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Keliauk į futbolu rojų! (Lithuania)
From Carlsberg, in Lithuanian this means “Go to football heaven!” and we think they have captured that idea pretty well. Mailed in 2012 with three stamps and two postmarks. Grade: 1
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Down in Old Kentucky (USA)
Old, unused card. Grade: 3
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Torpedoboot bei schwerem Seegang (Germany)
Here’s what we can tell you about this sepia card: it was mailed, because there’s a 1917 postmark (and date on the mostly unreadable message) but there is no sign there was ever any stamp on the front or the back. Printed attribution: “155 W.B. Levy, Hamburg Zensur Altona 527”. Clearly from World War One. We’re not certain how to grade this because of the stamp issue, but because the front is so good we will call it Grade: 2
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St. Petersburg, Neva River. The tall ship at the Sts Peter and Paul Fortress (Russia)
Mailed in 2012 with five stamps and three postmarks. Grade: 1
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Poreč (Croatia)
Mailed from Serbia, not Croatia, in 2013 with two stamps and partial postmark. Grade: 3
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Under Sails (Russia)
Could there be a postcard more about boats and ships than this? Mailed from Russia in 2013, with stamp and illegible postmark. Grade: 1
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New York City, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Unused 5″ x 7″ card. Grade: 1
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Chinese Junk (Hong Kong)
Just not here any more. We miss them. Unused, aging card whose caption refers to “the background of Modern Buildings being the tourist centre in Kowloon.” That’s partly true (on the right) but the majority of the background is Hong Kong Island. Grade: 2
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Avalon Bay, Catalina Island (California)
This card might appeal to Catalina buffs as it has an Avalon postmark (Feb 29!) and was mailed in 1924, with stamp. Minor abrasions and mottling throughout. Grade: 3
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Bali, Fishing Boat
Unused KH postcard, aged and a bit weathered. Grade: 3
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The sinking of the Titanic
Artwork of a 1912 painting on a 2013 card mailed from Lithuania with stamp and postmark. The card has three of four perforated edges, indicating it had been in a book or set. Grade: 1
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Greetings from Iowa
Unused Plastichrome card P79075, beginning to age. Grade: 2
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Greetings from Miami, Fla.
A somewhat bleak card from sunny Florida, mailed in 190_ (the stamp is there, and the postmark too, though they did not set the final digit of the year). Some postmark ink transfer on the front. Grade: 3
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Groetjes uit Zeeland! (Maximum Card) (Netherlands)
For reasons too long and irrelevant for this space, this maximum card is one of our favourite postcards ever. Forgive us then for thinking it should be yours, too. You will think: it cannot be so expensive. Well, yes, it can. Mailed in 2013 with a large special postmark (same as the one on the front) over another stamp, and bilingual Priority label. Official Disney card dated 2012. Grade: 1
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Pärnu, Mole Lighthouse (Estonia)
Mailed in 2013 with two stamps, full postmark, and bilingual Prioritaire label. Some smudging happened in transit. Grade: 2
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Groetjes uit “Fryslan”! (Netherlands)
You might compare this with our previous entry 32400319, but this one is not a maximum card. It’s mailed in 2013 with three stamps, full postmark, and Priority label. Official Disney postcard, dated 2012. Some postmark ink transfer on the front sail. Grade: 2
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Shenzhen, Seven Star Bay – sailing venue (PR China)
One of a series of unused cards, in similar style, issued by China Post for the 2011 Universiade Shenzhen events. These cards are in maximum-card design, but they are not maximum cards because these stamps you see in the scans are design elements and not postage. However the cards do have pre-printed stamps on the back. Grade: 1
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Krasnoyarsk (USSR)
Unused, aged Soviet-era card whose caption is worth repeating in total: “KRASNOYARSK. In April 30, 1897 on board the ‘St. Nicholas’ Lenin sailed from Krasnoyarsk to the village of Shushenskoye, the place of his exile.” This appears in four languages, and as instructive as it is, it doesn’t really explain the photo. Grade: 3
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Aberdeen Harbour (Hong Kong)
The caption on this unused old card (“Scenery of Aberdeen Harbour, the fishing junks sailing, with the floating restaurant in the distant view”) reveals that the card’s producers were determined to include all possible icons. Aberdeen is still there, but … Grade: 1
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Titanic (Canada)
Issued by Canada Post in 2012, with large pre-printed international postage in the same style as this photo. The card measures about 4-5/8″ x 6-3/4″ and was mailed in 2013. Grade: 1
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Oceanside Harbor (California)
Unused card. Grade: 1
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Nordkuste Bei Portskerra, Highlands (Scotland/Germany)
“Why Germany?” you ask. Good question. We know the scene is in Scotland but the card is German-made, German-captioned, for a German consumer, and mailed from Germany with stamp, postmark, and Luftpost. It also has address label and message on stickers, so all in all is not very attractive–but who knows, maybe it is just what you wanted. It’s cheap. Grade: 5
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San Juan Island, Washington State Ferries
It’s “Islands” on the front, and “Island” on the back of this card mailed in 2013 with two stamps and readable postmark. Airmail sticker affixed. Grade: 2
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Star Ferry and Golden Bauhinia 3D card in frame (Hong Kong)
One unused card in a cardboard frame with a push-out stand on the back so it can sit on your desk like a framed photo. Scanning 3D cards clearly isn’t really possible, and here you can see elements of both photos through the lenticular printing. All this is still enclosed in the original plastic wrap, and we have deleted the original price in the top corner of the scan. It’s still on the wrapper, though. Grade: 1
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Arnold Line Ferries (Michigan, USA)
Unused card 137066 (MI-6) showing two boats at the harbor entrance to Mackinac Island. Grade: 2
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Victoria Harbour and Star Ferry (Hong Kong) (3D)
Unused 3D postcard of an unusually painted Star Ferry with Central District of Hong Kong Island in the background. No motion effect on this card (single photo). Grade: 1
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Kowloon, New Star Ferry Pier (Hong Kong)
Our header for this entry is the unused card’s caption. In the early 1950s, construction of the present twin-piered terminal commenced on both sides of Victoria Harbour, designed to handle 55 million passenger trips a year. The structure was completed in 1957, concurrent with the Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier built on the island side. So that helps to date the postcard’s use of “New”. Grade: 1
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West Plains, Auto ferry across Norfork Lake (Missouri, USA)
Not postally used, this card has an inked notation typical of so many others: “We rode across on this ferry Aug. 13, 1954.” At least that helps date the card. Grade: 4
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Groeten van de Loosdrechtsche plassen (Netherlands)
The title for this entry is the caption on the back of this unused card. Loosdrecht Plassen is described by Wikipedia as “bealtiful lakes … thousands of tourists visit every year. The lakes are a hotspot for the well-to-do,” though the rest of us can venture north through a small underpass to something less elite. Apparently. Grade: 2
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Vladivostok (Russia)
Mailed in 2013 with four stamps, two partial postmarks, and affixed address label, this 4″ x 8-1/4″ card has no original printing on the back–just what was done to write and send it. Grade: 4
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Hamburg-Amerika poster
German card mailed from there in 2013, with stamp, postmark, and trilingual Priority label affixed. Grade: 1
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Isla Margarita, Playa El Yaque (Venezuela)
Absolutely Venezuelan, but mailed from Russia in 2013 with five different stamps and blue Par Avion label. Grade: 4
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Michigan City, Pan American Games sailing (Indiana, USA)
Mailed in 2013 with Global Forever stamp. The message and address are pasted on, there’s another smiley sticker, and abrasion. Grade: 5
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Lloyd Sabaudo Dining Saloon, Conte Grande
Aged, unused postcard from the golden age of luxury liners. Grade: 2
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Foreign Ships Arrive in Duluth-Superior Harbor – 1959 (USA)
We put this card into “Minnesota” and not “Wisconsin” only because the harbor says “Duluth” first. Not postally used, the card however has an inked notation on the back saying “The Duluth-Superior Light house on pier but not mentioned.” Well … we sure do know that now. Grade: 4
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Lake Tahoe California – Nevada, cut-out (USA)
Unused. The right half of the sail (surrounded by red) is cut-out and therefore a deliberate hole in the card. Grade: 1
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Hälsingborg, Hamnparti (Sweden)
This seaport in southwestern Sweden is now known as Helsingborg. The real photo card (“Killberg, Hbg N:o 12373”) is unused, with a small rust stain on the reverse. Grade: 3
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Hermosillo, Boats in Kino Bay (Mexico)
“Mexfotocolor” card, rounded corners, with stamp and mostly legible postmark from 1968 (we think), a nice enough card of an absolutely unremarkable scene. Grade: 1
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Cossacks in chaika
Internet (photoFabrique) card mailed from Ukraine in 2013 with six stamps and postmark. Grade: 2
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The Kelly Family Ship
German card, mailed from Netherlands with four stamps and overlapping postmarks. Grade: 4