567 nc 20c Golden Gate, D.C. 5/1/23, #7 Env, HAMMELMAN Start Price USD 375.00 Current Price USD 375.00 Time Left 14 days 4 hours 32 minutes Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, September 24, 2008 End Time Thursday, January 22, 2009 Location Denver, Colorado See more about '567 nc 20c Golden Gate, D.C. 5/1/23, #7 Env, HAMMELMAN' Description   Quahoghunter Added Value in the Classic FDCs Store:     (1)  Find It.  Use the links at left to find Cachetmaker and Subject of all eBay auction and buy-it-now items currently active.   (2)  Identify It.   Scott & Mellone/Planty Numbers are provided in the title of all listed items.  (3) Value It.  View current Catalog Value info on all listed stamps & cachets.  (4)  Appreciate It.  Read Postal History Notes about the item, with citation of references in compliance with Monty & Cusick, First Days, July/Aug 2008 pp. 27-33.   (5) Gently Fondle it for Two Weeks.   I will cheerfully refund price paid with no questions asked, upon same-condition return of any item that does not satisfy you, if you notify me in the two weeks following date of sale.   (6)  Trust it.   If you persuade me that you were misled by an inaccurate or incomplete item description, I will apologize, return the S&H and insurance originally paid by you, and reimburse your return postage.  (7) Copy it.  ©2008 Classic FDCs.  All Rights Reserved, except that permission is hereby granted to copy all or part of this listing, if this legend is included:  “Reprinted by permission of Classic FDCs (eBay User ID Quahoghunter).”    DESCRIPTION OF OFFERED ITEM:   A very handsome Scott #567, 20c Golden Gate (Flat Plate Printing, Perf 11) FDC Single, pm Washington DC 5/1/23, with no cachet, on Size #7 Envelope (neatly cropped at left to 3-7/8" x 8-1/4"), addressed in the distinctive calligraphic hand of Henry Hammelman, addressed to Mrs. A. C. Aman at Hammelman's own address of 8 Seventh St., S.E., Washington DC.   CATALOG VALUE:   Mellone 2008 Scott CV = $575 for Uncacheted FDC Single pm Wash DC.  The Comparable Brookman 2008 CV is listed as $400.   Details:  Mellone, 2008 U.S. Scott FDC Catalog, 2007, p. 16 lists the 2008 CV of an uncacheted #567 FDC Single, postmarked Washington DC, 5/1/23, at $575.  Brookman 2008 Price Guide, 2007, p. 172, lists the 2008 CV of the item as $400.   The average of these two CVs is a 2008 CV of $487.50.  FDCs addressed to or serviced by Henry Hammelman  tend to enjoy a premium over uncacheted FDCs, which I estimate to be in the range of 20%, which translates to a 2008 CV of $487.50 x 120% = 2008 CV of $585 for the offered item.      CONDITION AND VALUATION ISSUES:  The flap is shut, and the cover is open at left, by neatly cropping 1/2" off the left end of the Size #7 envelope to allow convenient storage and display in an album.  This minor asymmetry is not obvious when viewing the cover from the front.   POSTAL HISTORY NOTE:     Scott #567 20c Golden Gate FDC 5/1/23 (Flat Plate Printing - Perf 11).  San Francisco’s Golden Gate was chosen as the subject of the 20c value of the Fourth Bureau Issue, after spirited debate on behalf of competing U.S. natural wonders.  Before an old woodcut of San Francisco’s Golden Gate (minus the Golden Gate Bridge of course, completed in 1937) was selected, rejected designs were prepared for Niagara Falls, Yosemite’s Vernal Falls, Holy Cross Mountain, and Mt. Rainer.  After Golden Gate was selected for the 20c value, the P. O. Dept prepared and considered design variations of the woodcut in both portrait and landscape orientation.  Finally the landscape orientation (i.e., width greater than height of the stamp) was selected for all Fourth Bureau Issue denominations higher than the 15c Statue of Liberty -- namely the 20c Golden Gate, the 25c Niagara Falls, the 30c American Buffalo, the 50c Arlington Amphitheater, the $1 Lincoln Memorial, the $2 Capitol, and the $5 Head of Freedom.  (Johl, 1935, p. 124-125).   The #567 20c Golden Gate (Flat Plate Printing) was placed on First Day Sale at San Francisco CA and the Philatelic Agency in Washington on 5/1/23, along with the #559 7c McKinley, #560 8c Grant,  #561 9c Jefferson and #565 14c American Indian.  A Philip Ward FDC cover with all four stamps postmarked 5/1/23 in Wash DC, realized $6500 at a 2004 Matthew Bennett International Auction. (“Highlights of the Sale,” Matthew Bennett International Sale 282, Lot 1032, New York City 11/13/04. See http://www.bennettstamps.com/cgi-bin/viewtop.pl?site=1&sale=282&lang=1, visited 9/24/08).   The 5/1/23 sale date of the #567 20c Golden Gate was announced only three days in advance, which made it extremely difficult for Eastern dealers and servicers to arrange a First Day postmark in San Francisco.  Harvey displays a picture of a Philip Ward FDC Cover with a block of four #567 bearing the San Francisco 5/1/23 postmark.  Clearly Ward in Germantown PA had the benefit of advance notice! (Harvey, 1985, p.22).   There are two different 20c Golden Gate stamps from the Fourth Bureau Issue whose FDCs are reasonably collectible, with the following 2008 CVs according to Mellone, 2008 U.S. Scott FDC Catalog, 2007, p. 16-32, and in Brookman 2008 Price Guide, 2007 p. 172-176:      (This Listing=>) #567 5/1/23 Flat Plate Printing Perf 11 -- 2008 CV S$575 in Mellone, p. 16; 2008 CV S$400 in Brookman, p. 172.   #698 9/8/31 2d Rotary Perf 11x 10.5 -- 2008 CV S$300 B4$600 in  Mellone, p. 32; S$250 in Brookman, p. 176.   References   Brookman/Barrett & Worthen, 2008 Brookman Price Guide, Bedford NH:Brookman/Barrett & Worthen, 2007.   Harvey, J. V., First Day Covers of the Regular Postage Issue of 1922-1935, 2d Edition, AFDCS Handbook #2, Silver Spring MD: American First Day Cover Society, 1985.   --- “Highlights of the Sale,” Matthew Bennett International Sale 282, Lot 1032, New York City 11/13/04, http://www.bennettstamps.com/cgi-bin/viewtop.pl?site=1&sale=282&lang=1, visited 9/24/08.   Johl, M.G., The United States Postage Stamps of the Twentieth Century, Vol. III – 1922-1934 - Parcel Post - Airmails, 1st Edition, New York NY: H.L. Lindquist, 1935. (herein “U.S. Postage 20th Century Vol. III, 1935”)   Mellone, M.A., 2008 U.S. Scott First Day Cover Catalogue & Checklist, Stewartsville, NJ: FDC Publishing Co., 2007 (herein “2008 U.S. Scott FDC Catalog, 2007”).      About Hammelman.  Henry Hammelman Serviced FDCs and prepared calligraphically addressed FDCs from 1913 to 1927.  The first Hammelman serviced FDCs I have seen pictured is #Q3 3c Parcel Post issued 7/1/13 and addressed to Hammelman without calligraphy, and #Q1 1c Parcel Post issued 7/1/13 and addressed in Hammelman’s distinctive calligraphy to Miss Marie Siebold of Washington D.C.  (The Lawrence S. Fisher Collection, New York City Auction 5/30/96, Lot #132, The Dr. Alfred S. Martin Collection, New York City Auction 3/15/05, Lot #712.).  The Last Hammelman Cachet I have seen is #UC1, 5c Monoplane Embossed Envelope, issued 1/12/29, addressed calligraphically to Riley Hastings of Cherrydale VA, issued 2/1/29.  Hammelman also issued a First (and Last?) printed cachet  as an add-on to his calligraphic #643-10, 2c Vermont issued 8/5/27 (Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, p. 78; Monty et al., First Cachets Revealed, 2006, p. 9).     My own collection of Hammelman FDCs leads me to believe that there tend to be only a small number of different calligraphic addressees for each new issue – often only one or two.  Perhaps Hammelman was able to work faster and better by practicing a few addresses until they were perfect.  I have four different calligraphic addressees (Rutledge, Siebold, Scherer, and Anderson) for Scott #645 Commemorative 2c Valley Forge 5/26/28, but have not seen that many for any Fourth Bureau Regular Postage Issue.   Perhaps he used these few names as “fronts” instead of using his own name.  I have seen only one FDC calligraphically addressed to Henry Hammelman -- a #552 1c Franklin Flat Plate issued 1/17/23, which was listed on eBay in an auction ending August 24, 2008, (to see it, search for ebay item #310076059269) and I have found on the web a short business letter signed by him in his calligraphic hand, giving his address calligraphically.  The address of Hammelman on both the #552 and the business letter is 8 Seventh St., S.E., Washington D.C.—the same address Hammelman used for Mrs. A. C. Aman, Miss Sara Aman and Miss Emma Aman.  Does anyone know who they were – secretaries in his office, his married daughter and grandchildren, his harem?      Some FDCs with typed addresses exist, addressed to Hammelman regular calligraphic customers (e.g., Aman family members, R.B. Rutledge, William O. and Marie Siebold, various people addressed at the Golden Stairs Tea Room in New York City).  These typed covers tend to use the smaller-size typewriter font called “elite,” with progressive indents (often 10 spaces each) for the lines for the address.   It appears to me probable (but not entirely certain) that these typed covers were also serviced by Hammelman, and not by some other servicer or by the addressee personally.  Perhaps Hammelman occasionally ran short of time to service all his orders with individually prepared calligraphic addresses, and used a typist (perhaps himself) to help catch up.   I read someplace (I think in First Days) that Henry Hammelman subsequently moved his operation from Washington D.C. to the hotbed of philatelic dealers on Maiden Lane in downtown New York City, where he was quoted as saying that he planned to live off sales of a FDC box of more than 100,000 covers.  Why did he stop issuing new FDCs?  Did the 1929 Crash and Great Depression ruin his sales?  Did he develop calligraphic Writer’s Cramp?   References     ---, The Lawrence S. Fisher Collection of Classic United States First Day Covers and Earliest Known Usages, Catalog of Shreves Postal History Sale May 30, 1996, New York, NY: Shreves Philatelic Galleries, Inc., 1996.   ---, The Dr. Alfred S. Martin Collection, Part I – March 30, 2005 United States Postal History, Catalog of Siegel Sale 893 and McCusker Sale 206A, New York, NY: Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. and James T. McCusker Inc., 2005.   ---, The Dr. Alfred S. Martin Collection, Part II – March 31, 2005 U.S. First Day Covers and Earliest Documented Usages. United States Postal History, Catalog of Siegel Sale 893 and McCusker Sale 206A, New York, NY: Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. and James T. McCusker Inc., 2005.   Mellone, M.A., Mellone’s Planty Photo Encyclopedia of Cacheted First Day Covers, Vol. I – 1901-1928, Stewartsville, NJ: FDC Publishing Co., 1994 (herein “Planty Vol. I, 1994”).   Monty, R.A., Doyle, W.L., Goodson, M.W. and Elrod, N.L., Mellone’s First Day Cover Encyclopedia of First Cachets Revealed 1923-2005, 2006 Professional Reference Edition, Stewartsville, NJ: FDC Publishing Co., 2006 (herein “First Cachets Revealed, 2006”).       Fourth Bureau.   This FDC is from the Fourth Bureau Regular Postage Issue of 1922-1935, which included a full range of stamp values from 1/2c through $5.00.  It is called "Fourth Bureau Issue" because it was the fourth time the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing had designed and produced a regular (as opposed to a commemorative) issue without contracting the work to private vendors such as the American Banknote Company. The predecessors were the First Bureau Issue of 1894-95, the Second Bureau Issue of 1902-03, and the Third Bureau Issue of 1908-09.   The Third Bureau Issue, which continued in use until 1922, had only two designs (Washington and Franklin) for a full range of stamp values from 1c to $5.00, with appearance distinguished mostly by a confusing palette of obscure color shades.   FDC collecting became a U.S. national passion in 1922, thanks to a “perfect storm” of (i) the Fourth Bureau “Cambrian Explosion” of many beautiful new designs, and new P.O. Dept policies of (ii) pre-announced FDC dates, and (iii) expansion of first-day sales to the post offices of cities outside Washington. The Fifth Bureau Issue which followed the Fourth Bureau Issue is the familiar 1938 Presidential Series (“Prexies”), which were issued between 1938 and 1941.   Groupings of Fourth Bureau Stamps. Since many of its Scott Numbers are out of logical sequence, the Fourth Bureau Issue is best understood when grouped functionally.  Max Johl first grouped the Fourth Bureau stamps by denomination (Johl, U.S. Postage 20th Century Vol. III, 1935, pp. 21-142), but Jack Harvey later classified the stamps into six categories of stamp type (Harvey, 1985, p. 5), as follows:    (1) The Flat Plate Printing of 1922-26 – 1/2c to $5, Scott #551-573 plus #622-623.  Perf 11 horizontal and vertical (Harvey, 85, pp. 6-28);   (2) The First Rotary Printing of 1923-26 – 1/2c to 10c, Scott #581-591.  Perf 10 horizontal and vertical (Id., pp. 29-32);   (3) The Second Rotary Printing of 1926-35 – 1/2c to 50c, Scott #632-642, #692-701, plus #653, #684 and #685.   Perf 11 horizontal and 10-1/2 vertical (Id., pp. 33-45);   (4) The Coils issued 1923-32 – Various Scott Nos.  Sideways Perf 10 vertical and Endways Perf 10 horizontal (Id., pp. 46-52);   (5) The Imperforates issued 1923-26 – Various Scott Nos, Both Flat Plate and Rotary Printing, No Perforations (Id., pp. 53-56);  and   (6) The Booklet Panes issued 1923-27 – Various Scott Nos, Flat Plate Printing Perf 11, First Rotary Press Perf 10 and Second Rotary Press Perf 11 horizontal and 10-1/2 vertical (Id., pp. 57-63).   Flat vs Rotary.  Flat Plate Printing uses engraved plates that lay flat on the bed of the printing machine, in contrast to the Rotary Printings, which uses engraved plates curved around continuous drums capable of continuous feed.  Once perfected, the rotary technique was faster, easier, more versatile and cheaper than the flat press technique, which became extinct, except for occasional use during postage production emergencies.   The First Rotary Printing – Experiment Then Success.  The first attempt to use the Rotary Printing technique was the experimental #581 1c issued 10/17/23 without prior announcement, which demonstrated an undesirable tendency to curl permanently.  This was acceptable for the coil format, but not for stamp sheets intended to remain flat.  The Rotary Press inventor, Benjamin Stickney, was first fired by the P. O. Dept, and then asked to come back to fix the problems.  Upon his return, he managed to cure the curling tendency by a process redesign which broke the gum on the back of the stamps.  The next attempt, which proved successful, was the #583 2c, issued secretly on 4/14/24, for which no FDCs are known today.  The remaining 1c to 10c denominations of the First Rotary Printing were promptly issued during 1925 and 1926. Once perfected, the rotary technique proved to be faster, easier, more versatile and cheaper than the Flat Plate technique, which became extinct, except for occasional use during postage production emergencies.   The Second Rotary Printing – Perforation Compromise.  The Flat Plate Printing is Perf 11 on four sides; the First Rotary is Perf 10 on four sides; and the Second Rotary is Perf 11 horizontal x 10-1/2 vertical. The larger 10-Gauge Perforations for the First Rotary were designed to prevent the stamps from ripping apart in the early machines, but this stronger configuration made it difficult for the user to separate the stamps.  Late in 1926 a new machine was developed which could more gently handle an increased number of perforations, and a compromise standard was adopted.  The 10-1/2 Gauge Perforation was adopted as standard for the longer dimension of stamps, and 11 Guage Perforation for the shorter dimension.  For the 2d Rotary Printing of the Fourth Bureau Issue, this standard means that the values with “portrait” orientation (i.e., 1/2c through 15c) were 10-1/2 Perf vertically and 11 Perf horizontally, and values with “landscape” orientation (i.e., 20c through $5.00) were 10-1/2 Perf horizontally and 11 vertically.   References   Harvey, J. V., First Day Covers of the Regular Postage Issue of 1922-1935, 2d Edition, AFDCS Handbook #2, Silver Spring MD: American First Day Cover Society, 1985.   Johl, M.G., The United States Postage Stamps of the Twentieth Century, Vol. III – 1922-1934 - Parcel Post - Airmails, 1st Edition, New York NY: H.L. Lindquist, 1935. (herein “U.S. Postage 20th Century Vol. III, 1935”)   Mellone, M.A., 2008 U.S. Scott First Day Cover Catalogue & Checklist, Stewartsville, NJ: FDC Publishing Co., 2007 (herein “2008 U.S. Scott FDC Catalog, 2007”).  Powered by eBay Turbo Lister SquareTrade © AP6.0 Place a Bid!