Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
This is the oldest and smallest cover from my collection. Switzerland dated July 1862 measures 2 1/4" x 3 7/8".Larry
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This is my oldest. Uncertain from when it is exactly, probably a few years after 1818.
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Jansimon, can you read it ? i know the language has changed several times, Jopies mother still wrote in an old style she was taught in school..how much school i don't know as they went to work at 10 or 11 years of age.
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Smallest cover I have seen (not mine). 2.2x1.8 inches.
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My oldest is this FLS (folded letter sheet) from April 1833! One friend chatting to another...
I love how something so old is still with us. Nothing these days will be around near as long!
Peter
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11:14:47pm
I no longer own this, but this is the oldest that has passed through my hands recently:
Netherlands 1729 stampless folded letter to France
Roy
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"Jansimon, can you read it ? i know the language has changed several times, Jopies mother still wrote in an old style she was taught in school..how much school i don't know as they went to work at 10 or 11 years of age."
I can read most of what is written on the cover you showed. My letter / cover is German and their handwriting can be extremely difficult to read. In this case I can decipher parts of it, but not complete sentences. It has to do with the construction and reparation of roads and the writer seems to complain a lot, but the details are still missing.
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My oldest cover is from 12 Aug 1674 with a Bishop mark -- the first postal cancellations which had been invented (by Henry Bishop) a bit earlier in 1661 I believe.
Still easily readable. I made a transcription of the letter.
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Small cover (4.5" x 2.5"), with attractive embossing around its perimeter, had its postage paid by what appears to be a 1851 3 cent Washington (Scott 11A, Type II) stamp. Cover, addressed to Mohawk Herkimer, NY,
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10:17:44am
The 1674 cover is amazing, imagine what the world was like back then. Really old items fascinate me!! I have a piece of Roman glass from about 400 AD and a piece of Persian pottery from the 11th century and I try to imagine who has handled the items over the years. Just think how many hands, and whose hands, have touched these objects over the years. History is fascinating and it makes me almost sick seeing how little of it is actually covered in schools any more. There are fascinating areas that most of us know almost nothing about. When I was much younger I remember reading a book about the history of India. It's a country that few of us know anything at all about, and it's history is incredible. I have a few stampless covers from the early 1800's and I wish the letters were still there so we could learn more about the people.
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Love these covers you all have posted, makes me wish I had taken more interest in them in my younger days.
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Smallest covers
Oldest cover - 1793 - Congressional free frank of Thomas Tredwell - Personal letter to his wife.
Delegate to the State ratification convention in 1788; elected to the Second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Townsend; reelected to the Third Congress and served from May 1791 to March 3, 1795; and etc
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Does a folded letter ( No cover ) count franked with a penny red postmarked april 18th 1844 count ?
By the way, the 4 g man is back.
Happy stamping
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the more Gs, the better. one more and we get a whole network, right?
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AMSD... David, actually 4 g's is the original program language used for IBM programs.
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That's dating you! I've been around computers since 1981, and I've never heard of that one. But then our company was using HP computers for the most part. Back in those days, it was amazing seeing all the different computers in various offices until one system was decided upon.
Peter
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I managed a system design group back in the 70's and we used Computer Automation 8 and 16 bit processors to run our systems -
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August 12 1812
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Here's a very small entire from my Crete collection:
This is a single sheet 30 cm x 43 cm sent folded as shown here as a small 7 cm x 10 cm entire.
It's by far the oldest item in my collection and was sent in 1480 from Canea/Chania in Crete by a Venetian merchant to Pera in Constantinople.
It is a very long letter in spidery writing, I assume written in the Venetian language.
I hope to get this translated someday.
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Nigelc,
Very nice cover. How did you determine the date?
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Thanks Jack.
That's a good question. 
This entire and a few others came up for auction in 2005 as part of the sale of Rienk Feenstra's collection of Crete.
I have Feenstra's Crete handbook which shows five entires from Crete from the 14th to 16th centuries but not this one.
Here's a scan of a scan that I made some years ago. This shows a tiny part of the letter including as part of its heading what I believe is the date (1480 ag 10):
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This is the oldest and smallest cover from my collection. Switzerland dated July 1862 measures 2 1/4" x 3 7/8".
Larry
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
This is my oldest. Uncertain from when it is exactly, probably a few years after 1818.
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Jansimon, can you read it ? i know the language has changed several times, Jopies mother still wrote in an old style she was taught in school..how much school i don't know as they went to work at 10 or 11 years of age.
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Smallest cover I have seen (not mine). 2.2x1.8 inches.
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
My oldest is this FLS (folded letter sheet) from April 1833! One friend chatting to another...
I love how something so old is still with us. Nothing these days will be around near as long!
Peter
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
07 Jul 2022
11:14:47pm
re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
I no longer own this, but this is the oldest that has passed through my hands recently:
Netherlands 1729 stampless folded letter to France
Roy
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
"Jansimon, can you read it ? i know the language has changed several times, Jopies mother still wrote in an old style she was taught in school..how much school i don't know as they went to work at 10 or 11 years of age."
I can read most of what is written on the cover you showed. My letter / cover is German and their handwriting can be extremely difficult to read. In this case I can decipher parts of it, but not complete sentences. It has to do with the construction and reparation of roads and the writer seems to complain a lot, but the details are still missing.
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
My oldest cover is from 12 Aug 1674 with a Bishop mark -- the first postal cancellations which had been invented (by Henry Bishop) a bit earlier in 1661 I believe.
Still easily readable. I made a transcription of the letter.
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Small cover (4.5" x 2.5"), with attractive embossing around its perimeter, had its postage paid by what appears to be a 1851 3 cent Washington (Scott 11A, Type II) stamp. Cover, addressed to Mohawk Herkimer, NY,
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
08 Jul 2022
10:17:44am
re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
The 1674 cover is amazing, imagine what the world was like back then. Really old items fascinate me!! I have a piece of Roman glass from about 400 AD and a piece of Persian pottery from the 11th century and I try to imagine who has handled the items over the years. Just think how many hands, and whose hands, have touched these objects over the years. History is fascinating and it makes me almost sick seeing how little of it is actually covered in schools any more. There are fascinating areas that most of us know almost nothing about. When I was much younger I remember reading a book about the history of India. It's a country that few of us know anything at all about, and it's history is incredible. I have a few stampless covers from the early 1800's and I wish the letters were still there so we could learn more about the people.
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Love these covers you all have posted, makes me wish I had taken more interest in them in my younger days.
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04:43:30pm
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Smallest covers
Oldest cover - 1793 - Congressional free frank of Thomas Tredwell - Personal letter to his wife.
Delegate to the State ratification convention in 1788; elected to the Second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Townsend; reelected to the Third Congress and served from May 1791 to March 3, 1795; and etc
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10:45:40am
re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Does a folded letter ( No cover ) count franked with a penny red postmarked april 18th 1844 count ?
By the way, the 4 g man is back.
Happy stamping
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
the more Gs, the better. one more and we get a whole network, right?
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this post
05:18:51pm
re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
AMSD... David, actually 4 g's is the original program language used for IBM programs.
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this post
re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
That's dating you! I've been around computers since 1981, and I've never heard of that one. But then our company was using HP computers for the most part. Back in those days, it was amazing seeing all the different computers in various offices until one system was decided upon.
Peter
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10:12:50pm
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
I managed a system design group back in the 70's and we used Computer Automation 8 and 16 bit processors to run our systems -
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
August 12 1812
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Here's a very small entire from my Crete collection:
This is a single sheet 30 cm x 43 cm sent folded as shown here as a small 7 cm x 10 cm entire.
It's by far the oldest item in my collection and was sent in 1480 from Canea/Chania in Crete by a Venetian merchant to Pera in Constantinople.
It is a very long letter in spidery writing, I assume written in the Venetian language.
I hope to get this translated someday.
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Nigelc,
Very nice cover. How did you determine the date?
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re: Post Your Oldest Or Smallest Cover!
Thanks Jack.
That's a good question. This entire and a few others came up for auction in 2005 as part of the sale of Rienk Feenstra's collection of Crete.
I have Feenstra's Crete handbook which shows five entires from Crete from the 14th to 16th centuries but not this one.
Here's a scan of a scan that I made some years ago. This shows a tiny part of the letter including as part of its heading what I believe is the date (1480 ag 10):
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