N4706

Cowboys of the Silver Screen

Champion with Gene Autry

Subscriber Only Edition

Collins Cover Announcement 

Cowboys of the Silver Screen

Championj

Subscriber-Only Limited Edition

The last of my covers for the Early Motion Picture Cowboys is for Gene Autry's horse Champion. This is a companion piece for my Trigger (Roy Rogers' horse) cachet and is a limited-edition, subscriberonly First Day Cover. It shows the famous horse in front of a western town set that was built on Gene's Melody Ranch. This beautiful chestnut was Autry's mount in 44 movies and in over 100 episodes of the Gene Autry television show. In retirement, Champion spent his remaining years at Melody Ranch until his death in 1990.

Since I only produced this cover (and Trigger) for my subscribers — with no extras available, you can be certain that this cachet will prove to be an excellent addition to your collection. I'm pleased to announce the final First Day Cover in my "Cowboys of the Silver Screen" series — Champion. 

Collins #N4706 — $12.50.

Spring 2020 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 30 N4706 — Champion — Gene Autry's Horse  (4- 17- 10)

This "Subscriber only" limited edition cachet pictures Gene Autry's faithful horse Champion. The Gene Autry stamp has a first day of issue bullseye postmark from Oklahoma City—home of the Cowboy Hall of Fame. As the weekly show ended, I can still see Gene riding Champion and singing "I'm back in the saddle again; out where a friend is a friend; where the longhorn cattle feed on the lowly jimsonweed; back in the saddle again. " 

Autumn 2026 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 36 N4705 and N4706 — Horses of Cowboys of the Silver Screen plus 2 FREE covers — 4/17/10

A small series of stamps were issued to honor several cowboys of the Silver Screen era. In addition to producing covers for the well-known cowboys, Fred decided to produce two subscriber-only covers highlighting their horses.

N4705 shows a wonderful close-up of Trigger, a golden palomino made famous in Western movies with his owner Roy Rogers. During the 1940s and 1950s, Trigger appeared in many western movies as well as a hit television series where he was joined by Dale Evans and her buckskin quarter-horse named Buttermilk. It's accurate to say that Trigger became the most famous horse in American film entertainment. The extremely attractive Trigger cachet shows a close-up of the famous horse which has a Roy Rogers stamp canceled at Oklahoma City. He is standing in front of Roy's Double R Bar Ranch.

N4706 shows Champion, the horse that belonged to Gene Autry, and the eye-catching cover pictures a wonderful close-up of the famous horse in front of a western town set that was built on Gene's Melody Ranch. This beautiful chestnut was Autry's mount in 44 movies and in over 100 episodes of the Gene Autry television show. This was also a scarce subscriber-only, limited-edition cover. The Gene Autry stamp appears in the upper left and is canceled in Oklahoma City. The two sold-out Horse covers are accompanied by two FREE covers — Gene Autry (N4703) and Roy Rogers (N4704)