Hunt for in-period use of 1978 U.S. Coast Guard Eagle postal card

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

The glossary of philatelic terms in the Scott catalogs defines postal stationery as stationery “bearing imprinted stamps, as opposed to adhesive stamps. Postal stationery includes postal cards, letter cards, stamped envelopes, wrappers, aerograms, telegraph cards, postal savings forms and similar government-produced items.”

Because they saw little use, some postal cards and airmail postal cards are much more valuable in used condition than in mint condition.

A good example is the 14¢ U.S. Coast Guard Eagle postal card (Scott UX76) issued Aug. 4, 1978, for the anniversary of the founding of the Coast Guard’s predecessor, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service on Aug. 4, 1790. The modern U.S. Coast Guard was created on Jan. 28, 1915, by merging the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Life-Saving Service. The Coast Guard is the United States’ longest continually serving maritime service.

The 14¢ denomination paid the international surface postcard rate. The rate for postcards sent to domestic addresses, Canada and Mexico at that time was 10¢.

That this postal card saw little use is testified to by the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers values of 40¢ for a mint example and $40 with the value in italics for one correctly used in period. An example with a first-day-of-issue cancel is valued at $1.

The 14¢ Coast Guard Eagle postal card is not easy to find in used condition and is a good buy at full Scott catalog value, or perhaps a bit more. Beware of examples used out of period or mailed to addresses in the United States.

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