W1301

Flag over Yosemite

Yosemite Falls

Collins Cover Announcement 

FLAG OVER YOSEMITE

The majestic beauty of Yosemite National Park is captured in this wonderful hand-painted First Day Cover. Done in vertical format, the cachet captures the dramatic Yosemite waterfall as it cascades and tumbles 2,565 feet (compared to the 167 feet of Niagara Falls) to the Merced River. The falls are flanked by sheer granite cliffs at the upper reaches. From the river valley floor, the breath-taking sweep of the High Sierra forest borders the falls ever upward until the bare cliffs take over the ascent. My wife and I love this fragile yet forceful wild place, and my COLLINS cover is a personal attempt to convey this natural beauty. Upon your first sight of the cachet, I know you will treasure it for your collection.

And yet, as is often the case with my covers, the philatelic pleasure does not end with the hand-painted cachet for this FDC was serviced on actual Day of Issue as the cancels bear witness. In the high country of Yosemite Park, Tuolumne Meadows provides a favorite visitation spot. Here one can wander to a quiet spot of solitude and reflect about nature's wonder in this high mountain meadow. Tuolumnne is also the name of a gushing river that flows through the park. After securing the stamps, it was an eighty mile drive past Sonora to the small town of Tuolumne, and each cover has an unofficial First Day cancel from this Sierra post office. Each cover also has an official First Day cancel with the Yosemite bullseve on an additional single.

Do consider this outstnding First Day Cover for your collection. A Flag Over Yosemite canceled with official bullseye. A second stamp is canceled at Tuolumne, California, and if you've ever visited the park, read about it or studied a map in an atlas, you'll know that COLLINS again offers exclusively a great related unofficial postmark. But, best of all is the handpainted cachet that presents the full-length splendor of Yosemite Falls tumbling ever downward between high wind-swept cliffs and flanked by the unique beauty of the Sierra forest. Item #W1301. $7.50