Westmoreland County Philatelic Society - February 2009 Newsletter

MEETING DATE

Next Meeting will be on March 8

The next meeting of the stamp club will be March 8. This will be our Spring Auction. Bring that material that you no longer want or some of your duplicate items. Please bring cookies for the table. The hall is open from 1 pm, the meeting starts at 2:15 pm.

HAGERPEX Stamp & Postcard Show - Saturday, February 14, 2009 9am – 3:30pm, Hagerstown Stamp Club, Plaza Hotel., Halfway Blvd & I-81 (across from Valley Mall), 13 dealers.

The Quarterly Wilkinsburg Stamp Show – Sunday, March 1, 2009; 10:00am to 4:00pm; Churchill Borough Building, 2300 William Penn Highway. (take the Churchill Exit building is about 2 blocks on the left). For more information contact James J. Reeves at 800-701-7091.

TRIPEX Stamp Show – Saturday March 21, 10:00am - 3:30pm, Tri State Stamp Club, St. Ambrose Church, 14923 Winchester Road Southwest, Cresaptown, MD Contact: Jeff Hutter, jeff.hutter@twrcommunications.com 301-777-0379 evenings and weekends.

Garfield-Perry March Party – Friday March 27, 11AM-6PM; Saturday March 28, 10AM-5:30 PM; Sunday March 29, 10AM-4PM; Masonic Auditorium, East 36^th Street and Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH; 50+ dealers. Website address: http://www.garfieldperry.org/marchparty.html

On February 9, 2009, in Springfield, Illinois, the Postal Service will issue a 42-cent, Abraham Lincoln commemorative stamp in four designs in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps. The stamp, designed by Richard Sheaff of Scottsdale, Arizona, goes on sale nationwide February 9, 2009. The Postal Service recognizes the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), who rose from humble, frontier origins to become a prominent lawyer, politician, and ultimately president of the United States. The stamp art was created by Mark Summers of Waterdown, Ontario, Canada, who is noted for his scratchboard technique, a style distinguished by a dense network of lines etched with exquisite precision. Each stamp features a different aspect of Lincoln’s life. The stamps show Lincoln as rail-splitter, lawyer, politician, and president. First day address:

On February 17, 2009, in Oxford, Ohio, the Postal Service will issue a 27-cent, Miami University stamped card. The stamped card, designed by Howard E. Paine, of Delaplane, Virginia, goes on sale nationwide February 17, 2009. The Postal Service will commemorate Miami University’s bicentennial by issuing a stamped card in the Historic Preservation series. The stamped image on the card is a computer-generated illustration of MacCracken Hall, created by artist Tom Engeman of Bethany Beach, Delaware. First day address:

All orders must be postmarked by April 20, 2009. There are two philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

On February 21, 2009, in New York, New York, the Postal Service will issue a 42-cent, Civil Rights Pioneers commemorative stamp in six designs in a pressure sensitive (PSA) souvenir sheet of six stamps. The stamp, designed by Greg Berger of Bethesda, Maryland, goes on sale nationwide February 21, 2009. With these stamps, the U.S. Postal Service honors 12 leaders of the struggle for African-American civil rights. These visionary men and women energized a movement that spanned generations. Art director Ethel Kessler and stamp designer Greg Berger, both of Bethesda, Maryland, chose to approach this project through photographic montage. Paring two pioneers on each stamp was a way of intensifying the montage effect. First day address:

All orders must be postmarked by April 22, 2009. There are six philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

On February 24, 2009, in Washington, DC, the Postal Service will issue a 1-cent Official Mail definitive stamp in one design in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps. The stamp, designed by the late Bradbury Thompson, goes on sale nationwide February 24, 2009. First day address:

All orders must be postmarked by April 28, 2009. There is one philatelic product available for this stamp issue:

On February 24, 2009, in Washington, DC, the Postal Service will issue a non-denominated, presorted standard rate (10-cent value), Patriotic Banner stamp in one design in a water-activated gum (WAG) coil of 500 stamps. Designed by Michael Osborne of Berkeley, California, the stamp goes on sale nationwide February 24, 2009. This stamp was previously issued in the following formats:

All orders must be postmarked by April 27, 2009. There is one philatelic product available for this stamp issue:

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) was an American politician, lawyer, military leader and the nineteenth President of the United States (1877–1881). Hayes was elected President by one electoral vote after the highly disputed election of 1876. Losing the popular vote to his opponent, Samuel Tilden. Hayes advanced to the rank of Brigadier General in the Civil War and was wounded four times.

One of Great Britain’s finest gems is the “VR” official. What makes this stamp so rare is that it was never issued, and most of the copies were destroyed. When the British Post Office was planning the issue of the Penny Black in 1840, it was suggested that there might be a need for an official stamp for government use. BPO authorities decided to use the same design as the Penny Black. Rowland Hill requested that the letters “VR” (for Victoria Regina) replace the ornaments in the upper corners to distinguish the official stamp from the regular stamp,

Perkins, Bacon and Petch printed the stamps. The ornamental designs were removed from the upper corners and the letters “VR” were punched in their place. The plate used to print the officials bore the letter “A” in the four corners instead of the plate number. It contained 240 subjects in 20 rows and 12 columns. One row was a shilling worth of stamps and the sheet had a one pound value.

Approximately 3,500 sheets were produced including 148 that were damaged. On May 7, 1840, postmasters in England were sent copies of the stamp as specimens. However, at the last minute, the BPO decided no to issue the stamp.

In his book “A History of British Postage Stamps”, T. Todd states that 3,302 sheets of the stamp were stored in a warehouse. The idea was completely abandoned and in January 1843 it was decided to destroy the stamps in the warehouse. Only 15 sheets of the original printing escaped, 13 of which were used as specimens for postmasters. Two were used for registration and one sheet was sent to Rowland Hill. Hill experimented with cancellations on the unissued officials, using various inks to find one that could not be removed. It had become apparent that cancellations were being removed from the regular Penny Blacks, permitting their reuse and resulting in a loss of revenue.

The “VR” Officials are scarce, cataloging in Scott at $13,500 unused. A cover bearing one of the unissued officials was part of the Alfred Caspary collection. The stamp is tied with a red Maltese Cross and is addressed to Cheapstow.

The Headsville, WV Post office opened in 1860 and was the oldest operating post office in the United States when it closed in 1914. The post office was located in a general store. It was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution and moved to Washington, D.C. where it reopened in 1971 in the National Museum of American History.

After 35 years as a working model of a 19th-century post office and general store, the historic Headsville Post Office shut its doors when the museum was closed for renovation in 2006. Plans were made to reopen it at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, headquarters of the American Philatelic Society.

A specially prepared climate-controlled pavilion was prepared to house the Headsville post office. The pavilion was named for former Third Assistant Postmaster General Gordon C. Morison and his wife Mary, who did much to promote stamp collecting. The pavilion was dedicated October 20, 2007. The shipment of the expertly dismantled Headsville post office, carefully crated by the Smithsonian for transport, arrived in late 2007 and early 2008, and was reassembled in Bellefonte after the Morison Pavilion had been tested for environmental suitability. The historic Headsville Post Office was reopened as a Contract Post Office on March 3, 2008 and is open to visitors to the APS Headquarters.

The post office interior was featured on a 1972 stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Mail Order Industry. Scott #1468.