Postmarks came to the foreground in the early 1960s, when collectors started to demand more interesting cancellations on their first day covers.
On a cover, the postmark should touch each stamp and link them to the envelope. If one wanted to use a CDS postmark from a town relevant to the stamp's issue, one would have to go to the town’s local Post Office to get it. A CDS postmark is very straight forward and only features the town’s name and the date. Circular Date Stamps (CDS) are the 'bread-and-butter' postmarks used on everyday mail by Post Office counters across the UK. Stamps are cancelled by a postmark, which shows they have been used and can’t be re-used to send a letter. The postmark is one of the most important features of a cover. Types Event covers ġ963 Centenary of the Red Cross cover with West Wellow postmark - where Florence Nightingale was buried Here began the very first First Day Covers. The City of Bath is known for releasing the stamps on. It was officially released for sale on however, several post offices that received the stamps prior to that date released the stamps early. It was later decided that an adhesive label should be used to prevent forgeries and mis-use of the postal service and the Penny Black stamp was born. On 10 January 1840 a Uniform 1d postmark was released which allowed a universal penny postage rate, this was a postmark that was paid and was applied when the letter was sent. Hill believed that sending mail should be affordable to all so proposed that postage should be pre-paid, based on the weight rather than the number of sheets and the cost should be drastically reduced. Sir Rowland Hill calculated that the cost to the Post Office was far less than what some people were paying to send/receive their mail this figure was just a fraction of 1d. Sometimes this amounted to a very considerable sum. The cost was measured by how many sheets were in the letter and how far the letter had to go. Prior to 1840, postage costs were very high and they were usually paid by the person who received the mail. The ceremony may also be held in a location that has a special connection with the stamp's subject, such as the birthplace of a social movement, or at a stamp show.įirst day cover of the world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black, used on is verified by the datestamp on the backflap Postal authorities may hold a first day ceremony to generate publicity for the new issue, with postal officials revealing the stamp, and with connected persons in attendance, such as descendants of the person being honored by the stamp. Depending on the policy of the nation issuing the stamp, official first day postmarks may sometimes be applied to covers weeks or months after the date indicated. There will usually be a first day of issue postmark, frequently a pictorial cancellation, indicating the city and date where the item was first issued, and "first day of issue" is often used to refer to this postmark. Covers that are postmarked at sea or their next port of call will carry a Paquebot postmark. Sometimes the issue is made from a temporary or permanent foreign or overseas office.
In 1989 for the 20th Anniversary of the Moon Landing the Postal Service asked Paul’s son,Īrtist Chris Calle to design the $2.40 Priority Mail stamp and Paul to design a First Day Cover cachet for the issue In 1994 for the 25th Anniversary of the Apollo XI Moon Landing Paul and Chris jointly designed two US stamps commemorating the event, a 29c Commemorative stamp and a $9.95 Express Mail stamp.A first day of issue cover or first day cover (FDC) is a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for use within the country or territory of the stamp-issuing authority. The engraved plates for the postage stamp were carried to the surface of the Moon by the Apollo XI astronauts. This iconic image of Neil Armstrong stepping on the surface of the Moon is remembered worlwide. Perhaps one of Calle’s most well known Space paintings is the 10c 1969 First Man on the Moon stamp design for the US Postal Service, scott # C76. His sketches of the Apollo 11 crew breakfast and Suiting Up stand as a visual record of the activities of the morning of July 16, 1969. 1969 as they prepared for their historic launch to the Moon. The only artist present with the Apollo XI crew of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins the morning of July 16. In a Space Art career spanning more than 40 years, Calle has covered Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle Missions. Paul Calle was one of the first eight artists chosen by NASA in 1962 to document theĪmerican Space Program’s Project Mercury.