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

10¢ Green, Type I (31), Position 100L1, bottom right corner position of left pane with perforated interpane margin at right showing centerline, superb centering and margins, rich color, proof-like impression, tied by well-struck "Iowa City Iowa. May 3, 1859" circular datestamp on small cover to Sharon, Canada, red "U.STATES" and "PAID 10" Detroit cross-border exchange office handstamps, receiving backstamps, Extremely Fine Gem stamp and attractive cover, ex Newbury, Grunin, Zoellner and "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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10¢ Green, Type I (31), horizontal strip of three from the bottom row of Plate 1 with extra wide-spaced perforations at bottom showing the key complete shells, perfs well clear other sides, pretty pastel color, tied by two light strikes of New Orleans circular datestamp on blue 1858 folded letter to Paris, France, red "Boston Nov. 17 Paid 24" 24¢ credit datestamp, French arrival datestamp (November 30), receiving backstamp, trace of manuscript on center stamp, Extremely Fine, a rare and choice strip of the 10¢ 1857 Type I with wide-spaced perforations--10¢ Type I stamps are found only on the 20 bottom-row positions of Plate 1; due to narrow spacing on the plate and difficulties in perforating, stamps at the bottom of the plate usually have perforations cutting into the bottom portion of the design where the Type I characteristics are located; wide-spaced bottom-row stamps showing the full shells are particularly rare and desirable--ex Haas, Grunin and "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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10¢ Green, Type II (32), horizontal strip of six, extraordinarily choice centering for a multiple of this size, bright color, tied by three bold strikes of "New Orleans La. Feb. 15, 1858" circular datestamp on blue folded cover to Vera Cruz, Mexico, from the Hargous correspondence, bold "7" reales due handstamp, fifth stamp with trivial small sealed tear at bottom, Extremely Fine, a rare multiple franking to Mexico paying the six-times rate, ex Caspary, Rust and Klein, from our 1981 and 1996 Rarities of the World sales, with 1988 P.F. certificate (Image)

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10¢ Green Type II, III (32, 33), 22 stamps comprising three blocks of six and two vertical pairs, one 10¢ is Position 31R1 showing double transfer, used with vertical pair of 1¢ Blue, Type V (24) from Plate 5, tied by multiple strikes of "Washington City D.C. May 4, 1858" circular datestamp on large "Treasury Department, Official Business, First Comptroller" imprint cover to St. Petersburg, Russia, signature of William Medill, First Comptroller, "Boston Br. Pkt. 5 May" circular datestamp on back--carried on the Cunarder Canada from Boston on that date, arriving Liverpool May 17--the stamps paid six-times the 37¢ Prussian Closed Mail rate as confirmed by the red crayon "84/6" credit, red "AACHEN 18/5 FRANCO" (May 18) framed datestamp, Prussian blue manuscript "f18" silbergroschen rate marking indicates postage paid beyond German-Austrian Postal Union, St. Petersburg receiving backstamp (May 12, Gregorian calendar)

Fine appearance; some stamps with faults including trimmed perfs or creasing, one 1¢ with small scrape, cover with several skillfully pressed out creases and repaired right edge, these are inconsequential faults on such an artifact, which is otherwise intact and unusually fresh.

A unique and spectacular classic United States franking. This is arguably one of the greatest 10¢ 1857 Issue covers in existence.

Ex Philip G. Rust. Illustrated in Neinken, United States Ten Cent Stamps of 1855-1859 (p. 178) and Rose, The First United States Perforated Stamps--The 1857 Issue (p. 55). With Stanley B. Ashbrook's notes and signature on back. With 1996 P.F. certificate noting only the trimmed perforations and small faults on stamps. (Image)

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10¢ Green, Type IV/II/III (34/32/33), Positions 3/13/23R1, vertical strip of three with Type IV (recut at top) from the "misplaced relief" Position 3R1, showing breaks in lines above each "X", tied by neat grid cancels, "Savannah Ga. Jul. 22, 1858" circular datestamp on cover to Paris, France, red "New York Paid 24 Jun. 27" 24¢ credit datestamp, bold French arrival datestamp (August 10) and Paris receiving backstamp, minor light waterstain at top left edge, the stamps are sound and choice, Extremely Fine, a choice strip of the 10¢ 1857 containing Position 3R1, the misplaced B Relief instead of A, with 1991 P.F. certificate (Image)

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10¢ Green, Type V (35), vertical pair, interpane margin with centerline at left, used with two 1¢ Blue, Type II (20), Plate 12, tied by bold 5-bar rectangular grid cancel on red and blue Waving Flag Patriotic cover to Lima, Peru, Davis correspondence, "Portchester N.Y. Jul. 10" (1861) circular datestamp, red "12" credit handstamp, "Panama JY22 1861 A" transit datestamp, small disturbance in area of Portchester datestamp (a few letters touched up), Very Fine and colorful, a rare use of a Civil War Patriotic cover to South America, mailed during the beginning of the Civil War with the soon-to-be-demonetized 1857 Issue paying the 22¢ American-British Packet rate, ex Matthies and Ishikawa, with 1981 P.F. certificate (Image)

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12¢ Black, Plate 1 (36), five singles, arranged slightly overlapping and used with 3¢ Dull Red, Type III (26), tied by "New Orleans La. Mar. 21, 1859" circular datestamps on blue folded letter to Lisbon, Portugal, sender's directive "British Steamer Via Southampton", red "New-York Br. Pkt. Mar. 30" circular datestamp on back--carried on the Cunarder Asia on that day, arriving Liverpool April 10--magenta manuscript "58" credit, red "London Paid" transit datestamp (April 11), bold "210" reis due handstamp also ties 3¢, Lisbon receiving backstamp (April 23), vertical file fold barely affects two stamps, stamps scissors-separated affecting perfs at top of 3¢, Very Fine appearance and beautiful cover to Portugal bearing five copies of the 1857 12¢ Perforated Issue from Plate 1, paying the 63¢ rate via Southampton, ex Ishikawa and "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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12¢ Black, Plate 3 (36B), horizontal strip of seven, second and third stamps from left show double framelines, remarkably choice centering, used with two singles of 3¢ Dull Red, Type III (26) and tied by "Philadelphia Pa. Jul. 9"(1860) circular datestamps on buff cover to Paris, France, red "Philadelphia Pa. Paid 1860 Jul. 9" exchange office circular datestamp also ties strip, French arrival datestamp (July 23), receiving backstamp, light vertical file fold barely affects strip (mostly between stamps), left stamp perfs slightly affected from placement at edge of cover, missing part of backflap and a few minor cover flaws, Very Fine, this is one of the largest multiples of the 1859 12¢ issue from Plate 3 recorded, a wonderfully rare franking paying the six-times 15¢ rate to France, ex Grunin, Kapiloff and "Sevenoaks", illustrated in Brookman Vol. I (p. 248) and Rose, The First United States Perforated Stamps--The 1857 Issue (p. 67) (Image)

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24¢ Gray Lilac (37), exceptional centering and margins, intense color and proof-like impression, tied by well-struck blue grid cancel on orange-buff cover to Glasgow, Scotland, clear strike of red "Chicago Am. Pkt. 3 Paid Mar. 13" (1861) credit datestamp, four-line "Glasgow Packet/Paid/MR 28, 1861" datestamp, Extremely Fine Gem stamp on a fresh cover with clear markings in red and blue, also a rare example of mail sent through the Chicago exchange office with the Glasgow Packet marking, ex Baker, Grunin, John R. Hill and "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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24¢ Gray Lilac (37), used with 1¢ Blue, Type V (24), 3¢ Dull Red, Type III (26), and two 10¢ Green, Type V (35) with right part imprints, tied by open grid cancels, red "N. York Br. Pkt. 38 Jul. ?" (1860) 38¢ credit datestamp on double-rate blue folded cover to Dublin, Ireland, manuscript directive "P. Steamer Europa" and carried on that Cunarder on July 11 from Boston, arriving Queenstown July 21, dark blue Dublin receiving backstamp (July 21), Very Fine, a remarkable and extremely rare four-color combination of 1857-60 Issue stamps paying the double British treaty rate to Ireland, a spectacular 24¢ 1860 Issue cover, ex Seybold, Baker and Klein, illustrated in Bakers' U.S. Classics (p. 217), with 1989 P.F. certificate (Image)

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30¢ Orange (38), vivid color, used with 5¢ Brown, Type II (30A) and 10¢ Green, Type V (35), tied by red grid cancels and 5¢ and 10¢ by "New York Paid 36 Nov. 27" (1860) 36¢ credit datestamp on blue folded cover to Lyon, France, from the Payen correspondence with beautiful calligraphic address, sender's ship-name directive "Steamer by Canada"--carried on that Cunarder, departing Boston on November 28, 1860, and arriving at Liverpool December 9--French arrival datestamp (December 11), boxed "P.D." handstamp, receiving backstamp

Very Fine and immaculate. A colorful franking paying the 45¢ rate to France from the Payen correspondence.

Ex Alfred H. Caspary. (Image)

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