Space Race Stamps Appraisal

Collection of 1960s U.S. Space Exploration Postage Stamps on Envelopes

This is a philatelic collection consisting of approximately eleven individual postage stamp specimens mounted onto an album page, labeled 'SPACE PAGE 1'. The stamps are from the 1960s and commemorate major American space milestones. Notable issues include the 1962 4-cent Project Mercury stamp, featuring a Friendship 7 capsule orbiting the globe, and the 1967 5-cent Gemini 'Spacewalk' twin stamps. Many of the stamps are affixed to original paper clippings from envelopes (piece) and feature clear postmark cancellations from various Pennsylvania towns such as Lancaster, Florin, Terre Hill, New Holland, and Lititz, dated consistently around 1962 and 1967. The stamps are printed using multi-color photogravure and engraving processes, exhibiting blue, yellow, and green tones typical of the era's United States Postal Service commemorative issues. Small definitive stamps, including green 1-cent Washington and purple 4-cent Lincoln issues, are also visible. Condition varies; the paper fragments show some yellowing, minor curling, and adhesive staining on the album page. Some cancellations are perfectly legible 'socked-on-the-nose' marks, while others are partial wavy-line machine cancels. The collection represents a curated historical record of the Space Age as captured in mid-century American postal art.