CONDITIONS OF SALEcle can cel on buff cover ad dressed to John M. Nixon, Jr., care of Blain, Tate &...

CONDITIONS OF SALE – PRIVATE TREATY THE PLACING OF AN OFFER SHALL CONSTITUTE ACCEPTANCE OF THESE CONDITIONS OF SALE BETWEEN PURCHASER

AND DANIEL F. KELLEHER AUCTIONS, LLC (“KELLEHER”) SALES 1. Each lot is sold on a first come, first served basis as priced net in the catalog. The first order of record will be the successful buyer. Orders are accepted by telephone, telefax, email, mail and courier services. All lots must be paid in full upon invoice.

EXHIBITION AND INSPECTION OF LOTS; QUALITY AND AUTHENTICITY 1. Each lot is sold as genuine and as described. No in-person viewing.

PAYMENT FOR PURCHASES 2. (a.) Payment for lots must be made in U.S. dollars.

(b.) Unless otherwise acceptable to Kelleher, payment is to be made only in the form of cash, bank check or certified check, personal check (which must clear prior to delivery of lots), credit card (AMEX, Visa, MasterCard and Discover), PayPal [ see item “c” below] or bank wire. Details for payments follow:

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US$ bank wire transfer to: Union Savings Bank, 225 Main Street, Danbury, CT 06810 ABA #: 221172241 or SWIFT # UNSGUS33 For Further Credit To: Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions LLC, P O Box 220, Bethel, CT 06801 Account Number: 596 005 717

(c.) Payments made by Paypal or credit card are accepted with a 3% convenience fee and payable in US$ only.

3. Title shall not pass to the purchaser until full payment has been received by Kelleher as agents for the consignor or vendor.

4. (a.) Purchasers agree to pay for lots in full, and no credit is extended; a late payment charge of 2% per month or fraction thereof shall be added if payment is not made in accordance with the aforesaid conditions.

(b.) In the event that a purchaser shall fail to comply with these Conditions of Sale (“Non-Complying Purchaser”), then, as to any lot with respect to which such failure to comply occurs, Kelleher, may, in its sole discretion, re-offer such lot during an auction at a later time, or by private treaty at such time as Kelleher Auctions, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate and the Non-Complying Purchaser shall be liable for the deficiency, if any, between the hammer price and the net proceeds of a sale to a subsequent purchaser, whether at auction or by private treaty, as well as for all costs and expenses of both sales, all other charges due thereunder, including commissions with respect to both sales, whether payable to Kelleher or to a third party and all incidental damages. It shall be in Kellehers’ sole discretion to determine whether to re-offer the lot theretofore sold to a Non-Complying Purchaser at a subsequent auction, or by private treaty in due course, by Kelleher. In no event shall any surplus arising from the sale of a re-offered lot be payable to a Non-Complying Purchaser.

(c.) A defaulting purchaser shall be deemed to have granted Kelleher a security interest in property in Kellehers’ possession owned by such purchaser. Kelleher shall have all of the rights afforded a purchase money secured party under the Connecticut or Massachusetts Uniform Commercial Code with respect to such property and may apply against such obligations all monies held or received by it for the account of, or due from Kelleher to such purchaser. Kelleher is authorized to file a Financing Statement in order to perfect its rights as a secured party.

(d.) If Kelleher takes any legal steps to secure payment of a delinquent account, the defaulting purchaser shall be liable for all legal and other expenses incurred by Kelleher to secure such payment, including but not limited to a reasonable allowance for attorneys’ fees. For purposes of this paragraph, the term legal steps shall be deemed to include any and all consultation by Kelleher with its attorneys with respect to all matters arising out of a delinquent account.

SALES TAX/CUSTOMS DUTIES

5. Unless presented with satisfactory proof that the transaction is exempt from taxes by law, the successful purchaser is responsible for any compensating use taxes ofany other state claiming jurisdiction, and authorizes Kelleher to assess and collect such amounts from purchaser, and remit the appropriate amount to theapplicable taxing authority. Buyers outside the U.S. are responsible for all customs duties and taxes. A purchaser shall indemnify Kelleher and hold it harmlessof and from any claims of any jurisdiction for sales taxes or customs duties relating to the purchase of articles at the auction, whenever the same may arise.

DELIVERY/SHIPMENT OF LOTS

6. All lots are priced net and include standard delivery to most delivery addresses. Insurance is extra at the cost of such if required will be paid by the buyer, ifso desired. Please enquire with any specific shipping queries.

APPLICABLE LAW/ JURISDICTION AND VENUE OF ACTIONS

7. The purchaser (a) consents and submits to the jurisdiction of the Courts of the State of Connecticut and of the Courts of the United States for a judicialdistrict within the territorial limits of the State of Connecticut for all matters arising out of this auction sale, including, without limitation, any action or proceedinginstituted for the enforcement of any right, remedy, obligation and liability arising under or by reason thereof; and (b) consents and submits to the venue of suchaction or proceeding in the City of Danbury, County of Fairfield, State of Connecticut (or such judicial district of a Court of the United States as shall includethe same, and (c) further consents that service of process in any action relating thereto may be effected by registered mail, return receipt requested address to thepurchase at the address given to the firm at the time of the sale.

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United States

1 ) [To Zan zi bar] 1904, 1¢-3¢ and 10¢ Lou i si ana Pur chase (323-324, 327), tied, along with a 3¢ Co lum -bian (232) by Mil wau kee, Wis. dou ble ovals on a 1¢ En tire (355) sent Reg is tered to Zan zi bar, E. Af rica, on Mar 10,1907; backstamped New York, Mar 22, with a Mar 30 Lon don tran sit c.d.s., but no Zan zi bar re ceiver; also bears anat trac tive Cos mo pol i tan Cor re spon dence Club of Mil wau kee pa per seal on the flap, Very Fine. Price: $750

www.kelleherauctions.com Sale 3003 1

LONDON 2020 BESPOKE OFFERINGS: United States


2 ) [R.M.S. Ti tanic] Ti tanic Fac ing Slip for 3 Let ters to Brook lyn, N.Y., a re mark ably clean ex am ple withan ex cep tion ally clear strike of Ti tanic’s “Trans at lan tic Post-Of fice 7/ AP 10/ 12” c.d.s., as well as the mail clerk, Os -car Scott Woody’s “O.S. WOODY” handstamp and two strikes of the straightline “TITANIC”, Ex tremely Fine.

Price: $15,000

2 [email protected] Sale 3003

3 ) [R.M.S. Ti tanic] “TITANIC”, straightline handstamp on a cover from France to Wash ing ton D.C.franked with a 25c blue Sower (168) tied by one of two strikes of a “Gare des Saintes” c.d.s., March 3, 1912; ad -dressed to pat ent med i cine man u fac tur ers, The M.A. Win ter Co. with a manu script “Dos sier No. 5446” (in the handof the sender), a handstamped blue con trol num ber and handstamped pur ple “Re ceived/ Mar 19 1917”, the last ap -par ently ap plied by the ad dressee; backstamped Paris (Mar 4) and Wash ing ton D.C. (Mar 18); mi nor open ing tearat the top, Very Fine. One of just 20 such cov ers, this one pre vi ously un re corded (see Tom Fortunato’s on line cen -sus atwww.titaniccovers.com).

The “TITANIC” handstamp is believed to have been applied in Paris in transit to the port of Cherbourg, where themail was to have been put aboard Titanic. However, due to complications with completing Titanic’s finishingtouches, the date of her maiden voyage was rescheduled from March 20 to April 10. When the French Post Office became aware of this schedule change, the mail, having already received the “TITANIC” handstamp, was placedon the next available ship to America.

This is one of just 20 recorded covers intended for the original March 10 sailing of Titanic and marked with a“TITANIC” handstamp. 18 of the covers originated in France, the other two originated in Denmark and in Spain.All but one were sent to M.A. Winter in Washington D.C.; the Danish cover went to Seattle. Also, the Danish andSpanish covers bear a slightly different TITANIC handstamp. Price: $5,000




4 ) Rare sin gle-frank ing use of the 90¢ 1861 Is sue, pay ing the dou ble rate to China (72), viaSouthampton; the stamp, beau ti fully cen tered with deep shade, tied by two strikes of Phil a del phia 12-bar grid-in-cir -cle can cel on buff cover ad dressed to John M. Nixon, Jr., care of Blain, Tate & Co. in Shang hai, China; red Phil a del -phia “Paid” For eign Mail of fice c.d.s. very faintly struck (as of ten for this of fice in this pe riod), with ma genta “48/2"dou ble 24¢ credit to Great Brit ain at top cen ter; the cover was car ried on the Inman Line’s Glas gow from New Yorkon May 9, 1863, ar riv ing in Queenstown on May 22 and Liv er pool the next day; red ”Lon don Paid BB MY 23 63" tran -sit, red “1d” handstamp crossed out in red crayon and re-rated with manu script “2" for dou ble 1d Brit ish Co lo nialrate; then car ried on Pen in su lar & Ori en tal Steam Nav i ga tion Co. steam ers from Southampton to Al ex an dria(Egypt), over land to Suez, thence to Hong Kong via Galle (Cey lon); ”Hong-Kong C JY 19 63" re ceiver on back, withthe fi nal leg to Shang hai made on an other P&O steamer; stamp with small sealed tear at top, Very Fine, ex-Knapp,Grunin, Gross. #13 in Herzog & Starnes’ cover cen sus; signed in pen cil by Stan ley Ashbrook (Oct. 25, 1951), with2018 P.F. certificate. Price: $25,000


5 m 1870, 10¢ brown, I. grill, split grill va ri ety (139A var), tran si tional strip hor i zon tal strip of 3, left stampwith split early state “I” grill, cen ter stamp with a very faint split grill, right stamp with no discernable grill, “N. York”Steam ship can cels; left stamp with a ver ti cal crease, cen ter stamp with a small stain at top, right stamp with a smalldi ag o nal crease at lower right, Fine and at trac tive, un listed as a split grill on the rare early “I” grill, this item isunique—and a must for any se ri ous United States col lec tion or grill study; with 1994 P.F. cer tif i cate, 2018 P.F. cer -tif i cate, Scott $25,500 + as singles. Price: $5,750




6 H 1894, 2¢-$5, Roo se velt plate proofs on card, par tial set (250P2//263P2), 250P2, 253AP2,254P2-260P2, 261AP2, 262P2 and 263P2, very scarce proofs; a few small faults, with tears on 10¢ and $2, VeryFine cen ter ing, Scott $3,285. Price: $2,000


Ex 6

7 H 1904, 2¢ Lou i si ana Pur chase, imperf hor i zon tally (324a), right sheet mar gin pair, po si tion 5/10, o.g.;top stamp with di ag o nal crease part way across from the right a small sealed tear at the up per left, oth er wiseF.-V.F., Scott $25,000.

According to an article in Sloane’s Column of February 8, 1958, the single recorded pane of 50 of this error wasreportedly discovered within about six weeks of issue. It was purchased from a postal clerk in Cleveland, Ohio byprominent Cleveland collector, A.W. Weigel, who was secretary-treasurer of the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club andowner of the Ohio Stamp Co. He was also, according to the article, a “postal carrier”. Weigel kept the pane intactand eventually sold it to famed collector George H. Worthington, also of Cleveland, reportedly for $100. The paneremained in Worthington’s collection until 1917, when the collection was sold by J. C. Morgenthau & Co. Thepane was divided prior to the sale, in order to allow multiple collectors to obtain examples of the error. 13 pairsfrom the pane were offered in the Morganthau auction, while the remaining 12 pairs were sold privately.

Price: $9,500




8 Ha 1925, Norse-Amer i can com plete (620-621), each in a top plate num ber block of 20, each signed byPost mas ter Gen eral, Harry S. New (“H.S.N., P.M.G.”) and Third As sis tant Post mas ter Gen eral, “W. Irving Glover,3rd Asst. P.M.G.”, and dated by Glover, “5/18/25”, the date of is sue; the 5¢ block has been sep a rated along thecen ter line and hinged back to gether, oth er wise all stamps are never hinged, Very Fine, Scott $910 asstamps/plates. Price: $1,500


9 HHa 1954, $1 Pres i den tial, imperf hor i zon tally (832d), o.g., never hinged (usual nat u ral gum bends), freshand well cen tered with pen ciled po si tion num bers 61-62/71-72 and ini tials “NPL” on re verse, Very Fine, only 1-2panes of 100 were dis cov ered, Scott $1,800+. Price: $1,500




10 m Air mail, 1930, Graf Zep pe lin com plete (C13-C15), light face-free c.d.s.’s, full rich col ors and im pres -sions; $1.30 tiny in clu sion only vis i ble from re verse, F.-V.F., the $2.60 a par tic u larly nice jumbo ex am ple, a lovelyset, Scott $1,050. Price: $950


11 ) Air mail, 1930, $2.60 Graf Zep pe lin (C15), First Day and Flown, New York, Un of fi cial City, tied on an air -mail en ve lope by an April 19 New York Grand Cen tral Sta tion du plex can cel; flown on Zep pe lin’s west bound voy -age, Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst, with all ap pro pri ate mark ings, Very Fine; with 2017 A.P.S. cer tif i cate, Scott$1,000 ++. Price: $3,500




12 ) Air mail, 1930, Graf Zep pe lin com plete (C13-C15), First Day, tied on a sin gle cover by one of two strikes April 19 Wash ing ton D.C. Sta tion “5” du plex can cel; small open ing tear at top and bit of very light soil ing, oth er wiseVery Fine; with 1970 AFDCS cer tif i cate, Scott $10,000. Price: $7,500


13 ) 1919 (Jul 3), U.S. Army Flight, Ho no lulu - Hilo (AAMC SH 532A. Mul ler 1), cover can celed Ho no lulu,JUL 3, with manu script “By air plane”, July 3, 1919” on front and back; mi nor per fo ra tion tones, cover re ducedslightly at right, oth er wise Very Fine, re port edly only 10 cov ers were car ried. Price: $1,250




14 ) 1948 (Sept.), First In ter na tional Air Par cel Post Ser vice Col lec tion, pre sented to Sec ond Post mas -ter Gen eral Paul Aikens by Pan-Amer i can World Air ways, a truly one-of-a-kind group of 27 cov ers, rep re sent -ing Pan-Am’s first Par cel Post ser vice flights to each coun try, pre sented in a lovely gold-on-blue binder to Mr.Aikens as a Christ mas 1948 gift; Amer i cas/Ca rib bean des ti na tions com prise Ar gen tina, Ba ha mas, Bolivia, Brit -ish Gui ana, Co lom bia, Cuba, Curacao, Do min i can Re pub lic, Ec ua dor, El Sal va dor, French Gui ana, Gua te mala,Haiti, Hon du ras, Nic a ra gua, Su ri nam, Trin i dad, Uru guay and Ven e zuela; Asia-Pa cific des ti na tions com priseAus tra lia (2, 1 with 3d Post age Due ap plied!), Fiji, Hong Kong, New Zea land, Phil ip pine Is lands and Siam; Amer i -can cov ers with Sept. 4 me ter strips pay ing post age; Asian cov ers Prex ies-franked (a cou ple in com bi na tionwith other is sues); each ac com pa nied by photo of the des ti na tion city; the fi nal item in cluded in the col lec tion is anamaz ing linen pack age cover front, sent from the D.G. of Posts in Nan king, China, via Shang hai, to Mr. Aiken,franked with $23 Gold Yuan stamps, with “Small Packet/Col lect 15 Cents” US handstamp at lower right; in lieu of anac com pa ny ing photo, this piece fea tures the orig i nal China Post Par cel Post Cus toms Dec la ra tion!—mak ingthis a unique rarity - for Parcel Post or Airmail Postal Historians, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Very Fine overall.

Price: $4,750


Ex 14

15 S News pa per, 1875-79, 2¢ to $60 com plete, over printed “Spec i men” (PR14SD, PR57SD-79SD,PR81SD), mostly with o.g., a lovely as sem blage of these scarce, sel dom-of fered spec i mens which are priced at afrac tion of their orig i nal coun ter parts; some small faults as one might ex pect, oth er wise gen er ally F.-V.F., Scott$1,780. Price: $1,500




16 Pony Ex press: Highly Im por tant Led ger from Fort Bridger, Utah - The Only Doc u men ta tion of thisKind in Pri vate Hands. Led ger of Mail Sent and Re ceived at Fort Bridger, In clud ing by Pony Ex press, 1860-1861,Fort Bridger, Utah Ter ri tory [now Wy o ming. 126 pages., 48 with text. 8.5" x 13.75". All pages clean, though there isedge wear and some wear and dam age to the spine of the bind ing.

This led ger re cords mail sent and re ceived in 1860 at Fort Bridger, Utah Ter ri tory. The first pages list let ters sentfrom the post of fice at Fort Bridger from Jan u ary to Sep tem ber 1860, to a va ri ety of des ti na tions, in clud ing St. Jo -seph, Fort Laramie, Salt Lake City, Car son City, Sac ra mento, San Fran cisco, and Camp Floyd (Utah). A small num -ber of let ters were sent free, es pe cially to Saint Jo seph and Fort Laramie, likely of fi cial mil i tary com mu ni ca tions,re ports, and or ders. Mail left Fort Bridger ev ery three or four days, and hun dreds of let ters went to Saint Jo seph,where they would en ter the U.S. postal sys tem to be de liv ered to points fur ther east. Many also went to head quar -ters at Camp Floyd, 35 miles south of Salt Lake City, where a de tach ment of more than 3,500 mil i tary and ci vil ianem ploy ees lived. Un til July 1861 when it was aban doned by the mil i tary head ing east for the Civil War, Camp Floydhad the larg est troop con cen tra tion in the United States, sent there by Pres i dent James Bu chanan in 1858 to stopan ex pected Mor mon re bel lion.

A sec ond group of en tries pro vides an ac count of mails re ceived at Fort Bridger from Jan u ary to Sep tem ber 1860,from many of the same lo ca tions, with the costs of un paid let ters and whether the costs of re ceiv ing the let ters werepaid in money, stamps, or were free. A no ta tion in di cates that Sep tem ber 1860 re ceipts were “Trans ferred to NewBook.”

The most fas ci nat ing sec tion of the led ger are those pages that de tail the let ters sent and re ceived by Pony Ex pressfrom and to Fort Bridger be tween Oc to ber 1860 and Oc to ber 1861. The led ger re cords the date, the num ber ofitems sent (rang ing from 1 to 3), the rate charged, who sent the let ter, to whom, where, and “Ar rival,” which waslikely the time of day that the Pony Ex press rider reached Fort Bridger. Times var ied from 1:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.with many times in late morn ing and af ter noon as well. Sev eral of the out go ing let ters were sent by Wil liam A. Carter(1818-1881). Carter had many roles, in clud ing as the ci vil ian sut ler at Fort Bridger from 1859 to 1881, the Pony Ex -press agent in 1860-1861, and jus tice of the peace and judge of the pro bate court. As agent of the Pony Ex press, hecould send let ters to of fi cials of the com pany with out cost, and the led ger in di cates those let ters sent for free. In ad -di tion to his gen eral store, Carter was also in volved in min ing, log ging, cat tle ranch ing, and op er ated a saw mill. Hiswife Mary E. Carter (1831-1904) also sent let ters—to Miss Ham il ton in Co lum bia, Mis souri, on June 17, 1861, andto Mrs. Gardner at Fort Kear ney, on Sep tem ber 17, 1861.

Frank B. Gilbert sent a let ter on Oc to ber 19, 1860, to his wife in Weston, Mis souri, at a cost of $2.50; on the sameday, Sam uel Dean sent a let ter to W. J. Reynolds in Salt Lake City, also at a cost of $2.50. On De cem ber 1, Dean be -came the clerk of the Pro bate Court in Green River County, over which Judge Wil liam A. Carter pre sided.

Sev eral mil i tary of fi cers sent let ters as well. Such mes sages in clude sev eral by Cap tain Jesse A. Gove (1824-1862) to the Ad ju tant Gen eral at Fort Crittenden, Utah, on June 1, 1861; to Con gress man Ed ward H. Rollins of NewHamp shire, on June 13, 1861; to Ad ju tant Gen eral Lorenzo Thomas in Wash ing ton, D.C., on July 8, 1861, and tothe New York Times on July 11, 1861. Gove later died at the Seven Days’ Bat tles in June 1862, as col o nel of the22nd Mas sa chu setts Vol un teers.


Cap tain Al fred Cumming (1829-1910) of the 10th U.S. In fan try and an 1849 grad u ate of West Point was the com -mand ing of fi cer at Fort Bridger, when he sent a let ter to Miss S. M. Da vis in Augusta, Geor gia. Cumming also sentlet ters to his fa ther Henry H. Cumming in Augusta on Oc to ber 30 and No vem ber 6, 1860. Al fred Cumming re signedhis com mis sion in Jan u ary 1861, re turned to the South, and moved through the of fi cer ranks of the Con fed er ateArmy to be come a bri ga dier gen eral by late 1862. Two of Cumming’s sub or di nate of fi cers, Lieu ten ant Ar thur S.Cunningham (1835-1885) and Lieu ten ant Franck S. Armistead (1831-1888) both sent let ters via Pony Ex press toCumming in Augusta, Geor gia, on April 16 and May 20, re spec tively. Cunningham, an 1856 grad u ate of West Point, re signed his com mis sion on June 25, 1861, and joined the Con fed er ates. He rose to the rank of lieu ten ant col o nel in the 10th Al a bama In fan try as part of the Army of North ern Vir ginia. Armistead was the youn ger brother of Gen eralLewis A. Armistead, who was mor tally wounded in Pickett’s charge at Get tys burg. The youn ger Armistead, also an1856 grad u ate of West Point, re signed his com mis sion on June 14, 1861, and com manded a reg i ment of NorthCarolina ju nior re serves as a col o nel.

Cap tain Jo seph C. Clark Jr. (1825-1906), an 1848 grad u ate of West Point, sent two let ters to Ma jor, then Col o nel,James Henry Carleton (1814-1873), at Fort Chur chill, on the Car son River in Ne vada, which also served as a PonyEx press sta tion. Clark sent the let ters on Au gust 27 and Sep tem ber 13, 1861. They were both des ig nated as “GovtMat ter” as was Clark’s let ter to Ad ju tant Gen eral Lorenzo Thomas in Wash ing ton of Sep tem ber 12, 1861. Clarkwent on to com mand an ar til lery bat tery in the Army of the Po to mac and was wounded four times at the Bat tle ofAntietam. Af ter re cov er ing, he taught at West Point from 1863 to 1870.

The reg is ter of let ters re ceived by Pony Ex press de liv ery re cords the time re ceived, from what place, and by whomre ceived, usu ally agent Wil liam A. Carter or the com mand ing of fi cer. It also re cords the rate (de creas ing from $2.50to $1.00 over the pe riod) and whether the fee was pre paid or col lected from the re cip i ent. Re ceiv ing let ters was anall-day task, as the hours of ar rival var ied widely from 1:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Most of the let ters re ceived were fromSt. Jo seph, but a few came from Camp Floyd (re named Fort Crittenden on De cem ber 29, 1860), Fort Kear ney, FortLaramie, Salt Lake City, or San Fran cisco. Many of the “let ters” from St. Jo seph have the des ig na tion “news” in thefi nal col umn and were likely news pa pers, which kept the sol diers and ci vil ians at this dis tant out post some what in -formed of rap idly de vel op ing events in the East as the na tion de scended into war. Cap tain Clark re ceived the lastlet ter to Fort Bridger by Pony Ex press, from St. Jo seph, on Oc to ber 16, 1861. The east ern sec tion of the tele graphline was com pleted at Fort Bridger on Oc to ber 18, 1861, con nect ing St. Jo seph to Salt Lake City. The Pony Ex pressser vice ter mi nated on Oc to ber 26, two days af ter the com ple tion of the west ern sec tion of the trans con ti nen tal tele -graph line.

An other fas ci nat ing fea ture of the led ger are two lists of sub scrib ers to news pa pers and pe ri od i cals at Fort Bridger.In this brief pe riod, at least 34 of fi cers and sol diers at Fort Bridger sub scribed to more than 60 pe ri od i cals fromweekly news pa pers to monthly jour nals. Com mon ti tles like the New York Her ald, New York Times, and Harper’sWeekly ap pear along side the St. Louis Re pub li can, the Cincinnati En quirer, and the Lou is ville Jour nal. Pri vateMeany of Com pany K sub scribed to the weekly Irish Amer i can, while Pri vates Ressler and Warmenau, also ofCom pany K, sub scribed to Ger man news pa pers. Pri vate Simmonds of Com pany K sub scribed to the Il lus tratedLon don News and the Lon don Mail. Ser geant Kelley of Com pany D had a sub scrip tion to the Irish Amer i can, Ser -geant Dimon of the same com pany sub scribed to the Irish News, while Pri vate Regan sub scribed to the Dub linTele graph, and Pri vate Mitch ell held a sub scrip tion to the Ca na dian Free man. Pri vates Jerrolman, Heauchild andAlcone of Com pany D all had sub scrip tions to the New York Led ger, and Pri vate An der son had sub scrip tions to four news pa pers—the Bal ti more Sun, the Terre Haute Jour nal, the Cincinnati En quirer, and the New York Her ald.

Ma jor Henry H. Sibley (1816-1886) was the most well-read, with sub scrip tions to as many as 11 pe ri od i cals, in clud -ing the New York Her ald; the New York Times; Harper’s Weekly; Harper’s Monthly; Punch (Lon don); the Lon don Il -lus trated News; the Eclec tic Mag a zine of For eign Lit er a ture, Sci ence, and Art; Ballou’s Monthly Mag a zine; Ballou’sPic to rial Draw ing-Room Com pan ion; Black wood’s Ed in burgh Mag a zine; The Knickerbocker, or New York-Monthly Mag a zine; and the New York Led ger. An 1838 grad u ate of the United States Mil i tary Acad emy, Sibley fought in theSem i nole Wars in Florida, the Mex i can War, the Utah War, and in vented sev eral mil i tary items, in clud ing the Sibleytent and the Sibley stove, both used by Un ion and Con fed er ate ar mies dur ing the Civil War. Sibley re signed hiscom mis sion in May 1861, joined the Con fed er acy, and rose quickly to the rank of bri ga dier gen eral. His at tempt toin vade New Mex ico en joyed ini tial suc cess, but Un ion forces un der E. R. S. Canby, who had served with him at FortBridger, de feated his forces at the Bat tle of Glorieta Pass, and Sibley never again led men in com bat.




His tor i cal Back ground

In 1860, tele graph lines ex tended from the East Coast as far west as St. Jo seph, Mis souri, and Omaha, Ne braska.From the West Coast, they ex tended from San Fran cisco to Car son City, Ne vada. In June 1860, Con gress passedthe Pa cific Tele graph Act, which in cluded a gov ern ment sub sidy of $40,000 per year, over ten years, for the con -struc tion and op er a tion of a tele graph line across the mid dle of the con ti nent. The Pony Ex press bridged that gapfrom early 1860 to late 1861 with a se ries of fast horses and young rid ers.

The ini tial rate for a let ter car ried by the Pony Ex press be tween San Fran cisco and St. Jo seph was $5 per half ounce or less. At the end of July 1860, the rate was re duced to $2.50 per quar ter ounce or less, with ad di tional charges formore weight. On July 1, 1861, the rate dropped again to $1 per half ounce or less. Rid ers trav eled at an av er agespeed of ten miles per hour, and a com plete one-way trip re quired ap prox i mately 20 rid ers and 75 horses. With outin ter rup tions caused by weather, at tacks, or the Pyr a mid Lake War in the sum mer of 1860 in Ne vada, the one-waytrip be tween Sac ra mento and St. Jo seph could be com pleted in ten days.

As the Pony Ex press moved through Utah Ter ri tory, it hired many Mor mon men and boys. At least three Mor mon pi -o neers manned iso lated Pony Ex press re lay sta tions and more than two dozen Mor mons were among the 220-230Pony Ex press rid ers. The Pony Ex press moved mail be tween Utah and the east ern states a week faster than stage -coach mail.

When the Civil War erupted in the East, Col o nel Philip St. George Cooke (1809-1895) of the 2nd U.S. Dra goons,who was in com mand at Camp Floyd/Fort Crittenden in cen tral Utah, aban doned that in stal la tion and took his menand sup plies to Fort Bridger, where the sup plies were sold at auc tion, largely to the Mor mons. Ac cord ing to someac counts, $4 mil lion worth of goods were sold for $100,000. Cooke then marched both gar ri sons to FortLeavenworth and went on to com mand the 2nd U.S. Cav alry, re ceive a pro mo tion to bri ga dier gen eral, and leaveac tive field ser vice af ter the Pen in sula Cam paign of 1862. Dur ing that cam paign his son-in-law, Con fed er ate Cav -alry com mander J.E.B. Stu art, hu mil i ated the Un ion cav alry by com pletely cir cling the Army of the Po to mac in araid.

Cooke left only a few men, whose terms of ser vice were nearly ex pired, at Fort Bridger un der Cap tain Jo seph C.Clark Jr. of the 4th U.S. Ar til lery in com mand. In De cem ber 1861, Clark re ceived or ders to go east, and Or derly Ser -geant Bogee and a hand ful of pri vates were left at Fort Bridger for nearly a year be fore a por tion of the 3rd Cal i for niaVol un teers ar rived.

The Pony Ex press (1860-1861) was a mail ser vice op er ated by the Cen tral Over land Cal i for nia and Pikes Peak Ex -press Com pany, founded by Wil liam H. Rus sell, Al ex an der Ma jors, and Wil liam B. Waddell. Be tween April 1860and Oc to ber 1861, mes sages could travel from the At lan tic to the Pa cific coasts of the United States in about tendays, uti liz ing tele graph lines and this ser vice. It was largely re placed by the es tab lish ment of the trans con ti nen taltele graph in Oc to ber 1861. The ser vice worked by hav ing 184-186 sta tions lo cated ap prox i mately ten miles apartalong the 1,900-mile route from St. Jo seph, Mis souri, to Sac ra mento, Cal i for nia. The route fol lowed the Or e gon and Cal i for nia Trails to Fort Bridger, then the Mor mon Trail to Salt Lake City, then the Cen tral Ne vada Route to Car sonCity, where it passed over the Si erra to Sac ra mento, Cal i for nia. A rider, who could not weigh over 125 pounds, rodeday and night for ap prox i mately 70 to 100 miles, chang ing to a fresh horse at each sta tion. Over his sad dle was amochila (Span ish for pouch) with four pad locked cor ner pock ets that to gether held up to 20 pounds of mail. Rus sell,Ma jors, and Waddell lost $500,000 on their Pony Ex press ven ture. As a busi ness ven ture, it was a fail ure, but itplayed a crit i cal role in se cur ing Cal i for nia and its gold re sources for the Un ion at the out break of the Civil War.

Fort Bridger (1842-1890) was es tab lished by Jim Bridger (1804-1881) and Louis Vasquez (1798-1868) in 1843. Itserved as a vi tal sup ply point and stop on the Or e gon, Cal i for nia, and Mor mon Trails. At Fort Bridger, the Oregonand California trails turn northwest into modern Idaho, while the Mormon Trail continued west to Salt Lake City. In1853, Mormons tried to arrest Bridger, who fled, and in 1855, they claimed ownership of the fort. During the UtahWar, the fort was burned in October 1857 on the approach of the U.S. Army. At the end of the hostilities, the U.S.government rejected the claims of both the Mormons and Bridger and rebuilt Fort Bridger with William A. Carter aspost sutler. From April 1860 to October 1861, it was one of 186 Pony Express stations between St. Joseph,Missouri, and Sacramento, California. Small U.S. Army units were stationed at the fort during the Civil War andregular units occupied it from 1866 to 1878, when it was temporarily abandoned. The Army again occupied in from1880 to 1890, when it was closed and many of its buildings sold and dismantled. Price: $65,000


17 Wil liam H. Seward, 1839-68. A won der ful ar ray of ma te rial span ning nearly the en tirety of Seward’s po -lit i cal ca reer

The col lec tion of fered here con sists of a broad range of en grav ings, cov ers and let ters. Three en graved por traits,one noted “320 Amer i can Bank Note Co.” and sunk on card, por tray Seward while Sec re tary of State, two for malpro files, one at his desk with pa pers strewn about him. There is also an early cab i net photo of the Sec re tary.

From his gov er nor ship, we find a let ter cer ti fy ing that Giles F. Yates was a Sur ro gate of Schenectady County (on the re verse of a pro bate con fir ma tion). There is an 8-page tran script of Sen a tor Seward’s July 29, 1852, speech en ti tled “The Whale Fish ery, and Amer i can Com merce in the Pa cific Ocean”—with ref er ences to King Al fred, the Phoe ni -cians and Nim rod! And we have a De part ment of State af fi da vit (with pa per seal and rib bons) con firm ing that WJStillman was US Con sul at Rome, at tached to a land trans fer deed ex e cuted be fore him.

Cov ers and let ters con sists of nu mer ous sig na ture free franks, as Gov er nor (2), Sen a tor (7) and Sec re tary of State(4)…plus two that can not be dated. High lights in clude a Jan u ary 14, 1864, let ter to Ma jor Gen eral [Henry W.]Halleck, stat ing the bearer would “in tro duce you to Mr. Sutton [?] who has con fi den tial rev e la tions to make about the strength and dis po si tion of the re bels in Texas”; a De cem ber 30, 1867, let ter to J. Glancy Jones of Read ing, PA, re -gard ing the Alaska Pur chase and (read ing be tween the lines) Seward’s at tempt to gain Brit ish Co lum bia for the USas well; an 1868 let ter to Pres i dent John son re gard ing De part ment of State of fi cials whose com mis sions neededcon firmed; and most amaz ingly, a Sep tem ber 7, 1865, De part ment of State cover and en clo sure, both black-edgedas a na tional mourn ing cover.

Col lat eral ma te rial counts a US Sen ate free frank of Dan iel Web ster, plus an 1818 lettersheet from James Ross, aRoyal Navy cap tain who at tempted to dis cover the North west Pas sage. Also fea tured is a De part ment of State freefrank from Frank W. Seward, As sis tant Sec re tary—and Wil liam’s son, ap pointed at the same time as his fa ther.

This is no folly—just a re mark able col lec tion that would be im pos si ble to du pli cate to day.

* * *

Seward (1801-72) was ed u cated as a law yer and was elected New York State Sen a tor in 1830. He served as Gov -er nor of New York from 1839-42 and was elected to the US Sen ate in 1848, serv ing from 1849-61. He was con sid -ered the lead ing con tender for the Re pub li can Pres i den tial nom i na tion in the 1860 race, but his out spo ken viewsagainst slav ery, sup port for im mi gra tion and Cath o lics, and ties to po lit i cal boss Thurlow Weed worked against him.While he lost the nom i na tion to Abra ham Lin coln, he sup ported Lin coln in the gen eral elec tion and was ap pointedSec re tary of State, in which ca pac ity he served from 1861 to 1869, un der both Lin coln and John son.

Most fa mous for the Alaska Pur chase in 1867, he was also instrumental in preventing Britain and France frominvolving themselves in the US Civil War in support of the Confederacy, thus doing as much as Grant or any otherUnion general in keeping the country intact. Price: $17,500



Ex 17


18 ) Mon u men tal Col lec tion of Bi sects Used on Cover, 1857-1947, With nearly 400 cov ers in to tal, this is a tre men dous col lec tion—no mat ter how you slice it. In clud ing many scarce, valu able, and ex hi bi tion-wor thy itemsspan ning both 19th and 20th Cen tury is sues, this is surely one of the most ex ten sive hold ings of these un com monitems as you will ever see.

19th Cen tury cov ers—all listed here ac com pa nied by cer tif i cates—in clude (bi sect type given in pa ren the ses):

• #24 di ag o nally torn (ap pears bi sect) with two nor mal tied on Val en tine cover• #65 di ag o nal on 1898 cover with “Due 2c” in pen cil and #279B (dam aged) used as Post age Due on back (un ac -cepted bi sect, prob a bly phila teli cally in spired)• #222 di ag o nal tied on 1894 cover with two dif fer ent “HELD FOR POSTAGE” handstamps, #220 used as Post ageDue• Matched set of #222 di ag o nal (two 1898 cov ers, each with half of the same stamp), sent from the same per son tothe same ad dressee (one with cer tif i cate)• #226 di ag o nal on cover to Si erra Le one from New York with ap pro pri ate backstamps—a scarce use of this highde nom i na tion• #233 di ag o nal on 1897 cover• #267 di ag o nal on wrap per pay ing the 1¢ cir cu lar rate• Two 1901 cov ers from same source & post of fice: #279B di -ag o nal and #280 bot tom plate num ber sin gle di ag o nal• #301 ver ti cal tied on 1904 ad ver tis ing cover by St. Louis World’s Fair straightline can cel• #304 di ag o nal tied on small cover with Bryn Mawr, PA c.d.s., an un usual and scarce us age• #324 ver ti cal tied on early 1904 cover, very fine andscarce• #329 di ag o nal pay ing the 1¢ post card rate• #367 di ag o nal with nor mal #331 tied on Feb. 13, 1909 cover (2nd day of is sue), very fine and choice us age

20th Cen tury cov ers, nearly all with cer tif i cates, are no less im pres sive, with reg u lar is sues and com memo ra tives,Airs, Spe cial De liv er ies and Par cel Posts all rep re sented. High lights in clude:• #416 di ag o nal tied on 1913 cover, a scarce us age of this 10¢ high de nom i na tion (cer tif i cate)• #472 di ag o nal tied on 1917 cover with “Post age due 2 cents” handstamp, prob a bly phil a telic but scarce us age ofthis 10¢ high de nom i na tion (cer tif i cate)• #499 ver ti cal tied on small mourn ing cover, stamp with pri vate “ONE I ONE” hand-typed “over print” ap plied, in ter -est ing us age• #503 di ag o nal tied on 1920 cover with sender’s hand writ ten note “No two’s or one’s on hand” (cer tif i cate)• #506 bot tom plate num ber sin gle di ag o nal with nor mal #482 tied on 1919 cover, a won der ful and scarce bi sect us -age of this rel a tively high de nom i na tion (cer tif i cate)• #548 Pil grim Ter cen te nary pair with one stamp ver ti cally bi sected, tied on June 2, 1935 cover, pay ing the new (asof April 15, 1925) 3rd class rate• #552 ver ti cal on uprated al bino en ve lope, with “FIRST DAY COVER” handstamp, in ter est ing and scarce us age on the first day of the new 3rd class rate (Apr. 15, 1925)• #558 block of 4 with gor geous color di ag o nally bi sected and tied on 1923 cover, phil a telic us age but scarce and at -trac tive


Ex 18

• #563 di ag o nal “tied” by pen ciled “OK PM” with 1930 New York City c.d.s., a scarce au tho rized us age for this highde nom i na tion (cer tif i cate)• #576 line block of 4 di ag o nally bi sected and tied on 1928 cover, in ter est ing us age• #599 pair with one stamp di ag o nally torn (“bi sected”), tied on 1926 cover with a late us age of the “Held for Post -age” handstamp (cer tif i cate)• #599A pair with one stamp di ag o nally bi sected tied on 1929 cover, a very scarce us age (cer tif i cate)• #604 two bi sected line pairs (joined ver ti cal halves) tied on 1932 phil a telic cover • #611 Har ding pair with one stamp di ag o nally bi sected tied on 1925 cover • #611 Har ding di ag o nally bi sected ver ti cal pair tied on 1926 cover, phil a telic but scarce and strik ing us age• #615 Hu gue not-Wal loon ver ti cal tied on 1924 post card to Can ada (cer tif i cate)• #616 Hu gue not-Wal loon di ag o nal tied on 1926 cover, very scarce us age (cer tif i cate)• #642 pair with full hor i zon tal gut ter with each stamp di ag o nally bi sected (the sec ond half of one of the stamps hasbeen af fixed to ap pear com plete) with nor mal #636 and #637, no #642 pairs with hor i zon tal gut ter have been re -ported, cer tainly a unique us age and prob a bly a unique gut ter ex am ple, ex hi bi tion piece (cer tif i cate)• #650 Aero nau tics di ag o nal tied on 1929 cover (cer tif i cate)• #660 Kan sas ver ti cal tied on 1930 cover with nor mal #634• #730 Cen tury of Prog ress sou ve nir sheet block of 6 di ag o nally bi sected and tied on 1933 phil a telic cover (veryscarce us age)• #740 Na tional Parks tied on re verse of Spe cial De liv ery cover by in dis tinct 1935 R.P.O. c.d.s., prob a bly used as ala bel to seal the en ve lope, but none the less a very scarce bi sect us age• #751 Na tional Parks full sou ve nir sheet di ag o nally bi sected and tied on 1936 cover, scarce and choice• #778 Phil a telic Ex hi bi tion full sou ve nir sheet di ag o nally bi sected and tied on com mer cial 1936 First Day Cover,phil a telic but scarce us age• #797 Na tional Parks full sou ve nir sheet di ag o nally bi sected and tied on 1935 cover to Valdres, Nor way, withproper re ceiv ing c.d.s. on re verse, very scarce us age (cer tif i cate)• #815 10c Prexie di ag o nal tied on 1940 cover to Paris, France, pay ing the 5¢ sur face rate, scarce us age of thishigh de nom i na tion• #820 15¢ Prexie di ag o nal tied on 1945 cover with A.P.O. 1160 (Chung king, China) c.d.s. and straightline can cel,with penned note next to stamp “No other post age avail able”, won der ful and scarce us age of this high de nom i na -tion (cer tif i cate)• #825 20¢ Prexie ver ti cal with penned “10 cts” on stamp, used with 1¢ and 2¢ Post age Dues with penned “13 cents” across them, en dorsed by Post mas ter, used to pay the Spe cial De liv ery fee, with Spring Hill, TN Nov. 11, 1942c.d.s. and killer, with “Post age Due [3] cents” handstamp de spite au tho ri za tion, a won der ful us age of this high de -nom i na tion (cer tif i cate)• Set of five cov ers with bi sects of 1940s stamps, each cover signed by Post mas ter, in clud ing ad di tional pennedcom ments in some cases such as “Out of 1c stamps P.M.”, plus a 1945 en clo sure from the Spring Hill, TN Post mas -ter (J.W. Howard) ex plain ing the rea son for, and his au tho ri za tion of, bi sect us ages dur ing the pe riod; fas ci nat ingma te rial pro vid ing rare doc u mented in sight into Post mas ter ex cep tion al low ances for bi sects• #948a 5¢ bi sect from 1947 Cen te nary sou ve nir sheet used with nor mal #947 and #C31, tied on First Flight Coverto To kyo• Matched set of #C7 ver ti cal (two cov ers, each with half of the same stamp) sent from dif fer ent post of fices on thesame day Aug. 1, 1928 (first day of the new 5¢ Air mail rate), one with “Post age Due [10¢]” handstamp which wasap par ently ig nored, a great pair of cov ers• #C8 di ag o nal tied on 1929 cover, scarce us age of this high de nom i na tion• #C9 di ag o nal tied on 1926 cover with “Lindbergh Again Flies The Air Mail” handstamps in blue and pur ple, veryscarce us age of this high de nom i na tion• #C10 di ag o nal bi sect pay ing the 5¢ Air mail rate tied on 1932 cover with “Re turned for Post age”, “Un knownSender” and “This Is The Mail For Which You Sent Post age” aux il iary handstamps• #C17 ver ti cal ap plied on 1935 busi ness re ply en ve lope as pro vi sional Post age Due, with ref er ence ar ti cle andAPEX note in cluded, in ter est ing and scarce us age (cer tif i cate)• #C21 di ag o nal used with nor mal ex am ple and tied on 1937 cover sent from Guam to New Jer sey via Macau andsigned by Guam Post mas ter, a won der ful and scarce us age of this high de nom i na tion (cer tif i cate)• #CE2 ver ti cal torn bi sect tied on 1943 cover with pur ple Spe cial De liv ery handstamp and typed “AIRMAIL -SPECIAL DELIVERY”• Matched set of #E14 torn ver ti cal bi sects (two 1932 cov ers, each with half of the same stamp along with nor mal#707) where ap par ently the re cip i ent of the first let ter sent a re sponse let ter us ing the sec ond half of the samestamp, one cover sent from an R.P.O., in ter est ing pair of cov ers and rare us age of this Spe cial De liv ery stamp




• #Q1 ver ti cal used along with a nor mal #581 to pay the new 3rd class rate of 1½¢ (which had gone into ef fect threeweeks ear lier on April 15, 1925), in ter est ing and rare use of the 1¢ Par cel Post stamp (cer tif i cate)• Matched set of #Q4 perfin di ag o nal bi sects (two 1920 lo cal drop rate cov ers, each with half of the same stamp),fas ci nat ing use (each with certificate)• #QE1b diagonal used on 1942 cover along with normal 1¢ Postage Due, very scarce unauthorized usage(certificate)• DWI #18c tied on partial cover with St. Thomas, DWI Jan. 23, 1903 c.d.s.

The collection also includes a study of some 30 covers showing #552 and other period stamps bisected on coverand used from various post offices shortly after the new 1½¢ rate went into effect on April 15, 1925, along with manyadditional covers.

A remarkable holding not likely to be duplicated., Scott $51,000. Price: $17,500

19 H Fab u lous Ex hi bi tion-Qual ity Col lec tion of U.S. Coils, 1908-85, An amaz ingly di verse hold ing, w many scarce and de sir able items, with par tic u lar strength in paste-up pairs (many with plate num bers), leader and trailerstrips (in clud ing rare pieces), reg u lar pairs and line pairs, color va ri et ies, per fo ra tion er rors in clud ing imperforationand tran si tional strips, miscuts show ing par tial plate num bers, splices, and never hinged precancels. The col lec tion also in cludes on-cover ex am ples, test coils, a sep a rate Prexie coil plate num ber study, sev eral lit er a ture vol umes,and a few doc tored stamps with cer tif i cates for use as ref er ence (not counted in cat a logue value or es ti mate).

Given the breadth and depth of this col lec tion, it’s im pos si ble to list ev ery sin gle “wow!” item, but among the high -lights we note the fol low ing (never hinged, un less noted).

Sin gles, pairs and line pairs/strips of #349 sin gle with Plate #5315 & Star (wait ing on cor rected cert), #368 VFver ti cal pair with USAV pri vate per fo ra tions, #371 VF hinged hor i zon tal pair (one stamp never hinged) withBrinkerhoff Type II per fo ra tions (cer tif i cate), #454 line pair (cer tif i cate), #497 VF line pair, #579 bot tom mar gin ex -am ple im per fo rate at bot tom (cer tif i cate), #599b very lightly hinged line pair with par tial plate num ber (cer tif i cate),#599A mag nif i cent com bi na tion line pair (Type I + Type II) show ing traces of Plate #19748 (cer tif i cate), #600 linestrip of 4 show ing large por tion of Plate #18808 & Star (hinge rem nant), #656 line pair with par tial Plate #19781,#723 pair with splice, #723 lightly hinged gor geous line pair with par tial Plate #20968, #1058b precanceled line strip of 4, #1058b precanceled line strip of 5 with par tial Plate #25098, #1059 small holes line pair, #1304a Bu reauprecanceled line pair, #1304Cd VF im per fo rate pair, #1305Ej XF im per fo rate line pair, #1518b VF im per fo rate pair,#1520b VF tran si tional strip of 4 in clud ing im per fo rate line pair, #1618Cd tran si tional strip of 5, #2112a VF im per fo -rate plate num ber coil strip of 3 with Plate #1 with splice, and #2112a VF im per fo rate plate num ber coil strip of 4 withPlate #2.


Paste-ups (pairs, un less noted) of #348 with Plate #5489 (hinge rem nant; cer tif i cate), #346V with Plate #5199(hinged, cer tif i cate; pic tured by Wallace Cleland in the Bu reau Spe cial ist 76:7), #354 (cer tif i cate), #355 (cer tif i cate), #390 (strip of 4, in clud ing an XF Jumbo not part of the paste-up), #392 with Plate #5659 (cer tif i cate), #394 (cer tif i -cate), #395 (2, one XF, both with cer tif i cate), #396 (2, one with Plate #5902; both with cer tif i cate), #409V strip of 4with un re ported plate #6454 on tab and un re ported plate #6456 in setoff on back of tab (cer tif i cate), #409 VF strip of4 with un re ported plate #6457 on tab and Schermack per fo ra tions with par tial dou bled per fo ra tions (cer tif i cate),#410 with Plate #5884, #412 with Plate #6545 (cer tif i cate), #412 with Plate #6477 (hinge rem nant), #413 VF withPlate #5996 (hinge rem nant; cer tif i cate), #442 VF strip of 4, #443 VF paste-up pair with Plate #7001 (cer tif i cate),#444 with Plate #6897 (cer tif i cate), #447 hinged (one stamp never hinged) with Plate #6733 (cer tif i cate), #606astrip of 4 (cer tif i cate).

Splice strips of four of #597 precanceled with par tial plate num ber and #1305a im per fo rate BEP splice (cer tif i -cate).

Lead ers and trail ers (rarely seen, no mat ter the is sue): #390 VF leader sin gle with Plate #5556, #392 endsel vage sin gle with Plate #5573 (hinge rem nant), #393 end sel vage pair with Plate #5560 (hinge rem nant; fea turedin the Durland 2012 cat a log), #393 full leader sin gle (leader sep a rated in mid dle), #408V full leader sin gle and#409V full leader pair, #411 trailer pair, #412 end sel vage pair with Plate #6301 (hinge rem nant), #493 VF leaderpair with full scarce “1,000 stamps” leader (leader sep a rated in mid dle and one stamp dam aged), #493 trailer pair,#495 trailer pair, #496 full leader sin gle, #605 full leader strip of 4 with two splices, #606 full leader strip of 4(cer tif i cate), #686 leader strip of 4 with line pair and par tial plate num ber, #686 hinged precanceled leader strip of 4with full scarce “1,000 stamps” leader, #686 VF full leader sin gle, #840 full leader strip of 5 with line pair, #840precanceled full leader strip of 3 with line pair, #841 precanceled full leader strip of 5, #842 hinge rem nant full leaderstrip of 5 with line pair and par tial plate num ber, #843 full leader sin gle, #845 lightly hinged full leader strip of 4, #851full leader strip of 7 with line pair, #1054 full leader strip of 11 with line pair and 40% of Plate #25869 and show ingcount ing num bers (very scarce), #1054c precanceled full leader strip of 4 with line pair and par tial plate num ber,#1055 precanceled full leader strip of 4, won der ful #1058 full very scarce “3,000 stamps” leader strip of 5 withmatch ing trailer strip of 5 and orig i nal 3,000-stamp roll la bel, #1058 full leader strip of 7 with line pair and par tial plate num ber, ex tremely scarce #1058b precanceled full leader strip of 4 with mid dle line pair (cer tif i cate), #C52 VF fullleader strip of 5 with line pair, and #TD119 VF full leader strip of 6.

As if all this were n’t enough, the col lec tion in cludes a binder con tain ing an other won der ful group of ad di tional leader and trailer ex am ples and other scarce coils-as well as a nearly com plete col lec tion of 1981-95 Trans por ta tionCoils, con sist ing of never hinged PNC strips of 3 (1897//2466) with vir tu ally all better items and plate num bersrep re sented. In cludes #1900 (plate 3 & 5), #1901a (plate 5 & 6), 1903 (plate 5 & 6), #1903a (plate 8), #1904a (plate3 & 4), etc.

And that’s just the mint! Used items in clude a #1520b strip of 4, #1895d XF pair tied on piece with fullcon tem po ra ne ous 1984 c.d.s., #2523b VF pair with con tem po ra ne ous can cel, and #2609b VF pairim per fo rate-be tween (scarce used), plus a set of used plate num ber coils, mostly sin gles on cover.

And cov ers—they’re here as well: #383V paste-up pair on late-us age cover, #392 line pair tied on com mer cialcover with 1912 c.d.s. (cer tif i cate), two covers each with #409 single with Farwell Type 4B4 perforations tied onJohn V. Farwell Company letterhead cover with Chicago, IL 1913 c.d.s., #410 paste-up pair tied on late-usagecover, and #1895d pair properly tied on cover with contemporaneous 1983 c.d.s.

Be sure to wrap your head around this one! Scott $53,000. Price: $17,500




20 H/m/) Pow er ful Spe cial ist Col lec tion, 1851-1985, A hand-se lected col lec tion con sist ing mainly of valu -able and spe cial ized items. Stamps in clude high-qual ity and graded ex am ples, gut ter pairs and other in ter est ingfor mats, and un used precancels, with par tic u lar strength in Fourth Bu reau is sues, Prex ies, plate sin gles and mod -ern er rors. The postal his to rian will also find a wealth of cov ers, in clud ing those with fancy can cels, pre-First Day us -ages, scarce and un usual us ages, au to graphed stamps and cov ers, mixed frankings, and Pos ses sions.

Never hinged high lights in clude the fol low ing (graded stamps ac com pa nied by cer tif i cate; ad di tional certed itemsnoted): #325 top mar gin plate sin gle, #326 VF jumbo top mar gin plate sin gle (cer tif i cate), #368/371/373 XF cen terline blocks, #371 XF top mar gin plate block with gor geous white pa per, #397 graded 85J top mar gin plate sin gle,#532 XF plate sin gle, #560 graded 90, #561 graded 95, #566 graded 95, #568 graded 95, #569 (2, one graded 90,one 95), #634 “Long Ear” va ri ety in cen ter of block of 25, #634A hor i zon tal gut ter pair, #638 ver ti cal gut ter pair (only2-3 known, with cer tif i cate), #658//679 miss ing only #668, sin gles and large blocks of Kan sas over prints (#658,664, and 667) with Con cordia KS precancels and Ne braska over prints (#673, 675-679) with Hastings NBprecancels, #756-765 cen ter line blocks, #778 miscut er ror show ing plate num bers at both top and bot tom, #834 XF cen ter line block graded 90, 1974 UPU pre sen ta tion book signed by Post mas ter Gen eral con tain ing 1941//1947 is -sues in clud ing com plete Trans ports and Prex ies, #859-893 full set of in di vid u ally se lected XF plate blocks; sevendif fer ent re versed-print ing Over run Coun tries in scrip tion blocks (each with cer tif i cate) and an ad di tional 41 ex am -ples of #911b (each with copy of cer tif i cate for orig i nat ing sheet), #1052 precancelled plate block, #1355c im per fo -rate pair (cer tif i cate), #1362c im per fo rate-be tween pair, #1383B tran si tional strip al bino to full print, #1488a or angeomit ted (cer tif i cate), #1591a precanceled plate block with city name; a study of #1596 plate blocks in clud ing per fo -rated, precanceled, line per fo rated, and im per fo rate (the last with small sel vage tear); #1789Ad bot tom mar gin ver -ti cal pair im per fo rate hor i zon tally, #2038 top mar gin block of 6 misperforated so that the top three stamps lackde nom i na tions, #2146a im per fo rate pair, #C10 top mar gin block of 4 with plate num ber au to graphed by Post mas ter Gen eral and Sec ond As sis tant Post mas ter Gen eral, #CE2 top mar gin plate block Type 2; CSA #7 no gum gut terpair; DWI #40-42 cor ner mar gin sin gles; Ha waii #O5 top cor ner mar gin sin gle, and #O6 top mar gin sin gle (cer tif i -cate).

Used stamps in clude an XF cor ner mar gin #7, a #256 graded 80J, and a #1384m (in verted precancel).

Us ages on cover in clude #634b with fancy can cel, plus an other strip of 3 (the lat ter with cer tif i cate), #703 top mar -gin plate sin gle on un ad dressed cover with pos si ble EKU c.d.s. of Oct. 6, 1931; Prex ies: #806 tied with French“PAQUEBOT” mark ing and c.d.s., #807 tied by Kobe, Ja pan c.d.s., #807 tied by Guantanamo Bay, Cuba c.d.s., ascarce solo us age 16-cent (#821), #830a solo tied on cover from A.P.O Ja pan to France, #831 solo us age fromGer many A.P.O., a scarce us age of #847; Over run Coun tries re verse print ing First Day Cov ers in clud ing #909c (2 cov ers) and #915a block; Wa ter bury fancy leaf can cels on #U74 (fewer than 15 known), and on #UX5 (fewer thaneight known).

The col lec tion is rounded out by 11 vol umes of lit er a ture, plus a blank Lindner al bum with slipcase-the per fect homefor your per sonal ad di tions.

To tal Scott does not take into ac count ad di tional pre mi ums for cen ter ing (un less graded), plate num bers and otherplate mark ings, cer tif i cates, etc., 2018 Scott $29,900. Price: $9,500


21 H Com pel ling Col lec tion of Book lets and Book let Panes, A lovely hold ing, in clud ing panes un used(nearly all never hinged), used, and par tial or full on cover. Nu mer ous va ri et ies are pres ent, in clud ing miscuts(many show ing par tial or com plete plate num bers or Elec tric Eye lines), rare col ors, sta pling at wrong end, platenum ber on wrong side, tab at bot tom, im per fo rate-be tween, dummy panes, never folded panes, scarce po si -tions-most of which are se lected for pos i tive iden ti fi ca tion of the po si tion (i.e., they could not be from any other po si -tion), and other rare va ri et ies. High lights in clude (never hinged, un less noted):

#332a po si tion B, #332a po si tion G with re verse wa ter mark (with cer tif i cate that does n’t men tion re versewa ter mark), #502b clear po si tion C show ing large por tion of ar row and guide line, #552a very scarce po si tion M,#554c (2, 1 never hinged) show ing dif fer ent mar gins be tween the panes above, #554c very scarce po si tion O(hinge rem nant), #BK91 with #BC4A cover miss ing one pane out of 16 (pos si bly re con structed, but a very scarcebook let nev er the less), #806b huge miscut show ing full left mar gin with 100% plate num ber and Elec tric Eye lines,#1213 Slo gan 1 untagged with 100% plate num ber, #BK117 ex ploded with dra mat i cally miscut panes and book letcov ers and sta pled at the wrong end, #BKC22 miscut book let with all three panes show ing full Elec tric Eye lines atright, #BK127 miscut with both panes hav ing tab at bot tom, #BK138 un listed va ri ety show ing plate num ber at right,#BK143 with Plate 2 on top, #2492j com plete book let with two im per fo rate-be tween pairs (cer tif i cate), #2492 “gut -ter” pair in black im per fo rate with green and pink omit ted (ap pears to be print ers’ waste); #C10a group of panes in -clud ing po si tions A, B, the ex tremely scarce po si tion D, H, I, J, L, and the very scarce po si tion M; #C25a miscutpanes, one with large por tion of mar gin and full plate num ber at top and one with 98% plate num ber at bot tom;#C39a two miscut panes with 100% plate num ber at bot tom left and at bot tom right, #C64b with 100% plate num ber, #C78a with 100% plate num ber, and Ca nal Zone #C48a scarce com plete book let.

Us ages tied on cover in clude #279Be bot tom pair from book let, #300b hor i zon tal book let pair with guide line at lefton post card, #301 book let sin gle with tab, #319g bot tom pair from book let and ad di tional book let sin gle, #319p bot -tom pair from book let on cover to Swit zer land, #634e full pane (no tab) with clear par tial (75%) plate num ber oncover and prob a bly unique as such (cer tif i cate), #C10a po si tion A full pane with tab on cover to Ca nal Zone,#C10a po si tion L full pane with tab on First Flight Cover to Ven e zuela, #C10a very scarce po si tion M full pane withtab on cover to Uru guay via Ca nal Zone (cer tif i cate), and #C12 ver ti cal strip of 3 trimmed to re sem ble a po si tion “J”book let pane on Roessler First Flight Cover.

Also included, to aid in your hunt for additional items, are two literature items and some BIA checklists.

An impressive holding well worth your perusal., Scott $14,800. Price: $4,750




22 H/m) Open ing Sal vos: A Bat tery of 19th-Cen tury US Pat ent En ve lopes. This lot, con sist ing of well over 60 items and built over many years, high lights the de vel op ment of the Amer i can en ve lope—in myr iad forms and for -mats—from around 1860 to about 1913. The range of de signs is fas ci nat ing, with en ve lopes for ev ery use imag in -able. Their in ge nu ity and func tion al ity are un der lined by each hav ing been granted a US pat ent.

Each item is an no tated, with many iden ti fied by man u fac turer, rang ing from the Amer i can Bank Note Com pany’slet ter sheet es say to Weaver’s Mail ing En ve lope, with let ter sheets, cab i net photo mail ers, safety and sam ple en ve -lopes, and more in be tween. That said, roughly half the items have no maker’s mark on them—a ready-made re -search pro ject. There are wire-pull en ve lopes, per fo rated en ve lopes, amaz ing tab or flap ar range ments andmore—in clud ing a not-for-the-cat-lover-in-your-life Val en tine folded let ter sheet with an ad for Hood’s Sar sa pa rilla.

In ad di tion to these pri vately pro duced en ve lopes, the col lec tion con tains the first two US em bossed en tires byNesbitt (Scott #U1 and U2, both used, #U1 uprated by an im per fo rate 3-cent ad he sive, be ing sent from New Hamp -shire to Cal i for nia) plus two used cop ies of the 1887 Grant let ter sheet (#U293), one of which never made it into themail and is thus com plete.

Two pri vate wa fer seals, a rivet en ve lope (ad ver tis ing D.A. Comstock, NY, in sur round), plus a stock cer tif i cate forthe United States Sealed Postal Card Com pany, ca. 1880. The lat ter is the copy de scribed by Charles Fricke in TheAmer i can Phi lat e list. (This was the com pany that pro duced and pro vided the Grant sheet to the Post Of fice De part -ment—free of charge to the lat ter—and so cap i tal had to be raised through stocks. A copy of Fricke’s ar ti cle is in -cluded.)

And it must be noted: be yond the tech ni cal de tails, many of these cov ers are beau ti fully il lus trated or em bel lishedwith embossings, clever hold ing de vices (come danc ing!), etc.

Af ter see ing these once-avail able en ve lopes, you’ll rue your next bill or ad ver tis ing let ter all the more.Price: $4,750


Ex 22

Worldwide

23 ) Ar gen tina, Col lec tion of Zep pe lin Cov ers, 1930-34. 36 vir tu ally all dif fer ent cov ers car ried on the var i -ous South Amer ica Flights, nearly Pernambuco - Friedrichshafen; neatly mounted and writ ten up in a 3-ring binder.Michel €2,750 ($3,230). Price: $1,500


LONDON 2020 BESPOKE OFFERINGS: Worldwide

Ex 25


24 H Aus tra lian States: West ern Aus tra lia, 1879, Swan (en graved), 2d mauve, perf 12½, er ror of color(31a. SG 55b), Crown CC wa ter mark, large part o.g., re mark ably bright, fresh and well cen tered, Very Fine, anamaz ing ex am ple of a rare West ern Aus tra lia ma jor er ror; 1981 BPA cer tif i cate, Scott $20,000. SG £18,000($22,950). Price: $12,500


25 ) Aus tra lia, 1920, Ross Smith First Flight cover, Eng land to Aus tra lia, pic to rial “First/Ae rial Post/12Nov - 10 Dec/1919/Eng land-/Aus tra lia” la bel on en ve lope ad dressed to G.F. Pearce, Min is ter for De fense in Mel -bourne, cancelled by one of two strikes of oval “First Ae rial Mail/Re ceived/26 FEB 1920/Great Brit ain to Aus tra lia”handstamp; front also shows “per/Vickers ‘Vimy’ Aero plane/ to Aus tra lia” three-line handstamp ap plied by Smith;an ex cep tional qual ity cover (Eustis #27) with out the folds and faults so of ten found; la bel fac sim ile (never hingedmin ia ture sheet of one) also in cluded, Ex tremely Fine, one of only 364 cov ers flown, 92 of which were ad dressed toMel bourne and Vic to ria; with 1973 R.P.S.L. certificate.

A phenomenal opportunity to own a piece of history. Price: $3,500




26 ) Ber muda, 1851 (Feb. 14), pierced pa per lace en ve lope sent from Ham il ton to Paget, ad dressed toMiss A. Godet, care of C.H. Gilbert, Esq.; marked with small manu script “pp” at up per right cor ner of the ad dresspanel; re verse with fine red “Ham il ton/Ber muda” PM4 datestamp; com plete with the orig i nal pierced pa per lacenote pa per headed “St. Val en tines 1851" and a long lov ing mes sage (tran script pro vided); age stains sim ply can notde tract from this beau ti ful and charm ing Val en tine, Very Fine, Ex-”Cranbourn". Price: $1,500


27 ) Ber muda, 1852-53, group of 25 Levantine Cri sis cov ers, all fully an no tated on Ex hi bi tion over sizedhor i zon tal pages; three car ried from Ber muda (Ham il ton, Ire land Is land and St. George’s) and 22 from Eng land toBer muda; car ried on a va ri ety of Levantine or re place ment sailings, in clud ing the first suc cess ful trip of theLevantine, sec ond trip, third trip (2), fourth trip, fifth trip (2, one from New found land!) plus the sixth, 12th, 15th, 16thand 18th and last trip, these in ter spersed with 13 re place ment sailings, Very Fine over all, a re mark able hold ing ofthese cov ers fully dem on strat ing the un re li abil ity of steam in the early days.

The Levantine was registered to Cunard on Nov. 1, 1851, intended for use on the Halifax-Bermuda run. Shearrived in Halifax on Nov. 26, but on her first trip out, she developed a serious leak and was forced to return to port and requiring two months of repairs. She continued to experience mechanical problems and was removed fromservice in April 1853. Price: $4,750



Ex 27


28 ) Ber muda, 1862 (Dec. 26), Oldfield Cor re spon dence cover sent from Ire land Isle, Ber muda, to Lon -don, via Cunard’s Mer lin to Hal i fax and their Europa to Liv er pool; front bear ing manu script “paid” no ta tion at up perright along with red “6d” and Crowned Dou ble-cir cle “Paid/at/Ire land Isle, Ber muda” handstamps; re verse bearsBox ing Day Ire land-Isle dater in black, along with red Lon don JA 19/63 re ceiver; com plete with en clo sure, the con -tents con firm ing that Oldfield’s Com mand ing Of fi cer has granted him per mis sion to leave the is land, and that hemay re turn to Eng land on the French ship then in port, Very Fine, other than the Crowned Cir cle strike known from1864, this is the last re corded date of use of this handstamp, Ex-Mor ris H. Ludington, Geoffrey Osborn.

Price: $3,500


29 ) Ber muda, 1865 (May), mourn ing cover with Ham il ton, Ber muda, datestamp, a lovely small-for maten ve lope ad dressed to “Miss Till” in St. Geor ges, bear ing at lower left a strike in red of the Ham il ton PM4 datestamp(date un clear; May 10?). This is the datestamp type mod i fied by Wil liam B. Perot to cre ate his iconic Post mas ter’sStamp of 1848-56. Small black wax seal in tact on backflap.

A re mark ably pris tine cover, and in ter est ing col lat eral ma te rial for a Perot exhibit, Very Fine. Price: $3,000




30 ) Ber muda, Col lec tion of Early Postal His tory, 1810-76, Bal ance of a spe cial ized col lec tion com pris ingabout 60-65 cov ers, mainly stampless, and just about all be tween Eng land and Ber muda, with ex am ples of var i oustrans at lan tic rates and routes; also in cludes an 1836 let ter date lined Mel ville, Ber muda con cern ing a cap tured Por -tu guese brig with Af ri can slaves onboard; 1824 & 1830 “Boot leg” cov ers from Hal i fax, Nova Sco tia to St. Geor ges;an 1824 cover hand-car ried from Ber muda to Eng land and placed in the Two-Penny Post in Lon don; 1832 & 1837Ship Let ters from Ber muda to Nor folk, Va. and to Boston, re spec tively; a May 1812 Bill of Lad ing for the Thetis fromBer muda to New York a month prior to the out break of the War of 1812, and an other from 1864 for the Henriettafrom New York to Ber muda; a “BERMUDA/SHIP LETTER” on an 1845 cover from New York to St. Geor ges and a“HAMILTON BERMUDA/SHIP LETTER” on a mourn ing cover, also from New York to St. Geor ges (small piece of acor ner miss ing); ad di tion ally we note an 1856 cover from Ber muda to Eng land franked with six G.B. 1d reds can -celed on ar rival in Liv er pool (one stamp and cor ner of cover miss ing); an 1868 cover from St. Geor ges to Hal i fax,Nova Sco tia franked with a 6d dull pur ple (SG 6); an 1861 mourn ing cover from Eng land to “Ire land Is land, Ber -muda” franked with a G.B. 6d pale li lac (SG 70); an 1842 stampless folded let ter from St. John, New found land toBer muda via Hal i fax; three 1840s cov ers from Ja maica to Ber muda, two via Ha vana, the other via St. Thomas; Col -lat er ally, in cluded are two folded ad dress leaves, 1811 & 1825, with manu script Free Franks of U.S. Trea surer,Thomas T. Tucker, who was born in Ber muda, both post marked Wash ing ton, 1811 to Phil a del phia and 1825 toPortsmouth; there are also a hand ful of later cov ers addressed to Bermuda. All-in-all, a most interesting andunusual lot of this seldom-seen material. Price: $7,500


31 (H)a Bolivia, 1916, 2c Lake Titicaca, imperf, cen ter in verted (113d), block of 4, un used with out gum, brightand fresh with large bal anced mar gins, Ex tremely Fine, Scott $1,000+. Price: $1,000




32 HH Brit ish Oc cu pa tion of Ital ian East Af rica, 1941, un is sued over prints (Sassone 12-17, 19-20), lack -ing only the 3L and the rare 10c & 20L, o.g., never hinged; 40L with a small edge tear, 8L on 10L nicked at left, 50Lwith a lightly nat u ral pa per wrin kle. A rare group, es pe cially never hinged; Sassone 14, 19 & 20 signed Oliva, withhis 1974 cer tif i cate. Sassone €19,850 ($23,320). Price: $2,500


Ex 32

33 m Bul garia, 1881, Lion Ram pant, 5s black & or ange, back ground in verted (7a. Michel 7K), an es pe -cially choice ex am ple of this very rare 19th cen tury er ror, which only ex ists used; strong fresh col ors and un usu allywell-cen tered for this typ i cally tightly margined stamp; neatly cancelled, very fine; only a small num ber are known toex ist; signed P.Y. Karaivanoff and ac com pa nied by his 1961 cer tif i cate, Su perb, only a small num ber are known toex ist, with this a true con di tion rar ity, Ex-Cunliffe; signed P.Y. Karaivanoff, with his 1961 certificate.

Price: $6,500

34 H Bul garia, 1882, Lion Ram pant, 3s or ange & yel low, back ground in verted (12a. Michel 14K), prior to2009, most ref er ences in var i ous Bul gar ian stamp hand books and cat a logues held that this er ror only ex isted used,only nine of which had been re corded; this mint ex am ple is as fresh as the day it was printed, with bright vivid col ors, ex cel lent cen ter ing and full o.g. which is lightly hinged, Very Fine, a breath tak ing ex am ple of this in cred i bly rare mint er ror—be lieved to be the only un used ex am ple, Ex-Cunliffe; with 1966 P.F. certificate. Price: $20,000

35 m Bul garia, 1882, Lion Ram pant, 3s or ange & yel low, back ground in verted (12a. Michel 14K), a bril -liantly fresh used ex am ple with ra di ant col ors on bright pa per, at trac tively cen tered, and neat par tial c.d.s. post -mark, Very Fine, only nine used cop ies are be lieved to ex ist, this amongst the nic est, Ex-Cunliffe; signed P.Y.Karaivanoff, and ac com pa nied by his 1961 certificate. Price: $4,750




36 ) Ca na dian Prov inces: Prince Ed ward Is land, 1869 (late May), sen sa tional thrice-for warded coverfrom Char lotte Town to Paris, franked by eight ex am ples of #6 (3 sin gles, a pair plus a strip of 3), each manu scriptcancelled with an “X” and light strikes of barred oval handstamp can cels; Lon don “PD” oval, Liv er pool Br. Packet,and crayoned “1/2" mark ings in red, and June 16 Calais en try in black all on front; re verse a melée of ad dresses(one crossed out), tran sits and re ceiv ers, etc.; one stamp wrapped around right side of en ve lope, part of backflapmiss ing from open ing. A re mark able and unique frank ing to France - if you like well-trav eled cov ers, this one’s foryou, Very Fine; with 2004 Greene Foundation certificate.

The 2s franking prepaid the double letter rate with 1s2d Sterling credit to Great Britain, which came into effectJan. 1, 1861. Price: $7,500


37 H Can ada, Air mail Semi-Of fi cial, 1927, 25¢ Car ling Trans-At lan tic Flight (Unitrade CLP6), a brightlycol ored, cleanly printed stamp de pict ing Tully and Medcalf and their pro posed route; tear at bot tom cen ter; ac com -pa ny ing cer tif i cate notes stains, which ap pear mostly on re verse - still a pretty stamp de spite its faults; don’t let thisone dis ap pear, hand some Very Fine ap pear ance, one of the great Aerophilately rar i ties, with just 100 printed and13 un used ex am ples known; with 1975 R.P.S.L. cer tif i cate. Unitrade C$50,000 ($37,500). Price: $9,500




38 ) Ca nal Zone, 1904, 1¢-10¢ over printed U.S. com plete (4-8), fresh and at trac tive set (none of the usualstraight edges), tied by pur ple seven bar CANAL ZONE can cels with match ing “CANALZONE/DEC/8/1904/P.M./LA BOCA” town post mark on neat small cover to Pan ama, An con (Dec. 8) tran sit andPan ama (Dec. 9) re ceiver on back, ex cel lent set, a Very Fine cover, only 22 sets on cover are re corded of whichonly three are from La Boca, Scott $273 as used singles. Price: $750


39 ) China, 1884 (Mar. 10), re mark able com bi na tion Large Dragon cover from Pe king to To kyo, writ tenby Saburo Yokata to Kuniomi Yokata, Min is ter of Jus tice in To kyo, en dorsed “Tokio Ja pan” on front, franked withJa pan 5s blue New Koban tied by cross roads obliterator along with “Shang hai/19 MAR/1884/I.J.P.A.” c.d.s.(Mizuhara type II). Re verse shows China 5ca chrome yel low Large Dragon on thick pa per, smooth per fo ra tion is -sue, tied by one com plete and one par tial strike of Pe king seal in blue, with match ing “I.G. of Cus toms/MAR10/84/Pe king” or i gin c.d.s. along side the 5ca stamp, which shows a par tial sec ond strike where a 1ca stamp was af -fixed, then lost in tran sit. In ter est ingly and quite amaz ingly as well, is that ex actly where the 1ca would have ap -peared, a To kyo (Meiji) 17.3.22 dou ble-cir cle date stamp ap pears, ty ing the 5ca Dragon! Two tiny pin holes, whichare com pletely harm less, are noted for ac cu racy, oth er wise Very Fine and choice, a Great Rar ity among the LargeDragon cov ers; 2014 Experts and Consultants Ltd. photo certificate.

The sender paid 6ca for the newly revised international rate to Japan with one 5ca and one 1ca stamp. When thecover reached Shanghai, the Customs P.O. affixed the 5s Japanese Koban and transmitted it to the JapaneseP.O. in Shanghai where the crossroads killer and I.J.P.A. c.d.s. were applied. The 1ca was subsequently lost intransit, though since the correct rate of 5s was affixed, the Tokyo P.O. did not treat it as postage due.

This cover is truly remarkable for several reasons. In James B. Whang A Comprehensive Illustration of theCovers of Chinese Large Dragons, page 329, he notes, “Large Dragons addressed to destinations in Japan areextremely rare, so far only two are known”. Secondly, according to Whang on page 443, this cover would nowrepresent the earliest known cover charged according to the new 6ca rate to the U.S. or Japan. Thirdly, undernormal circumstances, the loss of a stamp from a cover does not enhance its value. In this case, where the partial Peking seal on the 5ca and the Tokyo receiver, which ties the 5ca stamp, explains this remarkable usage.

Price: $15,000




40 H China, 1883-1911, Shang hai, China Reg is try La bel (FX-SH1d), nar row black Ro man let ter “R”, abeau ti ful ex am ple of this rar ity, with fault-free face and crisp print ing on clean pa per. A 2019 P.F. Cer tif i cate ac com -pa nies, not ing “with small faults”—a small thin at top plus two spots (one bot tom, one left) of small pa per pulls, vis i -ble only from the back.

These reg is try ex change la bels re sulted from an 1882 Uni ver sal Postal Un ion res o lu tion that in ter na tionalreg is tered mail be so marked by a la bel or handstamp with a cap i tal let ter “R”. The US opted for gummed la bels, with 37 au tho rized ex change of fices. La bels are known from 26 of fices, with Shang hai be ing the sole of fice out side theUS or its Pos ses sions.

A to tal of 52 Shang hai la bels, across four dif fer ent types, are re corded. Scott’s US Spe cial ized notes only nine ofthis type “d” la bel, with Ro man let ter “R”. While most US la bels were printed by the Gov ern ment Print ing Of fice andgummed, per fo rated and dis trib uted by the Bu reau of En grav ing and Print ing in Wash ing ton, DC, this la bel wasprinted lo cally in China, while of fi cials there awaited ar rival of the US-printed la bels in red.

A beau ti ful and scarce item, of in ter est to any phil a telic Sinophile., o.g., pre vi ously hinged, ar gu ably one of the finest unused examples known. Price: $3,500


41 HH China: Manchukuo, Air mail, 1945, Pa tri otic Avi a tion Fund (un is sued) com plete (Chan MKU2.J.S.C.A. U1-4), set of two se-ten ant pairs, o.g., never hinged, fresh mint, Very Fine, rare and pop u lar items.

Price: $15,000




42 HH China (Peo ple’s Re pub lic), 1962, Mei Lan-fang sou ve nir sheet (C94M) (Scott 628), clean clear crispcor ners, un blem ished orig i nal gum, com plete print ing, flaw less, o.g., never hinged, one of, if not the, fin est ex am -ples that we have had the plea sure to of fer, with out any of the blem ishes and im per fec tions that so of ten plague thisis sue, Su perb this sheet is with out the nor mally as so ci ated flaws that plague this sheet, a true con di tion qual ity rar ity con sid er ing the small quan tity of only 10,000 printed. Scott $18,500. Price: $18,000


43 (H)a Co lom bia, Air mail, 1920, 10c green, Flier in Plane Watch ing Bi plane (C11), a pris tine com plete paneof 72, fresh from the li tho gra pher’s stone. The de signs were laid down in blocks of four, with re sul tant mi nor mis-reg -is tra tions be tween blocks readily ap par ent. The full sheet lay out—two hor i zon tal panes of 72—can be sur mised bythe rag ged left-hand mar gin (in con trast to the cut top, right and bot tom sheet mar gins). Over all fresh and bright,though ex pect an age spot or two or mi nor mar ginal wrin kle.

A great find for the Co lom bian aerophilatelist, or for your in ner printer’s devil., Scott $4,320. Price: $1,500

44 (H)a Co lom bia, Air mail, 1920, 10c red brown, Bi plane over Sea & Moun tains (C11C-C11D vars), in a fullpane of 68. Sixty im ages se-ten ant, with #C11C and C11D al ter nat ing in ten rows of six, plus an ad di tional two col -umns of four jux ta posed at the foot of the sheet. Lower left cor ner, oth er wise blank, con tains the “cor ner card” of theprinter: “C. Valientem./Litografo/B’quilla.” The two jux ta posed col umns are ar ranged tête-bêche, pro vid ing Scott#C11Cj, and the full sheet will of course con tain the “re drawn moun tain” va ri ety at po si tion 23 (#C11Dl). Part of amuch larger press sheet, as ev i denced by the ir reg u lar mar gins all around. A few mi nor wrin kles but oth er wise freshand clean., Scott $5,975. Price: $1,900




45 (H) Czecho slo va kia, 1984, Un is sued 1K Pole Vaulter in scribed “Los An geles 1984" (2527 var. Yvert2600 var), with out gum (as of ten), pris tine and per fectly cen tered, Ex tremely Fine; signed Karásek with his 1992cer tif i cate. Yvert €7,500 ($8,810).

When the Soviet Union (and by extension, the Eastern Bloc countries) decided to boycott the 1984 Los AngelesOlympics, all stamp stocks that had already been printed were recalled and destroyed. In Czechoslovakia, only avery few examples—17 or 18, according to one source—of the 1K value survived.

The Czech set of four (Scott #2527-2530) was subsequently reprinted without the three-line upper left inscriptionreferring to the Olympics and Los Angeles.

A key item for the Czechoslovakia or Olympics collector. Price: $1,750


46 P France, 1935, S.S. Normandie, 1.50fr dark blue & light blue (300, 300a. Yvert 299, 300), a pair ofproofs, one in each shade of the is sued stamp; the dark blue die-sunk on ma chine-deckled card, the light blue onwove with the “Ate lier de Fab ri ca tion des Tim bres-Poste - Paris” im print at lower right; both signed in pen cil“Decaris” (Al bert Decaris, the stamp’s de signer and en graver); dark blue with par tially scraped-away paperclipstain at far left of mar gin, well away from die im pres sion, Very Fine.

The Oxbridge of French philately. Price: $1,200

47 P France, 1936, S.S. Normandie, 1.50fr blue green, un is sued (300b. Yvert 300A), die-sunk on card with the clar ity ex pected of a proof—and a real eye-catcher in the un is sued color; ver ti cal line of ton ing along left side re -verse of no con se quence, Very Fine, A mint copy of the stamp cat a logues €37,500; nei ther Yvert nor Maury lists anépreuve de luxe.

A stunning—and certainly rare—proof, destined for the finest collection. Price: $4,500



Ex 46


48 H France, 1946, In au gu ra tion of the Postal Mu seum (B92, B205. Maury 446, 753), boxed pre sen ta tionset of spe cial proofs com pris ing the 1939 40c + 60c Honoré’s “The Let ter” (B92): Art ist’s die proofs (2) in blackand in ver mil ion; de luxe proofs (3) in bright vi o let and two in the is sued col ors, one with re marque in mar gin; and anim per fo rate sheet of 25; and the 1946 2f + 3f Chardin’s “The Let ter” (B205): Art ist’s die proofs (2) in black ongreen ish and in blue on yel low ish; de luxe proofs (3) in deep ver mil ion on blue and two in the is sued color, one withre marque in mar gin; and an im per fo rate sheet of 25; plus two col lec tive proofs: one large for mat (ap prox i mately11" x 7"), im per fo rate, the other in a small for mat, per fo rated. Also in cluded are sev eral large dec o ra tive en grav ingsmade for the oc ca sion. As for con di tion, the box it self has some mi nor wear and spot ting, but the con tents are allclean and Very Fine, the imperforate sheets being never hinged. A fabulous presentation. Price: $6,000


Ex 48

49 ) France, 1739-1810, Au to graph Let ters from the Duchy of Lorraine and France, housed in an over -sized sheet file book, 19 let ters all in vir tu ally pris tine con di tion. The first and old est is dated 19 De cem ber 1739, ad -dressed to un known gen tle men from Prince Charles of Lorraine. At the time, Lorraine was an au ton o mous Duchywithin the Holy Ro man Em pire, and Charles (1712-80) served as an Aus trian gen eral, be com ing field mar shal ofthe Im pe rial Army and gov er nor of the Aus trian Neth er lands.

The re main ing 18 let ters, dated be tween 1808 and 1810, are from Charles-François Lebrun (1739-1824), whoplayed a num ber of im por tant roles in France in its tur bu lent os cil la tions be tween mon ar chy and re pub lic. Lebrunstud ied mod ern lan guages and law, and dur ing Louis XV’s reign served as sec re tary to the pres i dent of par lia ment,royal cen sor and crown in spec tor. Come the Rev o lu tion, Lebrun pub lished the Voix du citoyen, later be ing namedto the Es tates Gen eral where he es tab lished many of the Re pub lic’s fi nan cial laws. Though staunchly against thecre ation of a new no bil ity, he served un der Napoléon (and his heirs), ris ing to Arch-Trea surer of the Em pire andeven gain ing the ti tle of Duke of Plaisance. In the lit er ary field, he pub lished trans la tions of The Il iad and The Od ys -sey and Tasso’s Je ru sa lem De liv ered, as well as a mono graph, Let tres sur les fi nances.

A lovely compilation for the francophile, and a window into the early years of the French Empire. Price: $2,250



Ex 49


50 P French Col o nies, 1946, Book of Decaris Proofs, Du Tchad au Rhin. A glo ri ous hard cover pre sent ingproofs in blue of Al bert Decaris’ “Vic tory” stamp and “From Chad to the Rhine” se ries, is sued through out the FrenchCol o nies in 1946. The seven de signs (Scott Com mon De signs #CD92-CD98) range in value from 5F to 50F, andtheir mo tifs fol low the Sec ond Di vi sion’s ad vance from Af rica to the Lib er a tion of Paris, plus an al le gor i cal de pic tionof Vic tory. Is su ing en ti ties run (in French al pha bet i cal or der) from French Equa to rial Af rica to Wallis & Futuna.

Pro duced by the Institut de Gra vure in Paris, this is an “Al bum de Grand Luxe”, half-bound in deep blue leather overpa pered boards, with ti tle gold-stamped be tween raised bands, with proofs printed one per page on hand-made laid pa per (top edge gilt), with each page signed by Decaris in pen cil. Is sued in an edi tion of 30 cop ies, this is copy #5.The book is sound and com plete, in clud ing all bound-in in ter leav ing, and the proofs are as fresh as the day theywere pulled. Pre vi ous owner’s pen ciled mark ings on fly leaf should be eas ily eras able.

A stunning addition to your library, philatelic or otherwise. Price: $3,750


Ex 50

51 H French Col o nies, 1946, “Chad to the Rhine” March, com plete set of de luxe proofs, six proofs foreach of the 15 Col o nies, 90 in to tal, each with the of fi cial em bossed seal, scarce com plete set, Very Fine, ex tremelyrare as a com plete set. Price: $1,500



Ex 51


52 HHa Great Brit ain, 1997, Queen Eliz a beth II, deep green (as used for 2p), light grey (as used for the 29p), flame (as used for 1st class, undenominated tri als), full panes of 100, a lim ited sup ply of these were dis cov ered,o.g., never hinged, Very Fine; each with pho to cop ies of 2017 R.P.S.L. cer tif i cates that were is sued for the dis cov ery set of sheets.

Machin trials discovered after 20 years

Sheets of three trials of the Machin head, produced in 1997, have come to light in this the 50th anniversary of theintroduction of Arnold Machin’s iconic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Machin definitives were first printed in lithography in 1980 as Royal Mail expanded its range of suppliers.However, by the mid-1990s it had decided that all the standard definitives should be printed in gravure. At thetime The House of Questa, based in south London, did not have gravure capability.

As the company wished to participate in all future tenders for Royal Mail stamps, whether printed by litho orgravure, in gummed or self-adhesive versions in sheets or stamp booklets, it decided to make a major investment in a gravure press and an automated booklet maker. To achieve the best, Questa partnered with a number ofhighly qualified and renowned organisations to deliver the skills, processes and technology required to ensure itwould be ready for production in less than 18 months.

Courvoisier, based in Switzerland, was at that time arguably the finest gravure stamp printer in Europe. Thecompany agreed to assist Questa with technical advice and cylinder making. As part of this process Royal Mailgave permission for a print trial at Courvoisier using the Machin head: the original material to enable the trial totake place was supplied by Questa. Part of the thinking at the time was that Courvoisier might undertake theproduction of the cylinders needed for final stamp printing on behalf of Questa, but this did not materialise.

The undenominated trials were produced in October 1997 in sheets of 100 (from larger sheets of 200 guillotinedin two) with the Courvoisier imprint along the vertical margins. They exist in three colours: deep green (as used for the 2p), light grey (as used at the time for the 29p), and flame (as used for 1st class). Courvoisier had printed thethen current Kenya definitives, these being of the same overall size as the Machin definitives. As a consequence,the trials were printed on coated paper without phosphor bands, and have perforation 15 x 14. However, thestamp image is slightly smaller than that used on Machin definitives.

Barry Robinson, then Design Director of Royal Mail, visited Courvoisier to see the preparations. It is believed thetrial sheets were printed on one of the small gravure printing presses at Courvoisier, some being printed duringthe visit.

The gravure press and the automated booklet line were produced by ATN in France. The new machinery wouldnot fit within Questa’s original base in Camberwell: the move to Byfleet was part of the development.

Courvoisier was founded in 1880 and started printing stamps in 1937. It was noted for the high quality of itsphotogravure work, but sadly it ran into financial difficulties and ceased trading in 2001. Price: $9,500


53 Great Brit ain, The Bea tles, “Love from The Bea tles” with Paul, John, George and Ringo’s sig na tures, on the re verse of a US 2¢ postal card (#UX38); sig na tures clean and as fresh as the day they were writ ten; card withsmall faults of no con se quence; ac com pa nied by Royal Post’s 2007 Bea tles is sue pre sen ta tion pack to pro vide acol or ful and fun backdrop. Price: $10,000




54 ) Ital ian States: Lom bardy-Venetia, 1850, Arms, 10c black, hand-made pa per (3. Michel 2 X a.Sassone 2), a pretty four-margined hor i zon tal strip of 6 can celed by script “Isola della Scala/14 GIU” (1853)handstamps on an outer folded let ter to Castelfranco; backstamped “CASTELFRANCO/15 GIUNO” straightlinehandstamp; the strip has been par tially lifted at the left end to af fect small re pairs to the edges of the two left stamps;it was then re-af fixed and the whole is oth er wise Very Fine and most at trac tive. An ex ceed ingly rare us age; signedEn. Diena, with his 1979 cer tif i cate, Sassone €57,500 ($67,560). Price: $4,500


55 ()) Ital ian States: Lom bardy-Venetia, 1859-63, mixed is sue frank ing (12. Michel 11 II. Sassone 32, 39),a small 1863 cover front with part of the back from Venezia to Paris, France, franked with an 1859 15s blue, type II(#12) and an 1863 10s blue (#18) tied by 17 Nov Venezia c.d.s.’s and bear ing a red “P.D.” handstamp and a red 20Nov Culoz, France en try c.d.s. A lovely ex am ple of this ex traor di narily rare frank ing; signed M. Raybaudi & Dr. Avi,with the lat ter’s 2015 cer tif i cate, Sassone €140,000 for a full cover ($164,500). Price: $9,500




56 ) Ital ian States: Modena, 1859, Pro vi sional Govt., 5c green & 15c brown (10-11. Sassone 12-13),each with four large bal anced mar gins, tied by 9-bar can cels on a small outer folded let ter from Modena to Pisa;post marked with a Modena c.d.s., 22 Oct 1859 with a boxed “P.D.” and backstamped Pisa on 24 Oct, Very Fine;signed Avi, with his 2018 cer tif i cate, Sassone €50,000 ($58,750). Price: $3,500


57 HHa Ital ian States: Na ples, 1861, Ne a pol i tan Prov inces, 5g car mine rose, head in verted (23c. Sassone21h), an ex traor di nary mint block of 25 with full mar gins all around and fresh, never hinged orig i nal gum, Very Fine;signed En. Diena & Dr. Avi, with 2016 Avi and 1991 Diena cer tif i cates, the lat ter for the part-sheet of 50 from whichthis block was taken, Sassone €62,500 as hinged sin gles ($73,440). Scott $31,250 as hinged singles.

Price: $4,500




58 Ha Ital ian States: Pa pal/Ro man States, 1852, 3b black on “light leather brown” (4 var. Sassone 4Aca),a mint block of 4, po si tions 7-8/12-13, po si tion 12 show ing the big flaw in the let ter “B” of “BAJ”, full o.g. with a cou pleof light nat u ral gum bends and mi nor gum soaks; nei ther of which is re ally rel e vant or men tioned in the ac com pa ny -ing cer tif i cate, Very Fine; signed Em. Diena, A. Diena, Fiecchi and Dr. Avi, with 2014 Avi cer tif i cate, Sassone€80,000 +++ ($94,000).

A unique positional block of four—the big flaw is not even priced in mint condition. Price: $9,000


59 Ha Ital ian States: Pa pal/Ro man States, 1852, 6b black on gray ish li lac (7b. Sassone 7A), a lovely mintblock of 4, o.g., am ple to large mar gins all around; top stamps each with a small thin, oth er wise Very Fine, Sassone€16,250 ($19,090). Scott $6,800 as sin gles. Price: $750




60 ) Ital ian States: Romagna, 1859, ½b black on straw, di ag o nal bi sect (1a. Sassone 1), in a pair with afull ½b, large mar gins ex cept barely shaved at lower left, tied by light di a mond grid can cel on re verse of a smallfolded let ter sent mailed lo cally in Bo lo gna, front bares a Bo lo gna c.d.s., 1 Dec 1859 and the re verse a lightly struck“P.L.” in cir cle dis tri bu tion mark ing, Very Fine, an ex cep tional ex am ple of this rare bi sect; signed Em. Diena, Sorani,Sismondo, and one other, with 2006 Sismondo and 2002 Briefmarken Prüfstelle cer tif i cates, Scott $16,250.Sassone €32,500 ($38,190). Price: $1,500


61 H/m) Ital ian States: Sar dinia, Com pre hen sive Col lec tion of Cavallini Let ter Sheets, 1819-49,

The “Cavallini” have ac quired both a myth i cal and ro man tic aura in the an nals of postal his tory and are con sid eredto be one of the pre cur sors of world wide postal sta tio nery. In ac tual fact, the Cavallini let ter sheets were in tro ducedin the King dom of Sar dinia as a fis cal rather than postal mea sure. In the early nine teen cen tury, there were threeforms of trans mis sion of do mes tic mail within Sar dinia. These con sisted of of fi cial or gov ern ment mail, usu ally in di -cated by free frank mark ings, mail sent through the state postal ser vice, with the fees usu ally paid by the re cip i ent,and pri vate mail car ried by mes sen ger or cou rier ser vice. Al though this last method of com mu ni ca tion pro vided aquicker or more ef fi cient ser vice, it was cum ber some for the pub lic, since fees had to be paid both at the post of ficeand to the cou rier or mes sen ger ser vice. The sale of the stamped Cavallini let ter sheets sim pli fied this pro cess,while also pro tect ing the state’s mo nop oly on rev e nue for writ ten com mu ni ca tion through the col lec tion of fees fortheir sale to the pub lic.

The Cavallini let ter sheets were made readily avail able to the pub lic, hav ing been sold not only at the post of fice, butalso at lo cal to bacco shops through out the is land. This let ter pa per had three handstamped (first is sue) or em -bossed (sec ond is sue) de nom i na tions, based on the dis tance of send ing of the let ter. The mo tif of the stamped de -sign con sisted of a cherub with a posthorn rid ing a strid ing “Giara” pony, a wild horse breed na tive to the is land ofSar dinia. All com mu ni ca tions sent by pri vate or mes sen ger ser vice were re quired to be sent on these let ter sheets,which con sisted of the dou ble size of a sim ple sheet of pa per, and, there fore, could be con ve niently folded for mail -ing, with one sheet to be used as the mes sage por tion and the other for the outer (ad dress) cov er ing.

The fol low ing of fi cial printed doc u ments re lat ing to the is sue of the Cavallini and pub lished by the Royal Print ing Bu -reau are in cluded in the col lec tion, and the Ital ian ver sions are rep re sented by nu mer ous cop ies. The of fi cial French ver sion, which is quite rare, was pub lished for the in hab it ants of Savoy and the Comté de Nice.

•Re gie Patenti Con cui S.M. aggiunge alcune facilità a quelle accordate coll’ Editto delli 12 agosto scorso, peltrasporto delle corrispondenze del Pubblico per mezzi estranei alla Posta; stabilisce l’uso di una Carta de nom i nate“Carta Postale-Bollata”, e dà al ter provvidenze rel a tive.In data delli 7 novembre 1818. Torino, dalla Stamperia Reale.This pat ent es tab lished the is su ance of stamped pa per to re place post of fice handstamps ap plied to mail trans mit -ted pri vately, the three de nom i na tions to be used, their pur pose/rates, and the reg u la tions ap ply ing to this sys tem.Three orig i nal pub lished cop ies.

•Let tres-Patentes par lesquelles S.M. accorde quelques facilités, outres celles portées par son Edit du 12 aoûtder nier, pour le trans ports des let ters du pub lic par des voies étrangères à la Poste; établit l’usage d’un papier tim -bre, et donne quelques autres dis po si tions à cet égard.En date du 7 novembre 1818. Chambéry, Imprimeur du Roi.One orig i nal pub lished copy.The French ver sion of the “Re gie Patenti…”



Ex 61


•Man i festo Camerale Portante notificanza che la Carta Postale-bollata, stabilata colle Re gie Patenti delle 7 delloscorso novembre, sarà provvisionalmente posta in corso non filigranata; della dimensione ordinaria della Cartacosi detta da Lettere, e munita dei bolli relativi alle tre qualità della medesima pienamente conformi agli impronti ividelineati.In data delli 3 dicembre 1818. Torino, dalla Stamperia Reale.This no tice con firmed the is sue of three let ter sheets of dif fer ent val ues, pro vi sion ally on reg u lar unwatermarkedpa per, and then later on spe cial wa ter marked pa per.Seven orig i nal pub lished cop ies.The back page of each copy con tains orig i nal im pres sions of the three stamped val ues in blue (“Modelli de’ Bolli”).

•Manifeste de la Royale Chambre des Comptes par lequel elle notifie au Pub lic que le papier tim bre de Posteétabli par les Royales Patentes du 7 novembre der nier sera provisoirement mis en us age sans filigrane, de la di -men sion ordi naire du papier dit à let tres, et revêtu des tim bres rélatifs aux trios qualités de papier absolumentconformes aux empreintes, qui y sont figurées.En date du 3 décembre 1818. Tu rin, de l’Imprimerie Royale. One orig i nal pub lished copy.The back page con tains orig i nal im pres sions of the three stamped val ues in blue (“Modèles des Tim bres”). The French ver sion of the “Man i festo Camerale…”

•Man i festo Camerale Portante notificanza che la distribuzione dell’attuale Carta Postale bollata provvisionalecesserà con tut to dicembre prossimo; e che comincierà Alberto Diena aver luogo dal primo gennajo 1820 ladistribuzione della Carta postale filigranata bollata a secco, con alcune provvidenze rel a tive. In data delli 13 novembre 1819. Torino, dalla Stamperia Reale.This no tice called for the ces sa tion of the 1819 first handstamped (pro vi sional) is sue and pro vided an ex tended us -age date and the method of ex chang ing these for the new em bossed (de fin i tive) is sue on spe cial wa ter marked pa -per. It con firmed the three new de fin i tive val ues to be is sued on Jan u ary 1, 1820. Six orig i nal pub lished cop ies.The fourth page of each copy con tains orig i nal im pres sions of the three col or less em bossed val ues (“Modelli de’Bolli”).

1819 (1 Jan u ary - 31 De cem ber) Cavallini Pro vi sional Handstamps in Blue

Al though this pro vi sional is sue was only to be valid for a year, its use was tol er ated un til the end of Jan u ary 1820. Itwas then with drawn and su per seded by the de fin i tive em bossed stamped let ter sheets. Af ter the end of the pro vi -sional pe riod, the let ter sheets could be ex changed for the de fin i tive em bossed is sue. How ever, these let ter sheetswere used into 1836.

The Cavallini horse man de signs were printed on dou ble sheets (ap prox i mately 385 x 245 mm). Most of the sur viv -ing un used let ter sheets are on sin gle or slightly larger (1½ times) sheets, un less oth er wise stated.

The col lec tion con tains the fol low ing let ter sheets :

•15 centesimi Un used - 2 let ter sheets. Used within proper pe riod - 1819 (Sept.) en tire let ter (380 x 245 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Tu rin to Pont SanMartino, split ting along joins, signed Alberto Diena and G. Bolaffi. Wrong (mis dated) or im pos si ble date - 1818 (Mar. 9) en tire let ter from Tuggia to Triore, on wa ter marked pa per. Late dates of use - 1829-49 en tires or en tire let ters (4), two are on wa ter marked pa per.

•25 centesimi Un used - 6 let ter sheets, one signed Alberto Diena, some of doubt ful sta tus. Late date of use - 1820 (July 13) en tire let ter (382 x 250 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Tu rin to Salzo, with 1972Giulio Bolaffi cer tif i cate. Late date of use - 1823 (Oct. 7) printed prices cur rent and mes sage on en tire let ter (dou ble let ter sheet) from Lon -don to Vigevano via Calais and Mi lan, thin pa per with “W Weatherley/1822" wa ter mark, sta tus doubt ful. Later dates of use - 1824-49 en tires or en tire let ters (4). Ref er ence - 1819 (Dec. 19) en tire let ter from Diano to Paris, forged Cavallini 25c handstamp.


•50 centesimi Un used - 8 let ter sheets, one signed E(milio) Diena, four are on wa ter marked pa per (all expertized: one signedAlberto Diena, one with 1999 Newiger cer tif i cate, and the other two with 2005 Sismondo cer tif i cates). Used within proper pe riod - 1819 (Feb. 4) en tire let ter (405 x 263 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Genova to SanStefano, not expertized. Re main der us ages - 1820 (May 20) folded of fi cial let ter sheet (393 x 260 mm) with printed ”Amministrazione delle Re gie Poste" of Genova, mes sage and 50c stamped im pres sion on in side, from Genova to Loano, signed ED(Emilio Diena). Re main der us ages - 1823 (c.) folded of fi cial let ter sheet (1+ page) with printed “Amministrazione delle Re giePoste” of Genova and 50c stamped im pres sion on in side, from Tu rin to Strambino. Later dates of use - 1828-45 en tires or en tire let ters (3). Ref er ence - 1819 (Dec. 19) en tire let ter from Diano to Paris, forged Cavallini 50c handstamp.

1820 (Jan. 1) Cavallini De fin i tive Is sue with Col or less Em boss ing

These let ter sheets were again is sued as dou ble sheets on wa ter marked pa per to be folded in the form of cov ers.The pa per has the wa ter mark of the Arms of Savoy and the in scrip tion of au tho ri za tion of the Di rec tor ate Gen eral ofthe Posts. Most of the sur viv ing un used let ter sheets con tain only half sheets.

This is sue re mained in use through the end of 1837, though the Postal De cree of March 30, 1836 de tailed the ces -sa tion of the Cavallini and the han dling of pri vate mails, mail mat ter where there was no post of fice, and lo cal mailsent within the dis trict of the same town. In fu ture, these priv i leges would not be taxed by the gov ern ment, therebyend ing the state mo nop oly over col lect ing rev e nue from such com mu ni ca tions. As such, there was no lon ger aneed for the Cavallini. The sub se quent Postal Cir cu lar of June 2, 1836, laid out the in struc tions for the re turn of anyun used let ter sheets, which the gen eral pub lic could re turn at the end of the month and re ceive full re im burse ment.

The col lec tion con tains the fol low ing let ter sheets :

•15 centesimi Un used - 4 half or 1½ (page) let ter sheets, one signed Alberto Diena. Used - 1820 (Feb. 23) en tire let ter (397 x 270 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Zoagli to Genoa, early us age. Used - 1820 (May 17) en tire let ter (dou ble let ter sheet) from Pomparato to Genoa, first year us age, part of ad -dress crossed out, signed Alberto Diena. Used - 1822 (Sept. 11) en tire let ter (397 x 270 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Siniscola to Tu rin, with A. Bolaffihandstamp guar an tee. Used - 1822-29 en tires or en tire let ters (5), one signed Alberto Diena. Ref er ence - Un used dou ble let ter sheet, em boss ing partly ap plied over wa ter mark, sta tus un known. Ref er ence - Un used dou ble let ter sheet, em boss ing ap plied over wa ter mark, and six pointed star in wa ter mark,forg ery. Ref er ence - 2 un used sin gle let ter sheets, small and large six pointed star in wa ter mark, forg ery.

•25 centesimi Un used - 18 (ap prox i mately) half let ter sheets, one signed ED (Emilio Diena) and an other signed Alberto Dienawith 2005 Sismondo cer tif i cate, a num ber may be of doubt ful sta tus. Used - 1822 (June 22) en tire let ter (394 x 258 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Revello to Bene, signed AlbertoDiena and with 2018 Helmut Avi cer tif i cate. Used - 1832 (July 3) en tire let ter (395 x 255 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Carmagnola to Tu rin, signed AlbertoDiena. Used - 1825 (Oct. 12) en tire let ter (397 x 260 mm, dou ble let ter sheet) from Ovada to Genova, signed AlbertoDiena. Ref er ence - 2 un used sin gle or half let ter sheets, both with small six pointed star in wa ter mark, forg ery.

•50 centesimi Un used - 8 half let ter sheets, one signed Alberto Diena and with 2005 Sismondo cer tif i cate, some may be ofdoubt ful sta tus. Used - 1828 (Dec. 29) en tire (sin gle let ter sheet) from Spezia to Tu rin, also show ing “Spezia” handstamp + “Dice




29" datestamp, both in red, signed Alberto Diena. Re main der us ages - 1838 (Sept. 17) folded dou ble let ter sheet (395 x 255 mm) with printed ”Amministrazionedelle Re gie Poste" of Genova and writ ten mes sage on in side, em bossed im pres sion of Cavallini 50c and“Genova/17 Set” un framed datestamp ad ja cent, with manu script tax mark ing. Ref er ence - 2 un used half let ter sheets, small and large six pointed star in wa ter mark, forg ery. Ref er ence - Un used dou ble let ter sheet, large six pointed star in wa ter mark, forg ery.

•Col lat eralIn cluded are var i ous cut-outs, re prints, forg er ies and some pre sumed gen u ine, a cou ple of ar ti cles and an F.R.Ferryman (New York) auc tion cat a logue of Jan. 26-27, 1954.

There is also a cor re spon dence of folded let ters (half sheets) ad dressed to the Min is ter of the In te rior in Tu rin show -ing em bossed 15c, 25c and 50c, all with “Fi nale” handstamps, three have small or large star in wa ter mark and theother has em boss ing ap plied over the Arms of the wa ter mark. Price On Request


62 m It aly: Fiume, 1918, 10f red, ma chine over print (21 var. Sassone 22a), neatly cancelled by “Fiume”c.d.s at base, leav ing the de sign quite clear, a lovely stamp with pris tine color on fresh pa per, the over print crisp andsharp; area of pa per ad her ence on re verse mak ing the per fo ra tions at left ap pear rag ged, a very fine ex am ple ofthis ex ceed ingly rare stamp, of which very few are re corded; listed but un priced in Sassone; signed Raybaudi, withhis 2018 certificate. Price: $5,000

63 H Ital ian Of fices in the Lev ant, 1874, Nu meral, 2c or ange brown, with out over print (2a. Sassone 2b),vir tu ally per fectly cen tered with rich color and a trace of o.g.; small sur face abra sion at bot tom, just above the “A” of“ITALIANE”, oth er wise Ex tremely Fine. A lovely ex am ple of this ex ceed ingly rare stamp; signed Colla, with 2004Avi and Colla Asinelli cer tif i cates, Scott $75,000. Sassone €95,000 ($111,620). Price: $12,500




64 ) Nor way, 1917, mixed frank ing cover to the U.S.A., #53 tied by town can cel ad dressed to New YorkCity, manu script “Per S.S. Caronia Liv er pool”, manu script “Spe cial De liv ery in U.S.”, E3 tied by New York oval,F.-V.F. Price: $500


65 ) Swit zer land, Geneva, 1845, Small Ea gle, 5c black on yel low green (2L2. Michel 3. Zumstein 5), fourclear mar gins ex cept barely shaved at lower left, tied by a light ro sette can cel on a folded let ter from Geneva toMoillesulaz, Thônex, with a choice red Geneva c.d.s., 4 Nov 1845, Very Fine; with 1985 P.F. cer tif i cate, Scott$3,750. Zumstein 4,250 SFr ($4,210). Price: $1,500




66 ) World wide, Hot Lit tle Num ber of a Po lar Col lec tion, 1920s-60s, ma jor ity ap pear to be Ant arc tic, butArc tic items fea tured as well; the core of the col lec tion is over 450 cov ers, many signed by ex pe di tion mem bers (in -clud ing Byrd, Helen Dustin (first woman to fly over both poles)), US Na val com mand ers, etc.; the ma jor ity from theUS but in clud ing Rus sia, Aus tra lia, TAAF, Ar gen tina, Ja pan (with var i ous Com mem o ra tive Date Stamps), etc.; in -cludes ma te rial from Byrd’s First and Sec ond Ant arc tic Ex pe di tions (the lat ter high lighted by cov ers from each of the five “ex plo ra tion flights”—with only 100 cov ers flown on each; Wilkins-Ellsworth Sub ma rine Ex pe di tion, in clud inga signed manu script let ter on Ex pe di tion let ter head from Sir Hubert; US Navy’s Op er a tions Deep Freeze andHigh Jump (mul ti ple years); IGY tie-ins, etc., even a very small Gimbel Broth ers-pro duced post card preprinted “The Trans-Po lar Flight Ex pe di tion/Chris ti ania/Nor way” posted Charleston, WV, Mar. 31, 1924, with back printed “NorthPole Mail” with re turn Nor we gian post age cancelled King’s Bay 18 VI 25; some lovely ca chets (handstamped orprinted), cov ers and cards pro duced by Eric Wowern, scarce and early mark ings, ship can cels, photo post cards,and more are all here; cov ers are ac com pa nied by a wealth of col lat eral ma te rial, in clud ing news pa per clip pings, asta ple-bound book, High lights of the Byrd Ant arc tic Ex pe di tion, a framed pho to stat copy of the USS Phil ip pineSea‘s cruise chart dur ing Op er a tion High Jump, Rus sian po lar-themed stamp is sues (mint) 1956-89 com plete, anFSAT Bi cen ten nial sou ve nir sheet pre sen ta tion pack, and much, much more. A great opportunity for the Polarphilatelist; well worth the time for careful review, Very Fine as a whole. Price: $4,750


Ex 66

67 ) Mo naco, 1920, Prin cess Char lotte's Wed ding over print, 5fr+5fr red (Scott B18. Yvert 43), an ex cep -tional mint ex am ple, with pris tine, never hinged o.g., re mark ably fresh and quite well cen tered for this, and by farone of the nic est ex am ples we have had the plea sure of of fer ing, Very Fine; signed J-F Brun, Cham pion (faint), andKöhler, with 2011 A.P.S. & J-F Brun cer tif i cates. Scott $8,900. Yvert €13,050 ($15,330).

AN EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE STAMP, ONLY 1,050 OF WHICH WERE ISSUED. Price: $7,500



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Daniel F. Kelleher AuctionsMay 2-May 9, 2020

LONDON

2020Daniel F. KelleherBespoke Private Offerings

CONDITIONS OF SALEcle can cel on buff cover ad dressed to John M. Nixon, Jr., care of Blain, Tate &...

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Transcript of CONDITIONS OF SALEcle can cel on buff cover ad dressed to John M. Nixon, Jr., care of Blain, Tate &...