The William H. Gross Collection: United States Postal History continued...

5¢ Red Brown (12), three full to huge margins, miscut vertically into left but with huge part of adjoining stamp at right, rich color, trivial corner crease, used with 3¢ Dull Red, Type II (11A), full margin at right, close to slightly in on other sides, both stamps tied by bold strikes of "Albany N.Y. Nov. 7" (ca. 1856) circular datestamp on light buff over to Worcester Mass., manuscript "204" registration number, small edge faults and creases, Fine, the 5¢ registration fee effective July 1, 1855, was supposed to be paid in cash, but as this cover demonstrates, it was sometimes prepaid with a stamp, only two such 5¢ 1856 covers recorded, ex Peltz, Mueller, Mayer and Hackmey, illustrated in Hill book (p. 7), "Registration," Alexander (Chronicle 139), Frajola-Mayer book (p. 41) (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 12]

5¢ Red Brown (12), full to large margins, rich color, used with two pairs and single 3¢ Dull Red, Type I (11), three 3¢ stamps have faults, tied by four strikes of "Buffalo N.Y. Mar. 18" (ca. 1857) rimless circular datestamp on cover to San Francisco, double 10¢ rate, small repaired tear at upper right, overall appearance is Fine, one of two recorded double 10¢ domestic rate covers with the 5¢ 1856 Issue--the other has two pairs--ex Neinken, Davidson, Beals, Mayer and Hackmey, illustrated in Frajola-Mayer book (p. 39), with 1988 P.F. certificate (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 12]

5¢ Red Brown (12), vertical pair and two singles, full to large margins except one single slightly in at top, used with 1¢ Blue, Type V (24), centerline margin at right, and 3¢ Dull Red, Type III (26), cancelled and tied together by matching grids, "Philadelphia Pa. Mar. 25" circular datestamp on normal-size envelope to Amanda K. Miller at 20 West 16th Street in New York City

Very Fine appearance with minor edge improvements and repaired cover tear through 1¢; two 5¢ stamps at right have tiny corner creases and one with small tear.

This cover was prepaid 24¢ for the eight-times 3¢ per half ounce domestic rate, thus weighing between 3.5 and 4 ounces. Since it is a small envelope, the enclosure must have been something other than paper, possibly a photographic tintype or daguerreotype. Section 15 of the September 1854 instructions issued by Postmaster General James Campbell (Appendix, page 161) states, "Daguerreotypes when sent in the mail should be rated and charged with letter postage by weight." Amanda K. Miller, who died in 1895, was a Quaker and had been married to Dr. Charles Miller. The address on this cover, 20 West 16th Street, is a landmarked building known as the Emma Stebbins House.

Ex Henry W. Hill, Paul C. Rohloff, Ryohei Ishikawa, Frederick R. Mayer and Joseph Hackmey. Signed by Stanley B. Ashbrook and illustrated in his Special Service, #73, p. 592, photo 292, and Frajola-Mayer, The United States Five Cent Stamp of 1856 (p. 37). With 1993 P.F. certificate. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 12]

5¢ Red Brown (12), large margins all around, tied by bold "Philadelphia Pa. Mar. 24" (1856) circular datestamp on folded letter to Halifax, Nova Scotia, sender's ship-name directive "pr 'Arabia' via Boston" and carried on the Cunarder Arabia, departing Boston on March 26, bold "Boston Br. Pkt. Mar. 26" transit datestamp on back, "UD. STATES/HALIFAX/MR 27/1856" receiving backstamp, "5" pence due handstamp for Nova Scotia inland postage, internal dateline of letter is misdated March 26

Extremely Fine; light toning along vertical file fold does not affect stamp.

The 5¢ 1856 Issue was approved and ordered by the U.S. Post Office Department on October 24, 1855 (Travers papers). Secondary sources, using government records which apparently no longer exist, reported that sometime during the first week of January 1856 the 5¢ stamps were printed and in the hands of Jesse Johnson, the stamp agent in Philadelphia, where Toppan Carpenter was located. Despite this delivery date, the March 24, 1856, cover offered here has been the longstanding earliest documented date of use. The earliest documented use from the New Orleans post office, a high-volume distributor of 5¢ stamps, is July 20, 1856, which is further evidence of delayed release. We agree with the theory presented in the Frajola-Mayer book (pages 2-3) that because the new 5¢ issue was evidently never officially announced to postmasters, there was a months-long delay before the stamps were ordered by any post offices and sold to the public.

Ex Theodore Gore, Mortimer L. Neinken, Louis Grunin, Ryohei Ishikawa and Joseph Hackmey. Illustrated in Ashbrook's Special Service, #52, p. 406, photo 213, Hill, The United States Five Cent Stamps of 1856-1861 (p. 5), Brookman, United States Postage Stamps of the 19th Century, Vol. I (p. 153), and Rose, Classic United States Imperforate Stamps (p. 68). (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 12]

5¢ Red Brown (12), horizontal pair with left interpane margin with centerline (Positions 31-32R or 61-62R), gigantic top and bottom margins showing parts of adjoining stamps below, full at right, Dark Red Brown with deep rich color and proof-like impression, tied by neat "Buffalo N.Y. May 28" (1857) rimless circular datestamp on yellow cover to Richmond Hill, Canada West, faint red "U.STATES/PAID/6d" cross-border exchange office handstamp, red receiving backstamp (May 28, 1857)

Extremely Fine Gem pair; small sealed puncture tear in cover not affecting stamps.

The finest quality multiples of the 5¢ 1856 Imperforate on cover are the Caspary pair with full bottom sheet margin and this left sheet margin pair with centerline, also ex Caspary. In our 1975 Rarities of the World sale, this cover realized $6,250.

Ex Alfred H. Caspary and "Sevenoaks" (Sale 799, lot 106, where acquired by Mr. Gross). (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 12]

5¢ Red Brown (12), two horizontal pairs, mostly full to large margins except just in at top of one pair, used with 1¢ Blue, Type II (7) and 3¢ Dull Red, Type I (11), each slightly cut in, tied by four strikes of "PAID" handstamp and "Colonial Express Mail St. John. N.B. July 6" (1857) steamboat letter carrier's circular datestamp on front only (no flaps) from St. John, New Brunswick, to Glasgow, Scotland, via Boston and New York, sender's route directive "via 'New York'", red "19" credit handstamp, red "America Liverpool Paid JY 17 57A" transit datestamp ties 1¢ and 3¢ stamps

Very Fine appearance; 3¢ small fault at bottom, left stamp in 5¢ pair at bottom creased by file fold, lifted and hinged in place--these minor flaws and lack of backflaps not detracting from the item's impressive character.

This piece of mail to Scotland was written from St. John in the British Maritime Province of New Brunswick. Rather than put it into the St. John post office, it was brought to the dock and given to the official steamboat letter carrier on board the steamer Admiral, bound for Boston on Monday, July 6, 1857. From Boston it was carried by train to New York for the July 8 sailing of the Cunard steamer Persia, which arrived at Liverpool on July 17.

Illustrated and listed as one of five recorded loose letters to Great Britain by St. John express mail in an article by David D'Alessandris, "St. John, New Brunswick, Express Mail to Great Britain," Chronicle 228. D'Alessandris states: "Loose letters sent to Great Britain by the St. John express mail route are a fascinating group of covers, not only for the remarkable adhesive frankings on two of them, but also for their postal rates." This item is incorrectly year-dated 1858 in both Frajola-Mayer book and D'Alessandris article--the "57" year in the Liverpool datestamp is clear. It is the earliest of the five listed in the D'Alessandris census.

Ex A. Leon Adutt (J. C. Morgenthau sale, 6/26-27/1923, lot 120), Dale-Lichtenstein, John E. duPont, Frederick R. Mayer and Joseph Hackmey. Illustrated in Ashbrook's Special Service, #24, pp. 170-171, photo 81, and Frajola-Mayer, The United States Five Cent Stamp of 1856 (p. 139). (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 12]

5¢ Red Brown (12), four singles, margins vary from huge to barely touched, intense shade, used with 1¢ Blue, Type II (7), intense shade and mottling characteristic of Plate 3, large margins to slightly in at right, tied by light strikes of "New Orleans La. Nov. 29" (1856) circular datestamp on greenish gray folded cover to Paris, France, Loison & Co. New Orleans blue oval handstamp, red "New-York Am. Pkt. Dec. 12" circular datestamp--carried on the Havre Line Arago, departing New York on December 13, 1856, and arriving at Havre on December 27--red "Outre-Mer Le Havre 27 Dec. 56" arrival datestamp for incoming ship (non-contract) mail, manuscript "12" decimes due (7.5-15 grams), French transit backstamps including Paris receiving datestamp (December 27)

Very Fine; lightened stains around stamps, 1¢ stamp moved slightly to the right to reveal 5¢ margins.

This cover is an extremely rare example of the 5¢ 1856 Imperforate used to make up the American Packet rate to France. Only five fully prepaid 5¢ 1856 covers to France by American Packet are recorded, three of which are offered in this sale (lots 224-226).

There were two American Packet services to France available: Collins Line via England--21¢ per half-ounce rate with 8 decimes per 7.5 grams due for British transit and French inland postage; and Havre Line direct to France--20¢ per half-ounce rate with 6 decimes per 7.5 grams due for French inland postage. The two ships of the Havre Line, Fulton and Arago, made only 12 trips during the one-year period from March 1856 (earliest use of 5¢ 1856) until the new 15¢ U.S.-France treaty rate was implemented in April 1857.

Two of the five recorded prepaid American Packet covers were carried by the Collins Line via England. They are both correctly prepaid 21¢--one has a three-color franking (lot 225 in this sale), and the other has a strip of 5¢ and 1¢ single (ex Hargest and Beane; illustrated in Hargest book, p. 53).

Three other prepaid covers were carried by the Havre Line direct to France. Only one has the correct amount of postage for the 20¢ rate (ex Walske, Sale 1119, lot 536). The other two are overpaid 1¢ (the cover offered here and lot 226 in this sale). It is believed that the practice of prepaying the slightly higher rate was a way to ensure that a letter would be sufficiently prepaid for the earliest available sailing from New York. The cover offered here is an example of a letter prepaid 21¢ for Collins Line service via England, but sent by the Havre Line direct to France (20¢ rate).

Ex Alfred H. Caspary, Philip G. Rust, Frederick R. Mayer and Joseph Hackmey. Illustrated in Frajola-Mayer, The United States Five Cent Stamp of 1856 (p. 58). With 2005 P.F. certificate stating "genuine usage." (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 12]