Loggerhead Sea Turtle first day cover arrives

While I’ve never really gone out of my way to acquire first day covers (other than those included in my 14¢ American Indian collection), a few have made their way to me over the years. The most recent came courtesy of longtime reader Kenneth M., who had a FDC bearing the Loggerhead Sea Turtle stamp issued in June sent my way. The stamp was issued in Corpus Christi, which is a couple of hours down the road from me.

In addition to the sea turtle stamp, the cover has a printed impression of a 2¢ George Washington stamp from the third Bureau issue. This was neither valid nor required to pay postage, of course—the Forever stamp took care of that—but it did make the envelope stand out in my post office box! Receiving the cover was a nice surprise.

As far as the first day postmark goes, it seems on the heavy side to me. The stamp itself is already dark, and planting a big dark blob on top of it doesn’t do it much good. That’s not Kenneth’s fault, of course, just an observation regarding how the stamp was canceled.

Published 2024-09-16