Tortuga Local Post – Snapper Creek, Florida

This cover was mailed from Snapper Creek, FL (Mar 30, 1976) to San Diego, CA at the domestic first class postage rate (25¢). The Snapper Creek post office is located in a suburb of south Miami, FL near the creek that originates in the Everglades and empties into Biscayne National Park Bay.

The Tortuga Local Post was a private delivery for a Miami, Florida resident taking mail to the local post office. The cancellation device includes an image of the local Snapping Turtle (do NOT put your finger in front of this guy’s beak). The image on the Local Post stamp is of an Archelon missing a flipper and is taken from a well known line illustration appearing in various classic fossil books. The value of the issue (500) is denominated in ‘terrapins’, a fictional monetary instrument. In actuality, no payment exchanged hands for the service of transporting the mail to the Snapper Creek post office.

Tortuga Local Post First Day of Issue

The U.S. Postal Service dating device is a modern single ring. The private post dater is a pictorial four bar killer device commemorating the First Day of Issue for the Local Post stamp.

British Prehistoric Animals – First Day of Issue

The new set of prehistoric animal stamps from Great Britain was issued today. They include:

Prehistoric Animals 2013

Polacanthus
The heavily armoured Polacanthus was protected from predators by a host of spikes and studs.

Ichthyosaurus
Adapted to life in the sea, the Ichthyosaurus breathed air and gave birth to live young in the water.

Iguanodon
The herbivorous Iguanodon was able to walk on all fours, but would run using only its hind legs.

Ornithocheirus
This relative lightweight flew mainly by soaring and gliding, catching fish by skimming the sea.

Baryonyx
With a name meaning ‘heavy claw’, the thumb claw alone of the Baryonyx was more than 40cm long.

Dimorphodon
With its one metre wingspan and two types of teeth, the Dimorphodon preyed upon fish.

Hypsilophodon
The long shins of the Hypsilophodon suggest that a speedy escape was its main means of defence.

Cetiosaurus
The Cetiosaurus was a herbivore thought to weigh as much as 20,000kg, the same as 20 cars.

Megalosaurus
The fearsome Megalosaurus grew up to nine metres in length, and preyed upon other Dinosaurs.

Plesiosaurus
With its vast paddles, the Plesiosaurus hunted fish and other marine prey at an estimated 8kph.