Postal Savings Certificates

Nice $1 certificate -- and at a whopping 2-cents per year interest!

The date is also interesting, as it was issued just two days before the infamous Titanic disaster.

Thank you paperhistory. I see trustees are listed. When did the PMG/G's have their name listed? Also, when did the date of payment first appear?

Oh, I see now, the PMG is part of the trustees list.

This 1917 has the PMG but still no paid date. Scripophily folks sure get/try a lot of money for these items. Sorry, I have not been able to adjust the size.

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Some historical information on these collectibles may be found here:

https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/p...s-system.pdf

http://postalmuseum.si.edu/collecti...savings.html

http://postalmuseum.si.edu/symposiu...um_paper.pdf

Great info wt1,much appreciated. I find these certs quite interesting but will have to hunt carefully. Prices are all over the place and can be very expensive but seems to differ among (philatelist,numismatic & scripophily.)

Trustees are only listed on the 1911 series. The PMG's signature appears alone on subsequent issues. Only the 1939 and 1954 series have a specific space left for a paid marking. Earlier issues seem to have been marked in various ways, but much of what is on the market (other than the hoard of northeastern material that was redeemed in 1964 and the Friedberg hoard of redeemed 1954 series certificates) are unredeemed/unclaimed. (similar to savings bonds, in a way).

I have one with Arthur Miller signature and saw one with a Pete Rose signature. It would take some work to find out if they are the famous folks. Any verified luminaries known on these certificates?

I've never seen a celebrity-issued Postal Savings Certificate. It's theoretically possible (just as it is for stock certificates) but I would think it unlikely that most celebrities or otherwise prominent people would have a postal account as opposed to a more traditional bank account.

Is a series 1939 James T Farley certificate used in period very difficult to find and what would that short time period be?

Not in my experience. Although Farley left office in 1940, all of the initial 1939 series certificates had his signature and stocks were used up rather than destroyed - I see Farley signature certificates used into the mid 1940s. Incidentally, there are 2 varieties of the Farley 1939 certificates, based on the reverse printing. I haven't determined yet whether one or the other is markedly more scarce than the other.

I had in mind used only in the very short period of time he was actually in office. That is dated 1939-1940. series 1939 issued? to Farley out as PMG 1940?

I believe the date for Farley's last day as PMG is Sept.10,1940. Have not yet found the 1939 series issue date.

"Between 1911 and the mid 1960s, the Post Office Department offered a banking function via the Postal Savings System."

There have been suggestions that USPS should do something like this again.

Out of about 290 series 1939 certificates in my census, 23 are Farley signatures while Farley was in office. Here's an example.