Post by darkormex on Aug 7, 2013 20:48:47 GMT -5
A First Day Cover is, at its simplest, an envelope, franked with a stamp, that has a postmark date matching the stamp's day of first release. In the United States, special postmarks are used that read "First Day of Issue". Those are the postmarks I will be addressing here, and will be sticking to the U.S., as that is what I know.
Find out when the stamp you want is going to be released. For this you will want to use the "Philately" section of The Postal Bulletin, which has new stamp announcements (it also has information on upcoming pictorial cancellations, and this tutorial can very easily be changed to apply to those).
On the day the stamp is released, go to your post office to buy it. Not all post offices will have it in stock on that day. It sometimes helps to ask in advance, to make sure they will be ordering it. If you are sending away for your cancellation, you can wait until it comes into stock, or order it by mail, because you have 60 days from release to get a mail-in cancellation.
Now for the actual process:
1. Obtain your envelope. Traditionally the envelope-of-choice is an acid-free #6 3/4 envelope with an ungummed flap, but these are getting increasingly difficult to find. To fit standard sleeves, you will want to keep the envelope #6 3/4 (these measure 6 1/2 x 3 5/8 inches), but you're unlikely to find them as above. Many office stores will have acid-free #6 3/4 envelopes in stock, but with gummed flaps. Go with that.
2. Prepare your cover. Cut a blank, acid-free index card down to the exact dimensions of the interior of the envelope to stiffen it. Insert it into the envelope. Tuck the flap in (don't seal it). Decorate the cover if you like (an artistic design on a cover is called a "cachet"). Place your stamp carefully on the envelope, usually in the upper-right. Try to add a little space to the top and the right, of equal size. Address your cover (I print a removable Avery address label on an inkjet printer so that I can peel the address off when the cover gets back to me).
3. Mail your cover in for servicing. The Postal Bulletin will tell you the address to use. For the upcoming (as of this writing) Lady Liberty and U.S. Flag issue, for instance, you are instructed to mail your covers to:
Lady Liberty and U.S. Flag Stamp
Special Cancellations
PO Box 92282
Washington, DC 20090-2282
Fun fact: Your cover will be redirected to a central fulfillment office and will never make it to Washington, DC. Washington is just the "First Day City". The fact that your cover will be serviced somewhere else and on a later day is why some collectors go to extreme lengths to service more authentic covers -- in this case, by actually going to Washington and having the stamps cancelled at a post office on the day of release.
4. Get your cover back in the mail. The USPS is very good at servicing FDCs (not so good at pictorial cancellations): your cover will be placed on a backing board and inserted into a clear plastic bag which is then sealed. Your cover will be returned to you through the mailstream, using the postage and address on the cover, but will not get any other postal markings, such as inkjet cancels (neat, huh?) By the way, these bags and boards are not archival-safe: when you receive your cover back, take it out of the packaging, put it in an archival sleeve, and store it in a box (or mount it in an album!)
You can service postcards this way, too, as if they were covers, with stamps and (removable) address on the picture side. And, as I said, it works similarly, but not identically, with pictorial cancellations. Dorin, if you read this -- want to collaborate on a how-to for pictorials?
Hope this helps!
Find out when the stamp you want is going to be released. For this you will want to use the "Philately" section of The Postal Bulletin, which has new stamp announcements (it also has information on upcoming pictorial cancellations, and this tutorial can very easily be changed to apply to those).
On the day the stamp is released, go to your post office to buy it. Not all post offices will have it in stock on that day. It sometimes helps to ask in advance, to make sure they will be ordering it. If you are sending away for your cancellation, you can wait until it comes into stock, or order it by mail, because you have 60 days from release to get a mail-in cancellation.
Now for the actual process:
1. Obtain your envelope. Traditionally the envelope-of-choice is an acid-free #6 3/4 envelope with an ungummed flap, but these are getting increasingly difficult to find. To fit standard sleeves, you will want to keep the envelope #6 3/4 (these measure 6 1/2 x 3 5/8 inches), but you're unlikely to find them as above. Many office stores will have acid-free #6 3/4 envelopes in stock, but with gummed flaps. Go with that.
2. Prepare your cover. Cut a blank, acid-free index card down to the exact dimensions of the interior of the envelope to stiffen it. Insert it into the envelope. Tuck the flap in (don't seal it). Decorate the cover if you like (an artistic design on a cover is called a "cachet"). Place your stamp carefully on the envelope, usually in the upper-right. Try to add a little space to the top and the right, of equal size. Address your cover (I print a removable Avery address label on an inkjet printer so that I can peel the address off when the cover gets back to me).
3. Mail your cover in for servicing. The Postal Bulletin will tell you the address to use. For the upcoming (as of this writing) Lady Liberty and U.S. Flag issue, for instance, you are instructed to mail your covers to:
Lady Liberty and U.S. Flag Stamp
Special Cancellations
PO Box 92282
Washington, DC 20090-2282
Fun fact: Your cover will be redirected to a central fulfillment office and will never make it to Washington, DC. Washington is just the "First Day City". The fact that your cover will be serviced somewhere else and on a later day is why some collectors go to extreme lengths to service more authentic covers -- in this case, by actually going to Washington and having the stamps cancelled at a post office on the day of release.
4. Get your cover back in the mail. The USPS is very good at servicing FDCs (not so good at pictorial cancellations): your cover will be placed on a backing board and inserted into a clear plastic bag which is then sealed. Your cover will be returned to you through the mailstream, using the postage and address on the cover, but will not get any other postal markings, such as inkjet cancels (neat, huh?) By the way, these bags and boards are not archival-safe: when you receive your cover back, take it out of the packaging, put it in an archival sleeve, and store it in a box (or mount it in an album!)
You can service postcards this way, too, as if they were covers, with stamps and (removable) address on the picture side. And, as I said, it works similarly, but not identically, with pictorial cancellations. Dorin, if you read this -- want to collaborate on a how-to for pictorials?
Hope this helps!
