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First day covers are envelopes with commemorative stamps on them that are issued and cancelled with a special “First Day of Issue” postmark on the first day a new stamp goes on sale. Usually there is one post office selected to be the first day of issue site for each stamp (related in some way to the topic of the stamp). Much more information can be found on the first day cover entry on Wikipedia.

One of my uncles gave me a subscription to the Postal Commemorative Society when I was ten years old. A friend of my fathers also collected first day covers and uncut sheets of stamps (which cost too much for me to collect at the time). I’ve maintained my subscription ever since and the collection has grown. I’ve also started collecting sheets on occasion–usually when I see ones I think look cool.

Some of my favorite stamps include the various 50 State releases (flags, birds and flowers, greetings), the original mineral stamps, the bicentennial 1776 multi-stamp set and the 1968 Walt Disney stamp.

One of the problems with collecting stamps is that you get them, they get filed away in a book and sit on a shelf. I decided I wanted to keep track of them online and include pictures so that I can easily view them anytime and make it easier to share with others. This project will take me some time to complete, but I think it will be fun once it’s complete…DK