F507

State Birds & Flowers

Connecticut

Winter 2020 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 32 F501 to F550 — State Birds and Flowers (set of 50) — (4-14-82)

This End of Sale lot is an awesome set, and if you want a truly spectacular group of early Collins covers, this is it. In fact, on April 14th they will be 40 years old — a classic. In 1982, I had only been a cachetmaker for a few years, so it was a massive undertaking for me, but from the time the stamps were announced by the Postal Service I knew "I was in." Each of the fifty hand painted cachets in the set would have a different State Bird and State Flower stamp. The opportunity to work with nature's beauty in watercolors was at hand. I was not about to let it slip by. This historic set of Collins first day covers helped to cement their reputation. Each and every cover in this set is individually hand painted with 100% of the color achieved brushstroke by careful brushstroke. Please take another look at the illustrations. Each cover has the respective State Bird stamp tied to the envelope with the official slogan "First Day of Issue" cancel from Washington, D.C. I rem ember searching for a perfect second postmark for the set, and I found it right here in my own state. Each cover also has a second stamp which has a beautiful large, bold postmark from Audubon, New Jersey. It somehow just seems right that John James Audubon (the famous bird and wildlife artist) is associated with this set.