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Author
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Topic: Space Cover 480: MR-4 PRS w/added cachet
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Bob M
Member Posts: 1744
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-25-2018 06:06 AM
   
Space Cover of the Week, Week 480, August 26, 2018 Space Cover #480: MR-4 PRS cover, with added cachetOne of the most desired and rarest space covers in our hobby are covers canceled aboard the Mercury-Redstone 4 Prime Recovery Ship, the USS Randolph — the recovery ship of Gus Grissom. Certainly a small number of these covers exist and are missing even from many of the most serious and dedicated PRS collections — as it is with me. The cover shown here isn't mine and a scan of it was sent to me by another collector a few years ago. I decided to feature this special cover because of the hand painted cachet applied to the cover (the Grissom signature is part of the painted cachet and isn't real) that changed it from its original condition and appearance. I wonder if other collectors would approve or disapprove of such a classic cover having something so prominent added to it changing it from its original appearance? It's quite common and accepted to have such cachets added to more ordinary covers, but should a prominent cachet be added to such a rare and classic cover? Personally, I would much rather have it as it was received from the USS Randolph and not have anything else added (other than a small rubber stamp impression added identifying the mission), even with such an excellent illustration painted by an artist known for applying hand painted cachets to covers. But it is certainly a more attractive cover with this well-done cachet added. |
Ross
Member Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 08-25-2018 09:25 AM
I disagree with Bob. I love a cover with an unusual cachet, especially a hand painted one. I think it stands out from other covers from that mission and adds to a collection. Below is my contribution, a hand painted USS Noa cover from Mercury 6. I would note that, while is not to hard to find a USS Noa cover with a Goldcraft cachet, it is extremely difficult to find one with a different cachet. |
NAAmodel#240
Member Posts: 312
From: Boston, Mass.
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 08-25-2018 02:17 PM
For the old school purist the idea of an add-on might not be appealing. A poorly executed color inkjet cachet on a Mercury FDC does nothing for me but the handmade works of art that Bob and Ross show fall into a different category. Here is an envelope that just had the PRS postmark and stamp. Astrophilatelists know the story the postmark tells but the exhibit viewer does not. In my opinion the cachet can both educate and entertain.  quote:
Originally posted by Bob M:
the Grissom signature is part of the painted cachet and isn't real
I'm not so sure the Gus Grissom isn't real. I seem to recall seeing a similar treatment done with the Apollo 1 crew. Don't recall if the painting was done around the autographs or whether they were cut signatures glued to the envelope. |
bobslittlebro
Member Posts: 179
From: Douglasville, Ga U.S.A.
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 08-25-2018 06:14 PM
I must say the USS Randolph MR-4 cover is outstanding to say the lease. It appears to have very good detain and I really like it. I would prefer to have it in its original condition also...my opinion. I do like the artwork on David's Apollo 11 USS Hornet cover. This is a common cover that now is turned into a very desirable cover. The artwork on Ross's cover is great and done very well. Great subject Bob! |
Eddie Bizub
Member Posts: 81
From: Kissimmee, FL USA
Registered: Aug 2010
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posted 08-27-2018 06:59 PM
Being an old school purist, personally I would prefer a classic cover like this U.S.S. Randolph Grissom recovery cover to have no cachet at all or maybe a simple typed cachet denoting the event just like it came off the ship and into my mailbox. To me,that's the way it was processed and that's the way it should stay. That being said, it is a beautiful cover and to me it would also be acceptable if the cachet was added at the time and not many years later. A cachet done at the time would retain the classic aspect of this cover. I do not like to see a Project Mercury FDC with a cachet that was printed on a computer last month. It looses its classic status with a current cachet. As for the Apollo 11 U.S.S. Hornet cover, to me I don't necessarily consider this a classic cover and this cachet is totally acceptable. Covers were much more common by then and there was a wide variety of cachet makers applying cachets to all kinds of covers. Since it is in fact the cancel that matters the most, collectors have many choices in the cachet that they want on the covers in their collections. For classic hard to find covers like the U.S.S. Randolph you really have to take what you can if you are lucky enough to find one. The one I have in my collection happens to have a hand-drawn cachet picturing a helicopter and was inked at the time of the recovery. Of course the best thing about the cover Bob pictured is the extremely rare double ring red registration cancel! I have seen maybe a dozen U.S.S. Randolph covers over the years and this is only the 2nd one I have ever seen with this 2nd cancel! But that's a different story for a different time. |
Bob M
Member Posts: 1744
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-28-2018 08:56 AM
Thanks, Eddie. You said what I would have said about all this, only better. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 08-28-2018 10:51 AM
If the recovery ship cover had no cachet markings whatsoever on it, just from my personal opinion, I wouldn't mind adding on to the cover's surface an appropriate cachet as this. |
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