[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

Assuming there is no extracurricular damage, many consider a postmark to be a positive as the postcard has been government dated.

Many people wondered if the Pinkerton postcards were vintage until some blank backs were found with letters and postmarks. The postmarks confirmed they were from the 1910s.

In my collector's estimation, a nice, neat letter and vintage postmark does not hurt the value, and often increases it. Unlike a baseball card, a postcard was designed to be written on. Obviously, if the pen ink bleeds through to the front or the postmark creates a tear that would be a problem.

I had a Victorian scrap book that, amongst the scraps and cut out pictures and trade cards, contained some commercially made birthday cards. In the cards the scrap book owner, a young girl, had written loving birthday letters to herself from what obviously were imaginary friends. These were the only birthday cards in the album, so I wondered if they were the only birthday greetings she received that year. The cards themselves were a dime dozen, but the writing made them priceless.