What is a First Day Cover?
When a new postage stamp is first issued, the United States Postal
Service (USPS) offers a special postmark that says "First Day of Issue."
An envelope with that new stamp and cancel is called a First Day Cover
(FDC).
How to Collect
You pick what you like and collect it. Sound too simple? Choices are
infinite, but collectors usually focus on one of these categories:
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The American First Day Cover
Society, has been promoting
this specialty of the stamp
collecting hobby since 1955.
This cancel tells the name of the city and state
where the stamp was first put on sale, and the date
of that event.
• a particular stamp issue
• a favorite topic on many stamps (anything you can think of)
• all the covers made by one cachet maker
• covers from a certain year or decade
• a favorite topic on many stamps (anything you can think of)
• all the covers made by one cachet maker
• covers from a certain year or decade
Page Updated: 3 April 2011, by C Scott. Email: cmaweb@cachetmakers.org
About the Hobby