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The Mason Cancels

The Earliest Known Usage of the Elvis Forever Stamps
And Only Known August 10, 2015  Cancellations

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 The Mason Cancels
 
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I walked into the Mason, Tennessee post office around 2:30 pm August 10th, 2015 and purchased three sheets of the Elvis Forever Stamps.
 
They were cancelled with the Mason, Tennessee circular date stamp (CDS) of August 10, 2015.
 
Two days early.
 
They are the only known August 10th cancellations in the world.
They are great philatelic rarities of extraordinary magnitude.
They are known throughout the world as the Mason Cancels. 
 
 
I have the USPS receipt from the postal clerk which includes the August 10, 2015 cds.
 
The photos are attached for you.
 
I sent 16 of the stamps from one sheet to myself attached to letter sized envelopes with the plate postions of the sheet numbered from one through 16 to the left of each stamp located in the upper right corner of each envelope which will also include the August 10, 2015 cds cancellation. 
 
Seven arrived in my mailbox Tuesday August 11th and the other 9 on Wednesday August 12th, the day of the FDC ceremony at Graceland. which I attended.
All taking place two days prior to the national authorized official release of the stamp.
 
Remarkably, I also obtained the first officially cancelled cover at Graceland August 12, 2015, as well, signed by the Postmaster, Steve Cole, and the USPS clerk, John Whitaker, as #1.
Here's a link to that story:
 
Graceland wasn't too happy about it, but not angry.
News media throughout the world wanted the story.
I want you to have it, too.
After all, it was Elvis Week here in Memphis, and about the greatest entertainer who ever lived.
 
I've enclosed photos and provenance for your review.
as well as the articles in Linn's Stamp News, the Monday Morning Brief, and other reporting sources.
 
I spoke with Memphis Postmaster Steve Cole at Graceland at the Thursday, August 13th satellite cancellation station and he said that he didn't think the clerk would be dismissed, but couldn't answer that question with certainty. One of the postal inspectors, who visited me Tuesday morning, also echoed the thoughts of Postmaster Cole when I spoke with him early Thursday morning. He reiterated that they were satisfied that I had done nothing improper or illegal in my transaction with her, as bribery, coercion, compulsion to sell or conspiracy were their chief concerns. The thought of such a crime or an attempt to acquire the sheets or covers in that fashion strikes me with disgust and revulsion. I take great pride in my hobby.
 
I walked in to the post office in Mason around 2:30pm on Monday August 10th, 2015, purchased the three sheets from the clerk, whom I had never seen before, had the letters I addressed to myself and the sheets cancelled and drove to Graceland to show Elvis Presley Enterpises CEO Jack Soden.
 
I then drove to the Commercial Appeal to show them to entertainment managing editor Peggy McKenzie. Peggy has written stories about my enthusiasm for stamp collecting over the years. She was unavailable so her deputy editor, Mark Richens, decided to report the story, which I've included in the links for you.
 
More than anything, my chief concern, was my hope that the postal clerk would not be dismissed.
The foregone conclusion of the others that I'd spoken with was that she would not be.She kept her job, thank goodness.
 
I would have been truly sorry if that had occurred, I'd have requested her reinstatement with a letter to the Postmaster if that had been a tragic outcome of a harrowing week, and I gladly would have returned the sheets if her job had been contingent upon it. 
 
U.S.P.S. postal inspectors allowed me to keep the early Mason Cancels.
 
The other concern for some had been that I obtained the sheets with a profit motive.
If that were true I would have cancelled another sheet or set of envelopes in my possession on August 11th or sold them on eBay, or another auction, immediately after obtaining them, which I could have, and also profited handsomely. I did not.
I could have cancelled the other full mint sheet on August 11th, the Tuesday prior to event, had thirty-three full hours to do so, and did not.
 
I did none of these things, and had plenty of time to do so.
 
I wanted the philatelic community, and Elvis fans, to know that I'm a stamp collector, not a stamp dealer, and desired an unparalleled variety of the stamp.
 
The Elvis Forever Mason, Tennessee cancellations are radically distinctive and have no equal.
 
I discovered a unique opportunity in Mason, Tennessee and obtained three Elvis Forever sheets in good faith.
 
Nothing more.
The Mason Cancels Are Not For Sale 

 
 

Click each photograph below for details about The Mason Cancels:

The 1st two photographs are the 1st Elvis FDC From 1993.

 
 

 

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Forever/stampnews.jpg Forever/2015_08_22_elvis-l.jpg Forever/5009.jpg Forever/numbertwokleinsignaturewhitaker.jpg
Forever/numbertwoklein.jpg Forever/reverse0810cds.jpg Forever/receipt.jpg Forever/specifications.jpg
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Forever/position3a.jpg Forever/position2a.jpg Forever/position1a.jpg Forever/numberoneofficialsignatures.jpg
Forever/numberoneofficial.jpg Forever/covecdfront.jpg Forever/fullsheet0810cds.jpg Forever/bio.jpg
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Monday Morning Brief | Elvis Early Use

Watch as Linn's/Scott editorial director Donna Houseman discusses the early release of the new U.S. Elvis stamp.




 

Click for the Wikipedia Article

My Passion

Full Resolution Mason Cancels .PDF