Dear friends, i guess the new trend in philately today is philatelic covers. Yes, I have to agree that philatelic covers do not stand as a strong case for traditional philatelist as many aspect of a philatelic covers are rather questionable. For instance, a philatelic cover will usually be franked with a complete set rather than with the correct postage. As for me, though i prefer postal covers that carries thematic value, I can't ignore the beauty of philatelic covers. Over the years, Ive made many friendly exchanges but realized that not many pays attention to the finer aspect of cover collection.
In this post, I would like to highlight some areas that we need to look into if we are to send and receive good philatelic covers. Among them are:
Where to frank the stamps?
According to the UPU regulations, postage stamps have to be on the front top right hand side of each letter. If you use more then one stamp, at least one has to be at the top right hand side.
All others may somewhere else but on the front side. However, there are many countries today who allows extra postage stamps to be franked at the back of the cover.
Do you know how to address the cover?
The UPU does allow to place the address of destination either on the lower right or left hand side. Please use hand writing whenever possible else you can use computers and type writers. Labels has taken up great interest from collectors over the years but please ensure that the labels are of the highest quality. Low quality labels will damage the covers over time and most of the time the address will just blur off.
What is the right size envelope?
If you asked me, it depends on what are you sending. However. the prefer size among cover collectors are C6 covers.
What is the best postmark?
Obviously, the preferred postmark is clear hand cancelled CDS. However, collectors will also appreciate meter cancels, pictorial cancels and machine cancels which are clear and relates to the stamps else a clear hand cancelled CDS is just great. In addition, before sending a cover, it is good to know what type of cancel your exchange partner prefers e.g. SON cancel, light cancel etc.
How to ensure the cover does not bend?
It is essential to include a stiffener into the cover. Make sure the stiffener fits the cover well to ensure the edges of the cover is not damaged along the way. You can always recycle boxes and cardboards into stiffener. no problem there.
Other details:
- Never use any sort of tape to seal the cover. This practice will damage the cover over the years as the cover will tone due to the sticky tape.
- Use one theme but this is essential only to thematic collectors. When I say one theme, I don't mean a bird cover but a cover with the same type of bird. This can be a very good exhibit material for a thematic philatelist
I'm sure that many of you have other criteria that you look into when creating a philatelic cover. Please comment as I'm sure all readers would love to learn more on how to make good philatelic covers.
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