Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
As part of the, not sure if this is the correct word, festivities, the United States issued a new $2 bill in 1976.
At that time, collectors were offered a brief opportunity to take the new $2 bill featuring the radical and former president Thomas Jefferson to their local post offices, affix stamps and have them canceled.
(I had to borrow this image from a website)
I remember going to post offices in Boston, Amherst, Sunderland, Hadley, etc. maybe accumulating about $60 worth of bills affixed with various stamps that tied in with the Revolution. It was fun, not a collecting prerequisite perhaps but for me it was fun--especially talking with the clerks at the post offices (who carefully applied the cds) I visited and the curious people in line not to mention fellow collectors with franked $2 bills in their hand.
Anybody else make those trips to the post office? Do you still have your bills?
Obviously, I didn't mind and thought it was an interesting combination however I do remember some local collectors grousing about the permission granted as a terrible idea, an exploitation of collectors, etc.
Do you remember such philatelic arguments either pro or con against the marriage of philately and notophily? Was there any commentary in Linn's? I don't recall.
All my bills (maybe there's a holdout squirreled away around here) have been sold. A note to holders of such keepsakes, look up the serial numbers of 1976 $2 bills before selling, trading or giving away since there are a few that are considered quite rare. The franked bills themselves aside from the serial number issue are common enough to be found in abundance when they are sought out by collectors.
Bruce
Addendum: I just had a thought. I have only seen these bills with stamps that relate to the American Revolution? Has anyone seen them with stamps that do not fit the theme? Seems if such oddities exist, they might attract collectors of a different sort.
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01:08:26am
".... Leading up the July 4th signing of the Declaration of Independence,...."
The circumstances surrounding the approval, writing, printing and eventually the signing of the Declaration of Independence are generally a mis-understanding of history. The document was not signed until August 2nd, 1776.
After months of acrimonious debate and voting on its wordings the Continental Congress agreed to the final proposals on July 2nd, 1776 . While I am sure there were outside discussions with others that evening and July 3rd by Jefferson's committee, the terms were put to paper, the document was formally announced to the general public locally on July 4th. The master copy was sent to a printer and over a hundred copies were printed up, and released to the public, the press, the individual states, and Washington's Army outside Boston on July 8th..
Almost a month later, on August 2nd, about thirty delegates actually signed the document.
Other signatures were added, until by November there were fifty six signatures on the official document. Some delegates had to travel a long distance and one or two delegates had wait until they were actually elected and had the time to travel to Philadelphia.
John Adams, an eye witness, wrote to his wife saying that on future July 2nds we would be celebrating the greatest event in American History.
While seemingly trivial to many people, details such as this ought of be recognized as the truth.
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Thank you for providing this historical perspective.
Here is another piece of signing history perspective:
The Declaration was transposed on paper, adopted by the Continental Congress, and signed by John Hancock, President of the Congress, on July 4, 1776.
It would appear that The Declaration was indeed signed on July 4 per above but also it is accurate to state that the delegates signed at a later date.
Historians though like philatelists can be a divided group when it comes to such things.
At this point, I am surprised more members haven't come out of the woodwork to address the topic of canceled stamps on paper money perhaps regarding their own personal efforts.
Bruce
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Okay, my $2 bill story. Yes, those were released with great celebration during the bicentennial year. People were getting them postmarked on July 4th, at various shows with Bicentennial themes, and at first day ceremonies. Everyone thought they had a big investment going.
January 1977 and I was going to the Washington At Princeton First Day Ceremony. I took 50 of the $2 bill and affixed the new stamp to them and had them First Day Cancelled. The first thing I discovered is that stamp glue didn't like to stick to currency. If you flexed the bill, the stamp would pop off.
I had a thriving first day cover business then, so I advertised them for sale, I think I was asking $3 each. No sales! Not a one. So I eventually popped the stamps off them and spent them.
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I was only 7 in 76 and had just put my first stamps in an album with my grandpa that summer... Missed the wild 2 dollar bill craze... Sounds like it was not quite a barn burner ..lol
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BenFranklin1902: None of the 20 or so crisp new-at-that-time 1976 $2 bills negatively reacted to having stamps placed on them, meaning even after 30 years none of the stamps ever slipped off. I wonder if you had a bad bunch of stamps or if the surface of the bills were somehow affected by something or if I was just lucky.
Jeredutt3: I suppose the activity wouldn't quite fit the definition of a barn burner but it was fun to go to post offices, especially the small ones in my neck of the woods. The postal employees were always accommodating and occasionally you would run into somebody standing in line either with a question about all the "hub bub" or another collector with a couple of two dollar bills in hand ready to talk stamps and trades -- at least that happened to me.
Bruce
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10:25:56am
During the celebration of the United States Bicentennial, there were tons of stamps issued to commemorate the 200th birthday of the country. Leading up the July 4th signing of the Declaration of Independence, a pretty radical document and afterwards many events of the American Revolution were commemorated.
As part of the, not sure if this is the correct word, festivities, the United States issued a new $2 bill in 1976.
At that time, collectors were offered a brief opportunity to take the new $2 bill featuring the radical and former president Thomas Jefferson to their local post offices, affix stamps and have them canceled.
(I had to borrow this image from a website)
I remember going to post offices in Boston, Amherst, Sunderland, Hadley, etc. maybe accumulating about $60 worth of bills affixed with various stamps that tied in with the Revolution. It was fun, not a collecting prerequisite perhaps but for me it was fun--especially talking with the clerks at the post offices (who carefully applied the cds) I visited and the curious people in line not to mention fellow collectors with franked $2 bills in their hand.
Anybody else make those trips to the post office? Do you still have your bills?
Obviously, I didn't mind and thought it was an interesting combination however I do remember some local collectors grousing about the permission granted as a terrible idea, an exploitation of collectors, etc.
Do you remember such philatelic arguments either pro or con against the marriage of philately and notophily? Was there any commentary in Linn's? I don't recall.
All my bills (maybe there's a holdout squirreled away around here) have been sold. A note to holders of such keepsakes, look up the serial numbers of 1976 $2 bills before selling, trading or giving away since there are a few that are considered quite rare. The franked bills themselves aside from the serial number issue are common enough to be found in abundance when they are sought out by collectors.
Bruce
Addendum: I just had a thought. I have only seen these bills with stamps that relate to the American Revolution? Has anyone seen them with stamps that do not fit the theme? Seems if such oddities exist, they might attract collectors of a different sort.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
22 Jul 2017
01:08:26am
re: Radical Founding Fathers Stamps Meet $2 Bill 1976 Issue
".... Leading up the July 4th signing of the Declaration of Independence,...."
The circumstances surrounding the approval, writing, printing and eventually the signing of the Declaration of Independence are generally a mis-understanding of history. The document was not signed until August 2nd, 1776.
After months of acrimonious debate and voting on its wordings the Continental Congress agreed to the final proposals on July 2nd, 1776 . While I am sure there were outside discussions with others that evening and July 3rd by Jefferson's committee, the terms were put to paper, the document was formally announced to the general public locally on July 4th. The master copy was sent to a printer and over a hundred copies were printed up, and released to the public, the press, the individual states, and Washington's Army outside Boston on July 8th..
Almost a month later, on August 2nd, about thirty delegates actually signed the document.
Other signatures were added, until by November there were fifty six signatures on the official document. Some delegates had to travel a long distance and one or two delegates had wait until they were actually elected and had the time to travel to Philadelphia.
John Adams, an eye witness, wrote to his wife saying that on future July 2nds we would be celebrating the greatest event in American History.
While seemingly trivial to many people, details such as this ought of be recognized as the truth.
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11:08:23am
re: Radical Founding Fathers Stamps Meet $2 Bill 1976 Issue
Thank you for providing this historical perspective.
Here is another piece of signing history perspective:
The Declaration was transposed on paper, adopted by the Continental Congress, and signed by John Hancock, President of the Congress, on July 4, 1776.
It would appear that The Declaration was indeed signed on July 4 per above but also it is accurate to state that the delegates signed at a later date.
Historians though like philatelists can be a divided group when it comes to such things.
At this point, I am surprised more members haven't come out of the woodwork to address the topic of canceled stamps on paper money perhaps regarding their own personal efforts.
Bruce
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re: Radical Founding Fathers Stamps Meet $2 Bill 1976 Issue
Okay, my $2 bill story. Yes, those were released with great celebration during the bicentennial year. People were getting them postmarked on July 4th, at various shows with Bicentennial themes, and at first day ceremonies. Everyone thought they had a big investment going.
January 1977 and I was going to the Washington At Princeton First Day Ceremony. I took 50 of the $2 bill and affixed the new stamp to them and had them First Day Cancelled. The first thing I discovered is that stamp glue didn't like to stick to currency. If you flexed the bill, the stamp would pop off.
I had a thriving first day cover business then, so I advertised them for sale, I think I was asking $3 each. No sales! Not a one. So I eventually popped the stamps off them and spent them.
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10:35:07pm
re: Radical Founding Fathers Stamps Meet $2 Bill 1976 Issue
I was only 7 in 76 and had just put my first stamps in an album with my grandpa that summer... Missed the wild 2 dollar bill craze... Sounds like it was not quite a barn burner ..lol
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02:02:21pm
re: Radical Founding Fathers Stamps Meet $2 Bill 1976 Issue
BenFranklin1902: None of the 20 or so crisp new-at-that-time 1976 $2 bills negatively reacted to having stamps placed on them, meaning even after 30 years none of the stamps ever slipped off. I wonder if you had a bad bunch of stamps or if the surface of the bills were somehow affected by something or if I was just lucky.
Jeredutt3: I suppose the activity wouldn't quite fit the definition of a barn burner but it was fun to go to post offices, especially the small ones in my neck of the woods. The postal employees were always accommodating and occasionally you would run into somebody standing in line either with a question about all the "hub bub" or another collector with a couple of two dollar bills in hand ready to talk stamps and trades -- at least that happened to me.
Bruce
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