Download this report as an MP3 sound file.

Hunting for J-F-K

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

Some six months after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he was remembered on a postage 
stamp. It set a precedent for deceased presidents, being placed on sale on the next 
anniversary of his birthday.

"The 5-cent Kennedy stamp was placed on sale, officially, nationwide back on May 29th, 1964."
RUNS :06

But Wall Street broker Henry Scheuer says the J-F-K stamp was different: For most of the 20th 
Century, nearly all U-S stamps were placed on sale first in only ONE city. They were available 
everywhere else the next day. That wasn't the case for the Kennedy stamp: It went on sale in 
every post office on the same day.

"I find it very interesting to try to attempt to obtain a sample postmark with that stamp from 
every city and every post office in the country, some 34,000."
RUNS :09

For most stamps, maybe half a million postmarks were obtained by collectors on the first day. 
For THIS stamp, four times as many were made.

"People were so fond of Kennedy all throughout the country that they did go out and prepare 
these souvenirs at the time."
RUNS :05

Scheuer is picking up about 50 new cities a year. How does he find them?

"Communicating with people on the Internet is a great way to find them. I find them from 
various stamp dealers. I engage in a traditional snail-mail correspondence, and, of course, 
e-mail."
RUNS :09

If you have what you think is a rare city for the J-F-K stamp, or just want to know more about 
this specialty, get in touch with Henry Scheuer:

"They can write me:

P.O. Box 535
Madison Square Station
New York, NY 10159

Or they can e-mail ME AT hscheuer@jmsonline.com.
RUNS :15

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, 
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

----------------------------------------------------------
Go to Previous Report
Go to Next Report 

Go to Report Index