Home
 Europa 2008: The Letter Envelop with Cachet and Cancels Scott 1374 (2008) Collecting First Day Covers has been one area of philately that has been gaining popularity through the years. Thus it is no wonder that many Vatican collectors have been caught up with collecting Vatican First Day Covers. For some time there has been a great deal of controversy on how one should collect First Day Covers. It is neither the intent nor within the scope of this article to tell collectors what is the right way to collect First Day Covers. It is the hope that a study of Vatican First Day Covers can be made that will be beneficial to collectors.  Over the years two schools of thought have emerged regarding the collecting of First Day Covers. The one placed emphasis on the cancel indicating that the cover had passed through the postal channels. Later it became more acceptable for the cover to be unaddressed. With the early Vatican First Day Covers from the first issue of August 1, 1929 this was not always possible. There are examples of the first issue being cancelled on August 1, 1929 that are unaddressed as well as addressed. It is possible that more covers will be found addressed than unaddressed with these early issues. These early First Day Covers were all probably philatelically prepared, as shown in Figure 1 above. Those early First Day Covers that are addressed are probably examples of covers that went through the regular postal channels Since the Vatican Postal service offers no First Day of Issue service collectors have to rely on dealers for their First Day Covers. However, in the early years there were some First Day Cancels that just happened to pass through the postal system on the first day of issue. An example is seen in Figure 2. This cover was cancelled June 2, 1939 and bears Scott #68-71 and is addressed to one Gentile Signor Michele Massas.  Another such cover is seen in Figure 3. This is a First Day Cover bearing the Sede Vacante set, Scott #61-67. As shown it is addressed and bears in the lower left corner the words "FIRST DAY OF ISSUE". This cover was probably prepared by a dealer and may well mark the beginning of the present practices. [EDITOR'S NOTE: the cover is addressed to noted stamp dealer Samuel Bayer]  Next we have an example of an unaddressed cover: the Universal Postal Union issue, Scott #C18-19, cancelled December 3, 1949. Still this cover is not in the mode of the vast majority of present First Day Covers--it does not have a cachet of any kind. See Figure 4:  Today's First Day Cover collector, Vatican collectors included, seems to place as much emphasis on the cachet as they do on the cover being unaddressed. An example of a present First Day Cover bearing the first day cancel and being unaddressed with a colorful cachet is seen in Figure 5. This cover has the Palatine Guard of Honor issue, Scott #140-142 cancelled September 2, 1950:  We have now seen four different types of Vatican First Day Covers that are possible for one to collect by using these five covers as a beginning for our study of Vatican First Day Covers. It is acknowledged that the dates used in this article are not set in stone. These covers are all in the author's collection and have been used merely as a starting point for a beginning study of starting and ending dates for each of these possible types of Vatican First Day Covers. If the Vatican Philatelic Society were able to compile a list of beginning and ending dates, it would be a valuable aid to Vatican collectors. It would enable a collector to know if he is likely to find a cover with an unaddressed first day cancel. It would also let a collector know if he should discoverer cover a cover that has not been previously listed. While our dates may never be 100% correct or complete it would save a great deal of time in our searching for First Day Covers. I have known collectors that have requested unaddressed First Day Covers with a very early Vatican issue and being told that such do not exist unaddressed. While that may well be true but that collector pass up a cover just because it was addressed 50-60 years ago. Such a cover could serve the First Day Cover collector the same as a "space filler" serves the stamp collector. It can fill an otherwise empty space until one either fords or can afford a better item. It is my hope that many of the VPS members who may have examples of earlier or later uses than shown here will submit such information, with a photo copy if possible, [to the VPS Website Team]. When there has been enough information obtained a listing will be shared with the readers in the NOTES. This article originally appeared in Vatican Notes in March of 1996 (Volume 44, Number 5, pages 1, 6-9). It has been lightly edited. In particular, the last paragraph has been updated to call on VPS members to share any unique covers with the VPS Website Team in an effort to compile an all-encompassing digital collection of Vatican FDC's that can be accessible on the VPS website. The original article can be accessed by clicking on the link below. REFERENCE William M. Wickert, Vatican Notes, Volume 44, Number 5, March 1996, pages 1, 6-9, Collecting Vatican First Day Covers |
