Earliest Documented Use

Stamp collecting like all fields of knowledge has a history. One advantage to stamps is that some information is centralized so that records can be kept of vital information such as date of issue of a stamp or the engravers of a design. Baseball is another such field that keeps meticulous records that helps sports fans to analyze information better.

One aspect of the United States stamp collecting that is very interesting is earliest documented use. This is a branch related to first-day cover collecting. Most pre-1920 American stamps do not have official first days. This is because stamps were simply released to post offices with no fanfare. Most of the early (pre-1920) commemorative stamps do have first days because most were related to the international world's fairs or national expositions. Fairgoers would buy these stamps which were first issued on the opening day of the fair or exposition and then use them on postcards and envelopes on that day. However, regular issue stamps in the pre-1920 era would never have such a day devoted to them. Only 11 definitive issues from this era have first-day covers. Two unlikely events would have to occur. The post office would have to receive a new supply of that issue by that date and the postal patron would have to buy some of the issue on or before that date and then use it.

So what is an earliest documented use? Since there are so few first-day covers from this era, American philately has developed the concept of an earliest documented use (EDU). The postmark on the cover would need to have a date and a year. If this date is earlier than the recorded date then it becomes the EDU. The APS or other stamp experts certify EDUs. They are recorded systematically by the Scott Publishing Company. Most EDUs give a cover a premium of $500 over the regular retail price.

To determine if you have an EDU you need to first determine what stamp you have. Most early American stamps have several varieties of perforations, color, and watermarks, so use the Scott catalog in conjunction with The Micarelli Identification Guide to US Stamps to figure out what issue you have. Now check the date against that listed by Scott. If it is earlier than that, then you have a good chance. Send it to the APS be checked. When there is a watermark to be checked and it seems to be an EDU for one of the two or three possibilities of watermarks (single lined, double lined, or none), then you have two choices. Either send it to the APS and they will remove the stamp and expertize it or remove it yourself and analyze it with watermark fluid. Imagine finding one of these EDUs after wading through thousands of covers! (Do not forget to check those old postcards you have also.) Imagine the even greater thrill of finding an EDU whose postmark date coincides exactly with the stated date of issue, then you have the rarest of all covers - a pre-1920 first day cover.

I have been trying to determine if other countries have such a concept as an EDU. I often come across old cover some other countries and wonder if it could be an EDU. Hopefully, all countries can develop such a field because it leads to greater knowledge and more rewarding stamp collecting.