stamps, proofs, essays, forgeries but a good amount of postal history. From The RPS, London; bilingual text, facing pages in English and French 1990, 198 pages, paper case binding, 200 illustrations,

France, Military and Postal History of the Revolutionary Armies in the West of France 1791-1802 by Stanley J. Luft A well done study of the history and philately, produced on a Laser Jet Printer by Envision Monographs, type is first rate, as the illustrations are stampless they are quite acceptable. 1993, 113 pages, card bound, $22.00

France, The Pigeon Post in Paris 1870 - 1871 by J. D. Hayhurst 1970, 48 pages, card, a fine study, in English, $25.00

France, The Flight of the Ville D'Orleans by Ernst M. Cohn Perhaps the most fascinating flight from the 1870 Siege of Paris. 1978, 175 pages, cloth, deluxe edition, $65.00

France, Nomenclature des Entiers Postaux Officiels de France et de Monaco by Jean-François Brun, priced catalog of France & Monaco postal stationery. 1986, 56 pages, card, in French but well illustrated, $9.50

France, Free French Censorship in the Levant by D. M. Zimmerman Jr. The handstamps, markings and printed tapes with a good background. 1980, 89 pages, card in spiral binding

French Morocco, 1943 - 44 Tour Hassan Issues by Charles Neidorf 1953, 56 pages, card, limited stock, $6.50

R F

France, Roosevelt, De Gaulle and the Posts by D. M. Giangreco The AMG story, Franco-American War Relations Viewed Through Their Effects on the French Postal System, 1942k-1944. The background behind the RF overprints. 1988, 192 pages, card, 100 illustrations including covers, $15.00

French Islands by O. W. Newport and J. T. Whitney Postal markings of Chausey, Mont Saint-Michel, Bréhat, Ushant (Ouessant), Belle Isle, Ile de Ré and Ile d'Oléron; also hotel cachets. 1981, 94 pages, 376 illustrations, card $18.50

France, Cilicie Occupation Militarie Francase by M. Max Mayo A fine catalog - handbook covering the postal history, markings and stamps, many in color of this small territory of Turkey. 1984, 200 pages, card some illustrations in color $35.00

French Somali Coast, Postal History 1939-45 by A. R. Torra 1992, 24 pages, card UK £5.50, $10.00

France in French

Please see our Assundry for single copy titles and new stock Vincent Potion postal history works, France in French

or also Private Press Books

Gambia, edited by J.O. Andrew for the West Africa Study Circle Dalwick's 1953 Gambia is now replaced by a larger and more complete work. 1985, 172 pages, 8 color plates, cloth, $32.00

Germany, Postal Rates of Germany 1906 - 1923 edited by Diana Manchester A fine guide to the Inflation Peirod, covers most rates except foreign packages. 1991, 36 pages, card, sold out

, Germany, 333 Years of Brunswich Postal History and Stamps 333 Jahre Braunschweigische Post by Henri Bade, in German 1960, 199 pages, cloth, $30.00

Germany, 1886-1986 A Century of German Ship Posts by Edwin Drechsel German offshore and domestic Sea and Ship Post marks, 263 markings, well illustrated, brief but useful background information. 1987, 114 pages, cloth, $25.00

German Seepost Cancellations 1886-1939 by Cockrill and Arno Gottspenn

Germany, G.R.I The Postage Stamps of the German Colonies occupied by the British, 1914-1918 by Robert M. Gibbs New Guinea and the Marshall Islands, Cameroons, Mafia, Samoa, Togoland The stamps and postal history, in English 1988, 290 pages, 30 in full color, cloth, $110.00

The Postal History of German East Africa by K. Pennycuick, edited by Proud 1989, 223 pages, cloth, limited stock, $85.00

Germany,The Echoes That Remain by Henry Schwab The philatelic story of the Nazi Persecution and the Holocaust. A fascinating book that presents the facts in a scholarly manner, I wish we would have stocked it when it first appeared. 1992, 185 pages, cloth

Postwar Years of Germany 1945-48, Postal History by Dr. H.F. & W. Stich An excellent work on the turmoil following the war, crammed with information, the contents warrant a much larger book. 1994, 272 pages, card. $45.00

Peter Feuser Publications

Deutsche Postorte 1490-1920 by Günther HassA detailed listing of Post Towns in the German area arranged alphabetically, many opening and closing dates are given, 2003, cloth, 681 pages, as of this date 2/23/04 we have only an advance copy but a small quantity is now in transit, 90e, $125

The Cities of the World, 1908 Reprint of a German book titled Gottlieb Webersik, Geographisch-Statistisches Weltlexikon, Similar to Proud's reprint of a 1889 German book but an 1908 edition and with a bit more information. Lack of knowledge of German is no problem at all. Unlike the Proud titles the paper, printing and binding are all first rate. 1999 reprint of 1908 book, 960 pages, cloth, 150-DM, $110.00

Nachverwendete Altdeutschland-Stempel, Cancellations Old German States by Peter Feuser Listing by State of all cancellations of the old German States which appear later on the stamps of Prussia, the North German Confederation and the first issues of the German Empire. Most markings are illustrated in full size. Cancellations are priced for all three periods, etc. Though in German it is fully illustrated and arranged alphabetically thus a given marking and it's value can be easily found. A 90 page index makes it easy to quickly find most markings. A new listing of reused German States markings used on the German Empire issues has been added. A number of excellent maps are provided.

Deutsche Vorphilatelie, Peter Feuser and Werner Münzberg German Stampless markings to 1875, transit to 1885 for all of Germany, arranged by city and not by state with most markings illustrated, 13,000 cancellations from 4,300 offices, a new listing of the military 1870/1871, value in Euro. easy to use for one that does not read German,

Deutsche Vorphilatelie, Katalog der Grenzübergangs by Feuser and Münzberg German Transit Markings applied in Germany when a cover crossed the border, 1727-1875; Disinfected Markings, 1814-1846. Introductions in English, French and German, arranged per above German Stampless, 100,-DM 1991, 118 pages, cloth $50.00

Handbuchder deutschen Privat-Postwertzeichen by Carl Schmidt Detailed listing of 19th Century German locals, illustrated, 180,-DM Reprint of 1939 & 1943, 317 & 527 pages, 75e + transit, $105.00

Die Nummernstempel Der Altdeutschen Staaten by Peter Feuser Listing of all number cancellations of the old German States. Arranged by state and numeral, priced on and off cover, for Baden by stamp issue. 1992, 210 pages, cloth, in stock, 35e + transit, $50.00

Die Deutschen Hufeisenstempel by Friedrich Spalink Standard work on German Horse Shoe cancellations, 1864-1880's prices are given according to the stamp issues via a point system. In German but easy to use, a significant improvement over the previous edition. 1992, 218 pages, cloth, 4th edition, about 218 pages, 35e + transit, $50.00

Handbuch Der Neudrucke by Paul Ohrt., reprinted by Peter Feuser List of reprints and forgeries of stamps and stationery with distinguishing characteristic for old German States (350 pages), Europe, etc. Reprint of 1906-1938 books, 670 pages, cloth, 75e + transit, $105.00

Postal Forgeries of the Kaiser's Empire, Die Postfälschungen des Deutschen Kaiserriechs by Michael Jäschke-Lantelme. Postal forgeries for the four series from 1871 to 1918, the forgeries and the attempts to evade the forgeries, in German.2000, 110 pages, card, published 64 DM, limited stock, $40.00

Germany, For the Finest in German Postal History please see the Peter Feuser titles under Specialty Philatelic Presses.

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