Artcraft cachet featuring a detailed black-and-white engraving of an Olympic torch held aloft with a stadium and track-and-field athletes in the background. The cover includes a block of four stamps: two from the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo (8¢ bobsled, 11¢ skiing) and two from the 1972 Summer Games in Munich (15¢ hurdles, 6¢ cycling). Machine canceled Washington, DC, August 17, 1972, the first day of issue.
Claude
The ArtCraft cachet features a detailed black-and-white engraving of an Olympic torch held aloft by a hand, with a stadium and athletes in the background performing track and field events including high jump and hurdles. The text 'OLYMPIC GAMES' appears prominently with the five Olympic rings and 'COMMEMORATIVES' below. Four stamps are affixed: two depicting the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo (8¢ bobsled and 11¢ skiing) and two depicting the 1972 Summer Games in Munich (15¢ running/hurdles and 6¢ cycling), all featuring colorful stylized athlete figures. The machine cancel reads Washington, DC, August 17, 1972, with 'FIRST DAY OF ISSUE' printed on the stamp pane selvedge.
Mistral
The cachet artwork features a detailed black-and-white engraving of an Olympic torch held aloft, with a stadium and track-and-field athletes in the background. The cover includes a block of four colorful stamps commemorating the 1972 Olympic Games: two from the Winter Games in Sapporo (bobsled and skiing) and two from the Summer Games in Munich (hurdles and cycling). The postmark is a machine cancel from Washington, DC, dated August 17, 1972. The text 'OLYMPIC GAMES COMMEMORATIVES' and 'FIRST DAY OF ISSUE' are prominently displayed.
(The automatic summaries sometimes misidentify the postmark as part of the cachet artwork.)
