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            | Sunday, August 30, 2020Thank You Rhodes College For Great Health & Good Times 9:38 am cdtHow's this for 68 ? 
 Many thanks to my friends, faculty, staff & students
                  at Rhodes College & the great Bryan Campus Life Center for keeping me in shape ! Rhodes helped go from 204 pounds to this
                  slim 168 (I had pants on by the way) ! When this national medical crisis ends, and hopefully soon, we'll all be together again.
                  
 
 Monday, August 10, 2020The Place Where You Are Treated Best & Grumble Most 2:33 pm cdtThe Leather Postcard of 1907  Here's rare leather postcard from my collection with a commemorative stamp honoring
                  the Jamestown Exposition, Scott Catalog #328.    
 The stamp was issued in Hampton Roads,
                  Virginia on April 26, 1907 and removed from sale on December 1, 1907.      The leather postcard,  from Albuquerque, New
                  Mexico, was sent to Mrs. R. H. Mitchell of Lewisburg, Louisiana on June 6th 1907.    
 The card was made by S.N. & Compnay
                   Printers in 1906.    
 The "Home Sweet Home" message
                  on the back of the leather card is signed by or to "Maxie" with an etched impression from a sharp instrument  "The place where you are treated best and grumble most. Home Sweet Home" 
 Signed or meant for "Maxie". 
 Unknown impression from the right vertical section
                  of the leather on the reverse. Reversed inverted
                  spectrographic imaging was used to reveal some of the details of this very scarce and unusual piece of postal history.  Today this rare leather card is worth the same thing as a used, drive-able, early
                  2000-something Chrysler. 
 
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       For the next few weeks I'll be talking
         about the first day covers of ArtCraft along with everything else.
ArtCraft closed it's doors recently after 76 years of making philatelic history.
I'm  predicting a sudden, salubrious escalation in the value
         of the ArtCraft  cachet, all ArtCraft first day covers and ArtCraft portrait cards.
Including those connected to the Postal Commemorative Society
Their  departure signals the end of an extraordinarily crucial,
         very  important, highly significant and exceedingly meaningful period in  philately
A mournful signal which will be heard around the world and
         lamented throughout the multitude of collectors
Leo
         and Sam August treasured their associations with the world's greatest philatelists
Leo's  contributions to our hobby were significant enough
         to earn the coveted  Luft Award and a place in the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame.
ArtCraft has well-earned it's place in the great chronological
         record in the history of philately.
Their
         raised ink, line-engraved intaglio printed cachets rank among the most aesthetic in the world.
ArtCraft cachets are not just beautiful. 
They are works
         of art that showcase the wonders of the world and illuminate the powers of human creativity and ingenuity.
         The Coober Pedy Cover
One of the World's Great Philatelic Rarities 

Could this become la pièce
         de résistance de toute la modern Australian philatélie ? 
Coober  Pedy is a town in northern South Australia. The town is sometimes   referred to as the "opal
         capital of the world" because of the quantity   of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its
           below-ground residences,called "dugouts", which are built in this   fashion due to the scorching daytime heat.
         The name "Coober Pedy" comes   from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means "white man's   hole".
Opal was found in Coober Pedy on 1 February 1915; since   then the town has been supplying most of the world's gem-quality
         opal.   Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry   to provide the community with employment
         and sustainability. Coober  Pedy  has over 70 opal fields and is the largest opal mining area in the   world.
Coober
         Pedy - no village, no buildings, no roads, just   desert, mountains dotted with boulders. A bizarre lunar landscape, but 
          for opal seekers is the most exciting place on earth, where again every   day is the true challenge, happiness and luck just
         a shovel width apart   and where life is defined by two words: winners and losers. Coober  Pedy,  grab your hat, throw it
         into the air and where it lands start  digging ! 
 

 
 
      
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         Numbers are the copyrighted property of Amos Press Inc., dba Scott 
Publishing Co. The marks Scott and Scott’s are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 
and are trademarks of Amos Press, Inc. dba Scott Publishing Co. No
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made of these marks or of
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