This ArtCraft First Day Cover celebrates the bicentennial of the Revolutionary War's pivotal Yorktown and Virginia Capes campaigns with a se-tenant pair of 18-cent stamps issued October 16, 1981. The cachet features two detailed pen-and-ink illustrations: 'De Grasse Blockades Cornwallis by Sea' depicting the naval battle above, and 'Cornwallis Surrenders at Yorktown' showing the surrender scene below. One stamp displays a map of the Yorktown/Williamsburg area while the other shows naval vessels at the Virginia Capes, both tied with period-appropriate postmarks from Yorktown, Virginia.
Claude
The ArtCraft cachet features two black-and-white pen-and-ink illustrations: the upper scene depicts 'De Grasse Blockades Cornwallis by Sea' showing sailing warships in naval battle formation, while the lower scene shows 'Cornwallis Surrenders at Yorktown' with a mounted officer leading troops carrying an American flag. The stamps are a se-tenant pair of 18-cent issues — one showing a yellow/gold map of the Yorktown/Williamsburg area with rivers, and the other showing blue waters with naval vessels at the Virginia Capes. The circular postmark reads 'Yorktown, VA / Oct 16 / 1981 / 23690' applied to the left stamp, with a machine cancel reading 'FIRST DAY OF ISSUE' applied as wavy lines to the right.
Mistral
This First Day Cover features a detailed cachet with two historical illustrations: one depicting the naval blockade by De Grasse and another showing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The stamps include a map of the Yorktown area and an illustration of naval vessels at the Virginia Capes, both in blue and yellow tones. The postmark is a circular machine cancellation from Yorktown, VA, dated October 16, 1981. The text 'Battles of Virginia Capes and Yorktown 1781 Bicentennial 1981' is printed in bold letters on the cachet.
(The automatic summaries sometimes misidentify the postmark as part of the cachet artwork.)
