J601

Olympic Games

Shot Put, Gymnast, Swimmer, Weightlifting

Collins Cover Announcement 

OLYMPIC ISSUE

40c Air Mail - Block of Four

The first of many stamps for the up-coming 1984 Olympics, these designs recognize the events of gymnastics, weight lifting, shotput and swimming. Many of you have written to me in anticipation of the Olympic covers and I am pleased to announce that my covers are now ready. Certain topics are always more popular with collectors and Olympic FDCs fit the bill.

As I did for the Olympics of four years ago, I produced a set of five. If you want all four stamps on one cover, J601 will be the one to order. If you want each of the four stamps on individual covers with cachets related to the specific stamp, J602 set of four will meet your needs. If you want all five COLLINS covers, request both J601 and J602.

There is every reason to believe that these covers will sell out rather quickly. This is especially true for 3602 which I expect to be sold out at once. 3601 may take a while longer to be gone but it is also possible that it too will be sold quickly, so please consider ordering fairly soon if you want them.

Each of the five FDCs are hand canceled "First Day of Issue" at the official city of Los Angeles. They were then taken to the city of Victorville, CA (all Olympians shoot for victory as they go for the gold) where each of the covers was serviced with the unofficial cancel. In the case of the four individual cachets, two of the corresponding event stamps were used on each cover and in the case of 3601 a pair was canceled in L.A. and the opposite pair in Victorville.

The handpainted cachets really came out colorful and are well coordinated with the colors of the stamps. There is a double border around the athletes and this two-tone border effect is quite striking. Behind each athlete is a "highlight" of color which is different from any previous COLLINS cachet. Above the cachet are five stars -- each of the colors found in the Olympic rings.

Future COLLINS FDCs for the 1984 Olympics will feature this same cachet design. In the years ahead all collectors will be able to identify them at a glance and it will add to their collectability as a min-collection of FDCs. In addition to future COLLINS collectors, they will be sought by individuals collecting airmail, sports, and, of course, Olympic material.

Please let me conclude with two points. 1) The slightly higher per cover cost reflects the cost of the stamps which was the .40 air mail rate. 2) I must again mention that I reserve the right to limit orders. A few people get upset with this policy once in awhile but if you were the new collector, you would not want to be shut out. Also, continuing active interest in COLLINS FDCs by new collectors is in the best interest of all.

Summer 2023 Mail Sale 

Lot 19 J601, J602, J603, J604 and J605 — Olympics — 4-8-83

These stamps were issued in advance of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California. After getting the first day of issue cancels there, I took them to Victorville, California for a second postmark where I secured the round, magenta cancels. The hand painted cachets feature Olympic events including pommel horse, shot put, weight-lifting, swimming, and rings. This is the first time this set has appeared in one of my sales. Set of five.