M1802

Flora and Fauna

Wood Duck (Red Inscription)

First Subscriber-Only Edition

Collins Cover Announcement 

WOODDUCK

Special Subscriber Edition

This First Day Cover is certainly a key adition to your collection and has a lot of things going for it.

As a COLLINS subscriber, you receive two special FDCs each year that are produced just for you in subscription numbers. There are no extras available for purchase and active subscribers are the only ones who can obtain them. This Woodduck is the first such cover.

There were two Woodduck 29-cent stamps that were virtually identical except that one had text in black and one had text in red. This COLLINS has the "red" text stamp and only you and other subscribers are getting it as a limited variety

COLLINS FDC.

I wanted to make the unofficial cancel and hand-painted cachet something special. Accordingly, I chose a small Ohio town at which to service the covers -- Apple Creek. As I drove past the customary welcoming signs, I noted that most of them actually had apples or apple trees pictured on them. Even the local elementary school had a big illustration of apples on its sign as did many of the businesses on Main Street. I took it as a sign of civic pride and I was happy that I chose this slice of small-town America to do this special COLLINS . The Post Office was a small brick building and, unfortunately, the Postmaster was less than enthusiastic. It took some explaining before he ok'd the canceling and the four-killer bar postmark is very readable but rather faint. All are the same. It is well-placed hitting just the corner of the attractive stamp and fitting nicely into the cachet-notch intended for it. Most of all -- it is a real First Day cancel and relates perfectly to the cachet.

And what a cachet it is! Spectacular is not too strong a word and it was created only for subscribers. I believe that the time required for the hand painting on this cachet was just about the most of any FDC I've ever produced. A beautiful, realistic Woodduck perches on a branch of an apple tree. The tree is loaded with fruit and the ruby red apples and mint green leaves frame the multi-colored Woodduck against a bright blue sky. To the lower left, the meandering waters of Apple Creek flow through the cachet. Other trees on the orchard are visible on the opposite bank.

When I first decided to produce two annual covers exclusively for COLLLINS subscribers, I wanted to make them extra-special as a way of saying "Thank You" for your support. The first limited-variety subscriber-only issue does just that. It has the "red text" stamp. It has the "Apple Creek" unofficial cancel. And, it has one of the finest and prettiest handpainted cachets you'll ever see on any cover. A slightly higher price reflects the time spent on painting. Since no extras are available for sale, this cover is bound to become a key collectible for any COLLINS collection. Item #M1802. $11.50.