First Day Covers (FDC) — 2012 Ordering Calendar

What are First Day Covers? | Collecting First Day Covers | Obtaining First Day Covers

FDC 2012 Ordering Calendar

March 24 — Cherry Blossom
Cherry Blossom Centennial Stamp, Special Cancellations, PO Box 92282, Washington, DC 20090-2282
FDC deadline May 24

April 11 — William H. Johnson
William H. Johnson Stamp, Main Post Office 900 E. Fayette St., Baltimore, MD 21233-9990
FDC deadline June 1

April 21 — Twentieth Century Poets
Twentieth-Century Poets Stamp, Main Post Office, 7001 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90052-9998 
FDC deadline June 21

April 24 — Civil War: 1862
Civil War: 1862 Stamp, Postmaster, PO Box 50336, New Orleans, LA 70150-0036
FDC deadline June 24

April 26 — Jose Ferrer
Jose Ferrer Stamp, Postmaster, 421 Eighth Ave., Rm. 2029B, New York, NY 10199-9998
FDC deadline June 26

April 30 — Louisiana Statehood
Louisiana Statehood Stamp, Postmaster, 750 Florida Street, Rm. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70801-9998
FDC deadline June 30

May 23 — Great Film Directors
Great Film Directors Stamp, Postmaster, 8616 Second Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910-9998
FDC deadline July 23

May 31 — Mail a Smile
Mail a Smile Stamp, Main Office–Orlando, 10401 Post Office Drive, Orlando, FL 32862-9998
FDC deadline August 1

June 1 — Bobcat
Bobcat Stamp, Postmaster, 301 N. Guadalupe Street, San Marcos, TX 78666-9998
FDC deadline August 1

June 1 — Four Flags
Four Flags Stamp, McLean West Branch, 1544 Springhill Road, McLean, VA 22102-9998
FDC deadline August 1

June 2 — Aloha Shirts
Aloha Shirts Stamp, McLean West Branch, 1544 Springhill Road, McLean, VA 22102-9998
FDC deadline August 2

June 7 — Bicycling
Bicycling Stamp, Main Post Office, 100 S. First Street, Room 127, Minneapolis, MN 55401-9998
FDC deadline August 7

June 9 — Celebrate Scouting
Celebrate Scouting Stamp, Special Cancellations, PO Box 92282, Washington, DC 20090-2282
FDC deadline August 9

June 12 — Edith Piaf & Miles Davis
Miles Davis/Edith Piaf Stamp, Postmaster, 421 Eighth Ave., Rm. 2029B, New York, NY 10199-9998
FDC deadline August 12

What Are First Day Covers?

First Day Covers are envelopes that bear a stamp cancelled on the first day it was issued.

Over the years the form that these covers take has changed. Covers that come down to us from the 19th century would have been those that happened to be commercially used—that is not prepared by collectors—on the first day the stamp was issued.

In many instances, even into the 20th Century for some stamps, the precise date of issue is not known, so Earliest Known, or Documented, Usages become the next best thing to FDCs.

As they were not intended to be collectibles, those early FDCs do not bear the First Day Cancellation that we see today. Instead, we see whatever cancel happened to be used where the cover was processed.

Those covers also would have come from whatever city the stamp might have been available, as opposed to the “Official First Day of Issue” sites that have become customary for most issues.

(Even today, some collectors who prefer postally used FDCs seek commercially used covers instead of those cancelled by the USPS.)

Collecting First Day Covers

As FDCs became a popular collecting area, the Post Office Department began producing special First Day of Issue cancellations, and arranged for collectors to send in their covers to receive the FDOI cancel. Those early FDOI cancels did not bear an illustration; today, the cancellation incorporates a design that is related to the stamp subject.

At first, collectors were required to send in the covers before the stamp was actually issued. Those rules were later relaxed so that today for most stamps, collectors have 60 days after the date of issue in which to submit their requests. However, those covers must bear the stamp(s) to which the FDOI cancel is to be applied.

The U.S. Postal Service also now sells its own FDCs for a modest premium over the face value of the stamp(s); however, those covers are blanks, and do not have the cachets—that is the designs printed or painted on the left side of, or all over, the cover—that most collectors prefer. Such cacheted covers may be obtained from Stamp News First Day Cover advertisers.

Another wrinkle added by the USPS are digital color cancels. For an extra $1.50 collectors can have a specially designed color cancel instead of the standard, free, black cancel that most collectors still use.

Obtaining First Day Covers

To obtain the FDOI cancellation on a cover of your choosing, you must send the cover with the stamp affixed in the upper right, or in a position allowing enough room to fit the cancellation on the cover. The preferred envelope size is a #6 (6-3/4" wide) and should be a sturdy, acid-free stock.

The cover also will need an address to which it should be returned. Since unaddressed covers are the standard collecting form for FDCs, a peelable label is the suggested form.

To send the cover to the address to which it must be sent for the FDOI cancel, your FDCs should be sent in an outer envelope.

Nowadays, to prevent an additional cancellation’s being applied in transit, or other damage to the cover, some collectors send along another return-addressed envelope in which the FDC can be returned by the USPS. If a cover is damaged, or if you do not receive all of your covers, submit a full description of your request to Stamp Fulfillment Services, Cancellation Services, P.O. BOX 499992, Kansas City, MO 64144-9992. The description should include the stamp issue, a description of the envelope, the number and placement of stamps, quantity of covers, and any other information that may assist in locating or replacing your covers. Requests for exchanges or claims must be received within six months of the issue date. Damaged covers, and claims for non-receipt should be sent to:

Covers sent for cancellation must be sufficient postage to cover the First Class rate. This is important for stamps with a denomination less than that First Class rate.

In addition to the new issue for which the FD cancel is being sought, you can place other stamps adjacent to that stamp. Even used or foreign stamps are acceptable, as long as there is sufficient unused postage to cover the First Class rate, and those used or foreign stamps are affixed in such a way that they will not be cancelled by the FDOI cancellation.

Each cover must have inside a filler card of index or postal card thickness, with the envelope either sealed or with the flap tucked in—the latter being the preferred.

The addresses to which covers should be sent are supplied by the U.S. Postal Service. They are published in Mekeel’s & Stamps as they are received, and they are posted to our online: USPS New Issues Calendar.