775th stamp blog: 75 years FDC Netherlands (1950)
I received an article from the Financieele Dagblad dated May 2, 2025, via my philatelist friend. The headline reads: The first first-day cover is a sought-after collector's item. Is that the opinion of journalist Marco Vlot, or is it the opinion of the NVPH? In this article, Marike Timmermans (NVPH spokesperson) and board member Charles Voetelink have their say. Do they provide the answer as to whether the FDC and/or the stamp in general are still future-proof? What is your opinion on the FDC? Do you still collect FDCs from the Netherlands or Belgium?
FDC General (according to Wikipedia)
A first-day cover or first-day letter is an envelope with a cancellation mark from the first day on which the stamp affixed to it was valid. For some philatelists, collecting first-day covers is a collecting area.
In the past, the term "first day letter" was used. However, from the 20s onwards, first-day envelopes were increasingly purchased through stamp dealers simply to obtain blank envelopes. And an envelope without an address is simply not a letter. In most countries, including the Netherlands, however, the generally accepted English term "first day cover" is used more and more, abbreviated to FDC.
The first FDC (Children's Stamps 1949)
The first FDC (Summer Stamps 1950) according to NVPH
Some special features of this first FDC:
- First Day stamp: May 2, 1950.
- Total mintage: E1 and E1a (without the text Summer stamps 1950) is 6000 copies.
- Expected yield: with handwritten address (€ 1600) and without address (€ 15.000) with cover text 'Summer Stamps 1950'.
- The task of designing the envelope was carried out by the NVPH.
FDC Details
In the past, the place name was 's Gravenhage (before 1991) and subsequently The Hague. However, stamps are also made with Amsterdam, as on this edition.
FDCs are hardly collected anymore. Due to its policy, PostNL has destroyed a large portion of them itself.
I think that is the opinion of the NVPH. They do have to manage to sell that stuff, of course.
From what I see at clubs and fairs, only the FDCs from the early 50s are in demand.
Most collectors stopped doing it in 2000 or 2002. The new ones are almost unaffordable anyway at current rates.
I never got into it. I don't care for those things. I did get one occasionally at the club or when buying stamps at a foreign post office. I do keep those, though.
With FDC 899 20 Years of Postcrossing, something went wrong in the production process. The stamp was applied incorrectly, meaning the design, including the colors of the Dutch flag, is not shown to its best advantage....