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Space City Cover Society printed cachet cover with NASA Local
Post stamp and local cancel for the 10th anniversary of the Project
Mercury flight of Astronaut Alan Shepard, the First U.S. Astronaut
into Space.
Because of the importance of Houston Texas as a Space
Center -- it is the home of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
(previously named the Manned Spacecraft Center) --
it was inevitable that philatelic space enthusiasts would get
together and form a society. A society was formed shortly before
the untimely deaths of astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee in
the Apollo One fire and was organized under the name of the Space
City Philatelic Society but ultimately changed the name to Space
City Cover Society (SCCS).
When word was received of the tragic death of the first
Apollo team, the Space City Cover Society wrestled with itself as
to whether or not it should have some covers cancelled and it was
decided that in the interest of other and future space collectors
that it should do so. However, when it was attempted to get a "NASA"
station cancel the Society was informed that none was available as
all mail in the Houston area, and this included NASA, was cancelled
at the main Houston Post Office in downtown Houston.
It was at this point that the Society decided that the best
and proper way to fill this philatelic void was to create a NASA
Local Post with its own cancel, which is permissable under postal
regulations. It was decided to do this for any event with a space
tie-in and most of these have been done for Houston events only,
but in some others, for events outside of the Houston area, like
Cape Canaveral FL.
It should be pointed out, for the beginner especially, that
the NASA Local Post in no way is connected with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. It should also be pointed out,
that the NASA locals are not U.S. postage, but a local post issue,
and are used on cover only when there is the regular first class rate
of U.S. postage used and properly cancelled at a U.S. Post Office.
The Society has always tried to provide quality covers for
collectors, either with its Space City Cover Society (SCCS) cacheted
covers and with its NASA Local Post covers (that also have SCCS
cachets). Most of their covers have a U.S. Post Office machine
cancellation on rag bond envelopes (unless they used a government
stamped envelope) and have used U.S. space stamps on their covers
when they were the first class rate of postage. The majority of the
cachets are printed in color however a few rubber stamp cachets
have been issued.
Most of the NASA Local Post covers issued are first day
covers (of the local post stamp), however the same local post
stamps may be found on covers after their first day of issue to
commemorate an event in the same space flight, and these are
considered commemorative local post covers. Most of these
commemorative covers have a different colored local cancel
from the cancel on the first day of issue.
The Society has strived for perfection in the printing
of their NASA Local Post stamps and to their knowledge no
"printing errors" exist. All of their local post stamps exist
in perforated condition and all local post covers have a
"normal" local post stamp. The NASA Local Post stamps have
always been issued in sheets with border inscriptions and sold
that way. The number of stamps in a sheet have varied depending
on the issue. Some stamps in the Apollo series were also issued
tete-beche.
Many long-time collectors will attest to the validity of
the higher prices on the early Space City Cover Society covers
and the NASA Local Post covers. Most of these early covers were
issued in quantities of only 100 to 400. Covers that have the
NASA Local Post stamps affixed are sought by not only the space
cover collectors but also the collectors of local posts. Popular
flights such as Apollo 11, the first man on the Moon flight and
Apollo 13, the almost fatal flight to the Moon, also have been
quite popular with collectors and the prices for these covers are
significantly higher. Any flight that is a historic first or
commemorates an important space flight command higher prices as
dictated by demand and prices realized in space cover auctions.
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Click below for a price list
Mercury Project NASA Local Post covers
Space City Cover Society printed cachet cover with NASA Local
Post stamp and local cancel for the 10th anniversary of the
naming of the Project Mercury Astronaut Space Team. This cover
is franked with a pair of Project Mercury U.S. postage stamps.
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