What Is a Gateway Cachet?

Gateway Stamp Company

• The Gateway Stamp Co. of Florissant, Missouri, produces collectible envelopes that bridge the autograph and stamp collecting hobbies. When Lou Brock broke the all-time base stealing record in 1977, Gateway asked him to autograph 100 postmarked envelopes (he actually signed 2,500) from the day of the game and city (San Diego) in which the record was broken. Soon after, it started issuing postmarked autographs with full-color silk cachets from many other notable sports figures.

Gateway Cachets

• Cachets are artwork and information printed on envelopes or postcards. They are most common on first-day covers, which are specially printed envelopes commemorating the first day of issue of a postage stamp. A cachet can be mass-printed or contain a unique, handmade artwork. Gateway cachets are special postcard covers that commemorate the day of a special sporting event, sports record or political event. They are not typical covers that commemorate the first-day issue of a postage stamp.

Postmarking Gateway Cachets

• The important aspect of a Gateway cachet is that it must be postmarked from the proper location and the correct day of a special event. The Gateway Stamp Co. rushes to a location to obtain postmarked covers commemorating the day(s) of events such as the World Series, Super Bowl, famous boxing matches and record-breaking games. In order to get the proper cachet, the envelopes must be postmarked by midnight of game day in the city of the event.

Gateway Autographs

• Beginning with the 1977 Lou Brock cachet, the Gateway Stamp Co. has most of its covers autographed. The company estimates that it has produced more than 1.5 million autographed cachets from 1977 to 2008. The company specializes in professional baseball and football autographs, but it also prints cachets for hockey, boxing and limited historical figures, such as modern presidents. The overwhelming majority of envelopes and postcards printed by Gateway are autographed, full-color silk cachets.

Collecting Gateway Cachets

• All autographed Gateway cachets come with a certificate of authenticity. Like many other collectibles, scarcity creates value. When a sporting milestone happens with short notice, such as a perfect game in baseball, Gateway does not have time to acquire large numbers of postmarked covers on the day of the event. For events and sports figures in which cachets are rare, their value tends to be the highest among the postmarked covers.