I picked up an EKU of a postal stationery item quite by accident. I didn't even know it until I posted a picture of it online and someone who specialized in these things alerted me to it.
In that moment I had a vision of selling the cover for a lot more money that I paid for it (which was a pittance) but then I woke up, got some common sense and put it in my collection.
A year later an earlier one showed up.
Paying a premium for an EKU is similar to putting chips on a roulette table. R
emember there is always another spin of the wheel
An experienced collector once explained to me that EKUs (Earliest Known Use covers) are a sucker's game, as you no sooner put down The Big Bucks for an EKU than someone comes along with yet an earlier use.
Obviously, this problem only arises if you are paying a premium for an EKU cover and this, in turn, makes we wonder how to play safely.
One strategy would be to restrict yourself to covers postmarked from a favored post office or city.
If you pick one of the major postal cities (London, New York, etc) your EKU might also be The EKU, in which case you would be back to the problem of paying (and risking) a strong premium.
But if your city of choice is more modest (sorry, Selma), you might collect EKUs without ever having to pay the EKU premium.
Similarly, if your choice is a city pair - eg, the earliest known use of each stamp between Plains, Georgia and Plano, Texas - just about every cover you find will also be your EKU, because you won't be finding all that many covers to begin with.
Q/ Are you an EKU collector avoiding the EKU premium risk and, if so, how do you do it?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
re: The EKU (Earliest Known Use) Problem
I picked up an EKU of a postal stationery item quite by accident. I didn't even know it until I posted a picture of it online and someone who specialized in these things alerted me to it.
In that moment I had a vision of selling the cover for a lot more money that I paid for it (which was a pittance) but then I woke up, got some common sense and put it in my collection.
A year later an earlier one showed up.
re: The EKU (Earliest Known Use) Problem
Paying a premium for an EKU is similar to putting chips on a roulette table. R
emember there is always another spin of the wheel