M2302

Wonders Of The Sea

Shipwreck/Blue Marlin 

Collins Cover Announcement 

WONDERS OF THE SEA

Shipwreck Cachet

A glimpse beneath the surface of the sea provides the lovely setting for this hand-painted cover. A single-masted wooden ship, perhaps the victim of a long-ago surface storm, lays on its side nestled into the soft sandy bottom. Bright coral formations rise nearby from the seabed and a large, brightly colored tropical fish swims in the foreground. In the distance, smaller fish can be seen darting over the clumps of coral.

Only a short distance away, also in the foreground, a magnificent blue marlin glides through the water. The long, sword-like bill and high, distinctive dorsal fin are the eaily recognizable features of this beautiful game fish. But...the sleek blue marlin is not the only large participant in this undersea drama for in the not-too-far distance lurks a hammerhead shark. A shark can easily detect anything alive in its territory but at present is just content in cruising by and checking things out. This, as you can imagine, is a visually active hand-painted cachet and a nice one for your COLLINS collection.

The stamp also adds to the undersea "look" of this FDC with a three mast schooner, dolphins, tropical fish, and scuba diver. It has a First Day postmark from Honolulu where the issue r,mrmmon;c.c i-nnk place An fc.cat himlnw the ellrfpr= off Waikiki Beach. The ceremonies took place at the site of a shipwreck and an enlargement of the stamps in protected material were permanently mounted to the wreck and will be part of future submarine tours.

Nature topicals are always popular with collectors and "sea theme" cachets now and in the future will be good ones to have in your holdings. This COLLINS mini-series of four promises to be a good one to own and this one will get you started. Wooden shipwreck. Blue Marlin. Hammerhead Shark. Wonders of the Sea. Item #M2302. $10.75.