David Saks' Blog - Stamps & Everything Else

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Sunday, August 30, 2020

Thank You Rhodes College For Great Health & Good Times

How's this for 68 ?

Many thanks to my friends, faculty, staff & students at Rhodes College & the great Bryan Campus Life Center for keeping me in shape ! Rhodes helped go from 204 pounds to this slim 168 (I had pants on by the way) ! When this national medical crisis ends, and hopefully soon, we'll all be together again.

9:38 am cdt Comments

Monday, August 10, 2020

The Place Where You Are Treated Best & Grumble Most

The Leather Postcard of 1907

Here's rare leather postcard from my collection with a commemorative stamp honoring the Jamestown Exposition, Scott Catalog #328.

The stamp was issued in Hampton Roads, Virginia on April 26, 1907 and removed from sale on December 1, 1907.

The leather postcard, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was sent to Mrs. R. H. Mitchell of Lewisburg, Louisiana on June 6th 1907.

The card was made by S.N. & Compnay Printers in 1906.

The "Home Sweet Home" message on the back of the leather card is signed by or to "Maxie" with an etched impression from a sharp instrument

"The place where you are treated best and grumble most. Home Sweet Home"

Signed or meant for "Maxie".

Unknown impression from the right vertical section of the leather on the reverse.

Reversed inverted spectrographic imaging was used to reveal some of the details of this very scarce and unusual piece of postal history.

Today this rare leather card is worth the same thing as a used, drive-able, early 2000-something Chrysler.

2:33 pm cdt Comments

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For the next few weeks I'll be talking about the first day covers of ArtCraft along with everything else.

ArtCraft closed it's doors recently after 76 years of making philatelic history.

I'm predicting a sudden, salubrious escalation in the value of the ArtCraft cachet, all ArtCraft first day covers and ArtCraft portrait cards.
Including those connected to the Postal Commemorative Society

Their departure signals the end of an extraordinarily crucial, very important, highly significant and exceedingly meaningful period in philately

A mournful signal which will be heard around the world and lamented throughout the multitude of collectors

Leo and Sam August treasured their associations with the world's greatest philatelists

Leo's contributions to our hobby were significant enough to earn the coveted Luft Award and a place in the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame.

ArtCraft has well-earned it's place in the great chronological record in the history of philately.

Their raised ink, line-engraved intaglio printed cachets rank among the most aesthetic in the world.

ArtCraft cachets are not just beautiful.

They are works of art that showcase the wonders of the world and illuminate the powers of human creativity and ingenuity.

The Coober Pedy Cover
One of the World's Great Philatelic Rarities

Could this become la pièce de résistance de toute la modern Australian philatélie ?

Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground residences,called "dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat. The name "Coober Pedy" comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means "white man's hole".

Opal was found in Coober Pedy on 1 February 1915; since then the town has been supplying most of the world's gem-quality opal. Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry to provide the community with employment and sustainability. Coober Pedy has over 70 opal fields and is the largest opal mining area in the world.

Coober Pedy - no village, no buildings, no roads, just desert, mountains dotted with boulders. A bizarre lunar landscape, but for opal seekers is the most exciting place on earth, where again every day is the true challenge, happiness and luck just a shovel width apart and where life is defined by two words: winners and losers. Coober Pedy, grab your hat, throw it into the air and where it lands start digging !

“The Scott Numbers are the copyrighted property of Amos Press Inc., dba Scott

Publishing Co. The marks Scott and Scott’s are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,

and are trademarks of Amos Press, Inc. dba Scott Publishing Co. No use may be

made of these marks or of material which is reprinted from a copyrighted

publication of Amos Press, Inc., without the express written permission of Amos

Press, Inc., dba Scott Publishing Co., Sidney, Ohio 45365.”