Official PNC (Philatelic Numismatic Cover) Thread

Here's a PNC with a Cook Islands $5 coin. The coin is billed as a "Benjamin Franklin Postal Coin."

On its reverse, the copper-nickel coin depicts the 1847 5-cent Ben Franklin stamp - one of two stamps in the US' first national postage stamp issue, the other was a 10-cent stamp featuring George Washington.

Why do I have the PNC? Because I'm a Benjamin Franklin fan and enjoy adding numismatic commemorative pieces honoring Ben to my collection.

Excellent!


Very nice!

Excellent!

That is quite lovely.

Today, for your viewing pleasure , is a set of first-day-of-issue covers for the Susan B. Anthony ( SBA) dollar coin; the covers were issued by the Postal Commemorative Society (PCS). There is a cover for each Mint facility that struck SBA coins for circulation: Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco.

Each cover was postmarked on the day the SBA coin entered circulation - July 2, 1979 - in the city in which the included coin was struck.

Also shown is the back of the Philadelphia cover. I've included just one as the back of each cover is blank and essentially the same.

@jbuck: A little more love for SBA...

Here's a companion cover to the three Susan B. Anthony covers I posted yesterday. This cover is also a first-day-of-issue cover for the SBA dollar, postmarked on July 2, 1979, but it was cancelled in Anthony's birthplace (Adams, MA) vs. a US Mint facility location. The cover one-ups the three from yesterday by including a three-cent commemorative SBA stamp from 1936 in addition to the current (circa 1979) first-class stamp. See the front of the cover for a first ever distinction for SBA.

As with yesterday's SBA covers, it was issued by the Postal Commemorative Society (PCS). The back of the cover features information on the cover's two stamps.

Today, I present the first of a set of what are undoubtedly the five most common PNCs ever produced in the US. The PNCs were produced and distributed by the US Mint on behalf of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA) to help celebrate the US Bicentennial. The PNCs were produced, one per year, in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Each PNC features an undated bronze medal; the same design was also used on a bronze medal that was sold individually in a plastic case - these cased medals have their issue date inscribed on them (1972 through 1976). Each PNC also has four bicentennial commemorative stamps which are postmarked on July 4th of their respective year. The PNCs sold for $5.00 each.

Here are the PNC production/sales figures:

1972: 791,000
1973: 475,812
1974: 511.428
1975: 668,419
1976: 446,939

No other US-produced PNC that I am aware has a sales total that comes close to any of these numbers! The large sales figures are the primary reason why these PNCs are readily available in the marketplace and why they can often be purchased for a dollar or two at coin shows - I've lost track of how many times I have been offered the complete set for $5 to $10!

I decided to do just one cover per day because many collectors I've spoken to have not actually opened up the PNC's envelope to take a good luck at what is inside and so are unaware of the educational material present. Presenting all five in one post would be too much, IMO.

Each PNC has info cards that provide details on the medal and stamps used for the cover. The sealed pliofilm that holds the medal also includes a plastic bicentennial medal with the official Bicentennial logo; the design of the plastic piece is the same on both sides.

Here is the 1972 PNC and its inserts:

Here's the 1973 ARBA PNC featuring Samuel Adams and Paul Revere - two gentleman from the Boston area you may recall!

Starting with the 1973 PNC, the envelope did not have an opening in its back to see the reverse of the medal. So, I included the reverse of the medal in the pliofilm insert image. I've also included zoomed in and rotated images of both sides of the medal as their 90-degree rotation in the PNC makes it difficult to view their designs.