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Five people
From a very long time ago, mailed with a Bayern stamp and partial postmark, along with arguably the tiniest and most indecipherable handwriting we have ever seen. Looks like it’s in German, but good luck trying to read it. The card itself is in fine shape for its old age. Grade: 1
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Masonic (USA)
We never received enough Masonic postcards to open a new theme category for those we have, and even this very old real-photo example can be attributed to the Masons because, some time ago, a different vendor pencilled “Masonic” on the reverse. No other information. Unused. Grade: 3
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Winter’s Ermine Mantle
Unused card, heavily handled and with almost nothing to recommend it. Grade: 5
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Snowy trees (Germany)
Mailed from Germany. Blue Luftpost label, and postmarks, but these are nowhere near the uncancelled stamp. Grade: 4
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the fog in winter (Germany)
Mailed from Germany in 2013 with Priority label, postmark, and stamp. Grade: 2
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Best Wishes (USA)
Somewhat generic but old (1912) card, mailed with stamp and postmark. Very heavily aged, and good luck trying to read the message, but undeniably authentic. Grade: 3
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Cake (Germany)
We would eat it. The cake, not the postcard. Mailed from Germany in 2020, with stamp and postmark. Grade: 1
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Storm makes trees deeper roots
An undistinguished card made even more so by having been mailed from Taiwan (with trilingual airmail label) but there never was any stamp, so there’s no postmark and the card got through anyway. Grade: 4
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Little ghost
Postallove card PL0995, fully written and with several stickers on the reverse, but it was mailed in an envelope so there’s no stamp. Grade: 4
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Trunk Call
Mailed from Germany in 2020, with stamp and postmark. Grade: 1
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Giraffes (South Korea)
Mailed from Busan in 2020, with two stamps and postmark. Grade: 1
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Banana
Mailed from Taiwan in 2020, with stamp and indistinct postmark and several small stickers on the reverse. Grade: 4
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Halloween ghost (Germany)
This appears to be an ad card from Edgar, a German media group … we may be wrong about that (don’t think so, though) but we can tell you the card was mailed from Germany in 2020 with stamp, postmark, trilingual Priority label, and several small stickers. Grade: 4
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Little ghost
This is a Postallove card, mailed in 2020 but without any stamp or postmark. We won’t be listing Postallove cards as a general rule, but put this one in to give you an example. The reverse however is a mass (and mess) of writing and stickers, so it can only be a space filler. Grade: 5
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Hydra
Due to all that Chinese text, we assume the card originated in China but it was mailed from Russia in 2020 with stamp, postmark, and multiple small and large stickers. Grade: 5
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Blue Hand, Red Heart
Mailed from Netherlands in 2020, with three stamps (only one is cancelled), postmark, and Priority label. Orange postal barcoding on reverse. Grade: 2
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Kuchen (Germany)
Though we know kuchen means cake in German, the symbolism of this card escapes us. (If you know, we’ll be happy to learn.) Mailed from Berlin in 2021, with stamp and postmark. Grade: 1
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Mystery Location
This ancient postcard is very very heavily aged, has no attribution, no caption, and nothing to identify the location. Our only clue that this may be (may have been) somewhere in the USA is that the postage area calls for One Cent Domestic or Two Cents Foreign postage. Unused, and that’s it. Grade: 3
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Pettycoat
Mailed from Netherlands in 2014, with stamp and the stamp’s Priority label. And the postmark, too. Grade: 1
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Loneliness
You won’t be able to make out the legend at the bottom front of this card, but it says “Because loneliness has never been understood, so it’s always ridiculous”. Like that caption. Card was mailed from Taiwan in 2021, with stamp, postmark, and an assortment of stickers. Grade: 4
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Coffee
Mailed from Germany a few years ago, with stamp, postmark, and trilingual blue Priority label, this card makes us smile too, and if nobody buys it, we will probably use it to illustrate a future Blog entry. Grade: 1
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Stormy beach
We generally avoid homemade cards but, on the front at least, this one looked quite nice so we include it. Mailed from Germany in 2021, with five stamps, faint postmark, and assorted stickers and pasted labels. We only wish the umbrellas had been blue instead of red. Grade: 4
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Don’t Look Now
From — maybe — The Daily Telegraph, yet mailed from Canada in 2021 with stamp and postmark. Some postal corner bumping. Grade: 2
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Life is Detail
We’re awful at interpreting underlying meanings. Card sourced in China with Japanese printing, unused but for strips of tape vertically along the left and right reverse sides. Grade: 4
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Unknown structure
That’s misleading. Of course someone, somewhere, knows what and where this is. But we don’t, and the very old postcard gives no clues. Central America? Burma? Cambodia? We can probably eliminate Iceland and Hong Kong. Unused card with staining and a small scribble on the reverse. Grade: 4
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Unknown garden
This definitely has a Mediterranean or Hispanic look to it, but once again the unused real-photo card offers no attribution and no clues. Grade: 1
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El tiempo del dolor
The Spanish text starts by saying “The time of sorrow is winter time; but winter is not useless for the plant …”, so profound, but the card came from Italy, was not postally used, and has a long message (in Spanish) on the back. Grade: 4
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Unknown People
Continuing our string of unknowns, this old real-photo card is typical of a genre from that era, but there’s no help or clue to knowing who these folks are. Very long ago, someone made a short note in red on the reverse but that has faded and is unreadable. We doubt it would have told us much anyway. Grade: 3
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Unknown Building
This looks like a school but we’ve no way of knowing. Old, real-photo card, unused. No attribution. Grade: 2
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Beauty
The card originated in Paris and has a message written across much of the reverse but was not postally used. There are also thumbtack holes in all four corners. Grade: 5
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Coiffe rustique
Though this unused old postcard is in superb condition, we know nothing about it other than the caption approximating “old hairstyle” in four languages. We think the producer of the card was French. Grade: 1
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Girl in Tree (USA)
We wouldn’t know what else to call this … mailed in Wisconsin in 1914, with stamp and indistinct postmark, and friendly message. Grade: 3
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Woman Hugging Man
Found Image Press, the publisher of this unused card PH-183, lists it as “woman hugging man” though to us it looks a lot like Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. Regardless, sepia tone. Grade: 1
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Perfect Tea
That’s the only text on this unused card from Romanian photographer Eugen Mihai. Grade: 1
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Smoke and Fluff
A Ladybird book cover. The card was mailed from the U.K. in 2024, with stamp cancelled only by that orange postal barcode, and another label glued on. Grade: 4
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World Postcard Day
Mailed from USA in 2024, with three different stamps and indistinct postmark. Grade: 1
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World Postcard Day 2024
Ironic that we don’t (yet) have a suitable theme category for these, but somehow life will go on. We have two of thee cards, both mailed in 2024 (of course): one from USA, with two stamps and postmark; and one from Russia with three different stamps and two large postmarks. Each one is Grade: 1, and take your choice of the one you want.