Grace and Calvin Coolidge were considered generous and gracious people. But little did they realize that the invitations that they sent out in 1927 had more than just the significance of being able to have cocktails with the President. On the White House stationary that was used for this invitation the President used a rare type II,Scott #634A which was a stamp variety that was not known immediately when it was issued and was no doubt used by accident on this invitation. A collector would have known instantly that he had gotten a real bonus with his invitation, but the recipient saved this because it was from the President not because she was a collector. It is interesting to note that this was probably an invitation to a political fund raiser as the President has the Free Frank for all official business and then, as now, only used stamps in sending mail for political functions. A political giver invited to the White House had to be a heavy hitter and no doubt Mrs Offuth was a wealthy person who had no need of the President’s unintentional largess. But even in philatelic matters sometimes it appears that the rich get richer.
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