Indian Cent glued to old postcard – could it really have been mailed this way – any others out there

WinLoseWin

Picked this up awhile back. It has a red and brown AU to Unc 1907 cent attached.

Could it have actually made it through the mail like this back then? Was this ever a common practice or just added later? Can't make out the last digit in postmark, but it must be 1908 or 1909 as the stamp was apparently first issued in December 1908 from what I found.

lordmarcovan

That's awesome! Must've been some serious adhesive.

I find it hard to imagine that going through the mail, but who knows?

Good thing it wasn't a 1908 or 1909 IHC, or it would've long ago been peeled off for a mintmark check!

lordmarcovan

PS- no street address! Black Earth, Wisconsin must've been a really small town back then!

Even now, per the 2010 census and Wikipedia, there are only 1,338 residents.

TopographicOceans

Cool item.

Mail was hand sorted back in those days so I don't see any reason why it wouldn't survived.

Heck I get an advertisement with a cent glued on the mailing label that shows throw the window about once a month.

lordmarcovan

Edna Bardsley would've been about 18 when Celia sent her that postcard. She was born in 1891 and still lived in Black Earth at the time of the 1920 census.

koynekwest

Hand stamped cancellation and manually sorted (as all mail was back then.) No problem with making it thru the mail intact and undamaged.

koynekwest

BTW-I did see one with a Mint state IH 1c 35 years ago. I wish I would have bought it but it was quite expensive for an IHc (I believe $35.) I worked with a lady who collected antique baby shoes and it sometimes happened that an IHc was inserted into the shoe wrapped in a piece of tissue paper. The one she showed me was a nice RB Unc.

Lakesammman

Not sure - for a few bucks it's an easy way to enhance the value of a forgetable post card.

Not sure how you could detect it one way or the other. Not seeing an impression of the coin on the reverse side like I would expect if it sat flat for several years.

originalisbest

That particular card, would be fairly sturdy cardboard, to support the embossed design, and the cent wouldn't be likely to leave an impression.

NewEnglandNotes

There is a stamp on the back, so it wasn't glued on in place of postage. Years ago I had to mail a letter, and the post office was closed. Since I had no stamps, I did what I thought was the next best thing, and taped 50¢ to the envelope. At the time, postage was only 30 something cents. It was in my mailbox a couple of days later with a nasty note from the lady at the post office.

ThePennyLady

I have a postcard similar to yours with an uncirculated 1907 Indian cent attached, and did a little research a while back on these. I found that they are called "novelty" postcards or "add on" postcards which means they had attached items to the cards such as ribbons, bags of salt (often mailed from Salt Lake City), real hair, metal medallions, paper applique, silk, dried flowers, beads, feathers, spring tails for animals, "fur," and even pennies - and were actually mailed with these attachments. They are highly collectible. Mine doesn't have a postmark so it doesn't look like it was actually mailed.

lordmarcovan

Ha! Should've known Penny Lady would have one!

Cool! So it's not just an oddity or a fluke, then.

dib

Really cool, I like it.

"Dear Edna. Just a card to wish you a happy christmas. We are having an awful time fit at __? Want to see you and talk over the nicle?"

That's all I could manage.

ThePennyLady

<< <i>Really cool, I like it.

"Dear Edna. Just a card to wish you a happy christmas. We are having an awful time fit at __? Want to see you and talk over the nicle?"

That's all I could manage. >>



"... We are having an awful time of it at school. Want to see you and talk over the ride."

lordmarcovan

I think it's:

"Dear Edna
Just a card to wish you a
happy Christmas.
We are having
an awful time of it
at school.
Want to see you and
talk over the ride.
Celia

At least I think that last word is "ride".

And I think the sender was Celia, though it looks more like "Lelia". Or even "Delia".

dib

<< <i>

<< <i>Really cool, I like it.

"Dear Edna. Just a card to wish you a happy christmas. We are having an awful time fit at __? Want to see you and talk over the nicle?"

That's all I could manage. >>


"... We are having an awful time of it at school. Want to see you and talk over the ride." >>



That makes perfect sense now, thanks.

GrumpyEd

I think the end of it is "L Elia", short for "Love, Elia"

Dentuck

I've seen similar cards from Germany, with a small-change coin glued to them and
usually with the phrase Kleine geschenke erhalten die Freundschaft (roughly
translated as "Little gifts preserve a friendship") --- kind of a "Thinking of You"
sentiment.

Lakesammman

SO it's the real deal?? Cool!

ricko

Cool postcard. I have a friend who collects postcards, he has thousands, but as far as I know (and I have reviewed much of his collection) he does not have one with an IHC on it.... will ask him if he has seen one. Cheers, RickO

ThePennyLady

Here are some websites with lots of interesting information on the history of post cards:

Post Card History and Dating

History of Post Cards

Post Card Grading and Terminology

panexpoguy

<< <i>I have a postcard similar to yours with an uncirculated 1907 Indian cent attached, and did a little research a while back on these. I found that they are called "novelty" postcards or "add on" postcards which means they had attached items to the cards such as ribbons, bags of salt (often mailed from Salt Lake City), real hair, metal medallions, paper applique, silk, dried flowers, beads, feathers, spring tails for animals, "fur," and even pennies - and were actually mailed with these attachments. They are highly collectible. Mine doesn't have a postmark so it doesn't look like it was actually mailed.



>>



It is possible that your card was mailed. the card was sent during the rapid growth of automated cancelling machines in post offices and cards with items glued to the outside were causing problems if/when the attached items came off while running through the machines (damaging gears, etc). The biggest culprits were cards with mounds of glitter glued to the images.

So the post office required that such cards be mailed enclosed within what was essentially a wax paper envelope. the card could be addressed and enclosed and the writing would still be visible, but the postage stamp and any post mark would be on the outside. Often these envelopes were discarded while the post card within was kept. Finding a card with the envelope that has been mailed is not easy.

SaorAlba

Somewhere in a bunch of old post cards I have one that was mailed from Salt Lake City in the 1920s with a little baggie of salt attached to it. Back then, preautomation, the post office was a lot more tolerant of stuff.

asheland

That's really cool!

lordmarcovan

<< <i>I think the end of it is "L Elia", short for "Love, Elia" >>

Could be. If Celia/Delia/Elia knew we'd be scrutinizing her handwriting so closely a century later, perhaps she would've taken pains to make it more readable!


<< <i>I've seen similar cards from Germany, with a small-change coin glued to them and
usually with the phrase Kleine geschenke erhalten die Freundschaft (roughly
translated as "Little gifts preserve a friendship") --- kind of a "Thinking of You"
sentiment. >>

Thanks, dentuck. I guess this confirms there was an actual trend for this sort of thing, and it's not just a unique aberration. Neat.

CaptHenway

Since the postage to send a postcard was one cent, perhaps it was the writer's way of saying "Write back!"

WinLoseWin

Wow, lots of great replies, ideas and links to good info. Thanks.

Well now I can pull it off and see if it is a unique 1907-S. (Only kidding. It will be staying on never knowing if there is a rare brockage, massive cud or something else interesting on the reverse especially since the odds are zero).

Wonder what sort of glue was used as it seems attached pretty good with no evidence of loosening.

Maybe some cheap Ebay sellers can use postcards to send out coins instead of wasting an envelope and expensive 1st class stamp. Would not be surprised if it had been attempted at some point.

I like CaptHenway's comment that it might be money to say write back, almost a postcard version of a SASE.