| Established July 15, 1969 |
- A Philatelic Purchase with Extras!
By Elizabeth A. Joyce #561 RPSS
On December 14, 2007, I noticed a Ryukyu Island stamp lot on EBAY. It was the last day of the auction for this item. The lot
was identified as:
RYUKYU ISLANDS 36 STAMP SHEETS MNH with a starting bid of $24.95.
The description of the lot read
“FROM THE 80 YEAR OLD MAN A COLLECTION OF 36 DIFFERENT MINT SHEETS IN THE ORIGINAL PHILATELIC
POSTINGS MAILERS FROM THE RYUKYU ISLANDS. SEE SCAN FOR EXAMPLE. THE SCOTT NUMBERS ARE 137/138
141 THRU 173 178. SAVE THESE BY THE SHEET OR BY THE PLATE BLOCK PLUS SINGLES A VERY NICE COLLECTION
AND AS USUAL A LOW START NO RESERVE.”
The following photo accompanied the auction page.
- (Double click photo to enlarge)
I was intrigued as it seemed to be an interesting lot and only one buyer had bid. According to the description the winner
would receive 36 Ryukyu Philatelic mailers with mint sheets included. Somehow it seemed too good to be true. I quickly
checked the seller’s feedback and seeing a 100% positive feedback score, I decided to bid. The auction was entering its
final hours so I pressed the bid button and entered my bid one dollar higher. The first bid entered by a fellow buyer was in
the amount of $32.77 and the second, my bid, was in the amount of $33.77. The shipping cost for the lot was $2.47. Much
to my surprise and delight, I won! I paid a total of $36.24 for the lot.
I received the lot on Tuesday, December 18, 2008, and upon opening the package I immediately got onto the EBAY site and
left this seller exceptional feedback. The shipping was lightening fast and the material was better than described. I was
delighted with my purchase.
Below is a photo of the lot I received:
(Double Click Image to Enlarge)
The lot included 36 Ryukyu Philatelic Section mail envelopes (I like to call them mailers), complete with the original invoice
and stamps purchased all nestled in their unopened original tissue wrap. The outbound postmarks on the mailers started
with March 12, 1966 and ended with July 16, 1968. The standing order customer was a mint sheet collector and all of the
stamps included within the mailers are mint sheets. The postage used for franking on the mailers is the stamp issue that is in
the mailer and used in multiples such as blocks or pairs on the front of the mailers. Along with these stamps, the occasional
airmail or other high value stamp is used to make up the postage rate. Many commemorative cancels, custom seals,
registrations stickers, and markings abound.
I thought this was a remarkable purchase and not as much as in the value of the mint stamp sheets, but in the history of
philatelic mailing to standing order customers. Upon going through the contents of this lot, I was right! All of this information
may be old news to many of our members who may have had the opportunity of receiving such treasures back “in the day”,
but for others, like myself, and many of you reading this; it is something I never had the opportunity of experiencing. Many of
these mint sheets had never been unwrapped from the time they left Okinawa so many years ago and I was unwrapping
them. My gut feeling was that it is important to document the contents of these mailers using photos for all to see. I decided
on two special mailers, both had additional material included, both are Notices to Customers.
Both of the notices are important announcements about changes in the way that business would be conducted within the
philatelic agency for the benefit of the customer, ease of operation, and to make fulfilling the customer orders a more
efficient operation. I have opened each mailer and have taken step by step photos so that you can see how the sheets were
packaged with the invoice and the announcement. I have purposely obliterated the name and address of the standing order
customer. All the mailers were addressed to the same individual with the destination being Lakewood, California.
Below is a mailer postmarked April 10, 1968, Naha Higashi with two arrival postmarks, one in Los Angles and one in
Lakewood, California, both cancelled on May 17, 1968. Other markings include registration number, custom label, custom
due stamp, and passed custom stamp. All the stamps that are used for franking are included within the mailer as mint sheets
expect for the 20c dancer stamp. The un-dated notice states that stamps would now be sold to customers until the stock is
depleted rather than being stopped ninety days after the issue date.
Below is the mailer postmarked November 1, 1966. The postmark used is a commemorative one and depicts the Tomb of
Nakasone Tumia Genga, ruler of Miyako. This stamp that commemorates the tomb, a 3c issue is included in the mailer as a
mint sheet. This mailer is a first day of issue commemorative mailer envelope. The destination postmark is unreadable except
for the date, December 9, 1966. As with the other mailer, markings include registration number, custom label, custom due
stamp, and passed custom stamp. All the stamps that are used for franking are included within the mailer as mint sheets
expect for the 19c airmail. The notification to customers dated November 1, 1966 states that because of the increased
volume and demand for Ryukyu stamps the Philatelic Section came up with the following solution. When two stamps are
issued within a fifteen day period, they will be mailed to the customer together. This new rule would allow for more efferent,
accurate, and equitable service to their customers.
- I am still going through this lot and finding many sheet, franking and postmark surprises and I am having a grand time doing
so! My philatelic purchase really proved to be one with a lot of history surprises and will keep me busy for quite some time!
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The Ryukyu Philatelic Specialist Society, LTD. |