1938 Post Office Philatelic Agency Cover, Order Form w/ Prices, Request Postcard

Description: Great piece of US philatelic history. This lot includes a cover from the Post Office Department Philatelic Agency, the order form/price list (unused) and a postcard to the Philatelic Agency, requesting information on stamps available. An order form exactly like this one would have been mailed to the sender of the postcard. Covers from the Philatelic Agency are seen fairly often here, as recipients, often collectors, would save the envelopes their ordered postage arrived in. The letters are seen much less often, and of the handful that have sold here in the last two years, according to eBay's research tool, a majority of the order forms were used. This one is not. Additionally, a seldom-seen request to the Agency for a list of available stamps is included. It's not the same person as the recipient of the cover and letter, but the timing is precise. The cover is postmarked from Washington DC on December 9, 1938. The Agency used the envelope with Scott # U420 (Die 1), and this was hand-stamped with the 1 1/2 cent postage surcharge reading 'Mail Early For Christmas' - which was just 16 days away from the mailing date. The recipient lived in Syracuse, NY. The letter is unused, has the expected fold lines but is in otherwise excellent condition. The paper is crisp and there is no fraying at the folds. It is the current price list as of December 3, 1938, and known as PSA 132. The order forms were updated often, meaning they had very short windows of one to two months maximum. Used forms seen here show August, 1944, 68 months later than this one, as PSA 186 and January 1945, just 5 months after that, PSA 192. This letter was mailed 6 days from its going into effect The postcard is Scott # UY7, a business reply detached half, postmarked by hand December 6, 1938, from Henderson, Nebraska. The postcard is in excellent condition. It is unknown if the Agency received the request. It would have been awesome if the postcard was sent by the same person who got the letter, but as a group this is a great snapshot of the year the Prexies issue came out

Price: 25 USD

Location: Rochester, New York

End Time: 2024-08-04T17:36:49.000Z

Shipping Cost: 1.5 USD