'Graf Zeppelin' Pan American Flight Cover, 1930 (envelope with postage stamps)

In 1930 the Post Office Department issued three postage stamps depicting the German airship LZ127 Graf Zeppelin. The denominations of sixty-five cents, .30, and .60 paid the rates for postcards and envelopes sent on various legs of the Graf Zeppelin's Pan American flight from Germany to South America to North America and back to Germany. The Zeppelin Company received a percentage of the postage to help defray its operating expenses. The Washington, DC, post office postmarked this envelope on April 19, 1930, the first day of issue of the three stamps. The letter rate for the round trip from and to Friedrichshafen, Germany, was .90. The sender of this example overpaid the rate by sixty-five cents in order to create a souvenir with all three stamps.