1917, 1¢ green, A.E.F. booklet pane single, easily distinguished by the wide imperforate margin at top, corner tear, tied by "U.S. Army Postal Service, Aug 8 1917, No. 2" duplex of APO 2 in Paris, France, on French picture post card showing the Americans arriving in France, addressed to Norfolk Va., violet U.S. A.E.F. censor handstamp at left, complete unexploded booklet, a Very Fine usage, ex-Alpha; with 1998 A.P.S. certificate. Scott No. 498f  Estimate $5,000 - 7,500. THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1¢ A.E.F. BOOKLET PANE ISSUE. The sender was a war hero and his service record is well known. John Newport Greene went to France with the American Red Cross in January of 1917. He served six months with the Norton-Harjes Field Ambulance Service. He wrote and mailed this card just after his enlistment in the U.S. Army. He was commissioned a second Lieutenant in the field artillery. He was quickly promoted to first lieutenant and later became the first recipient of the U.S. Military Cross and the first American to receive the French Croix de Guerre for valor in battle.The A.E.F booklets were long thought to have first reached France in September of 1917 through the firsthand account of Dr. Warren Babcock of Detroit, who arrived with that shipment. However, subsequent research has established that an earlier shipment was ordered around the middle of June just as the preparations were being made for the deployment of troops in France and the United States Mail Agency in France was being established. This earlier shipment probably reached France around the end of July or first of August. The card offered here is the earliest 1c usage of only two known post cards with the 1¢ A.E.F. booklet pane stamp that have been recorded in August and can be identified to be from the first shipment. $0 (Image)