V303

American Wildlife

Brown Bear and Elk (wapiti)

Winter 2021 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 12 V303 — American Wildlife: Grizzly Bear and Elk

This wildlife cover was produced just three years after I started as a cachetmaker. The top stamp is a grizzly bear and is postmarked with the large "first day of issue" slogan postmark from Boise, Idaho. The covers were then taken to Mountain Home, Idaho where an elk stamp received a nice large bullseye first day of issue postmark. The hand painted cachet is a beauty. It's done in a circle format with a snarling grizzly and large antlered elk shown in wonderful poses that blend in with the circle design perfectly. If you collect wildlife and/or early Collins covers, you will love this one. Don't miss it!

Winter 2025 Mail Sale Commentary  

Lot 4 V301 to V305 — American Wildlife Pane Booklet — (5 cover set) — 5-14-81

Wildlife is a favorite subject of mine, and I enjoyed creating the covers for this issue very much. There are ten small, subtle wildlife stamps for this issue, and I decided to put two close-up big game animals on each one along with the corresponding stamps. One is canceled First Day of Issue in Boise, Idaho, and the other is canceled unofficially in Mountain Home, Idaho. You will note that there is no zip code on the Mountain Home, Idaho cancels, so the device used on this cover must have been around for a long time, which I think adds interest and character to the covers. The animals are done in natural tones with circular backdrops in various colors. This unique set of five sold out quickly.

The wildlife represented include: Mountain Lion and Bighorn Sheep (V301); Polar Bear and Seal (V302); Grizzly Bear and Elk (V303); Moose and Deer (V304); and Pronghorn and Buffalo (V305)