Part III - Locals H-Z continued...
SPECIAL NOTE: Lot Numbers with an "A" preceding them will be offered in three special sessions. Please refer to the Arrangement of the Sale web page for the schedule.
| Lot | Lot Description | ||
| A | 1582 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, 25c Red (143L9). Large to huge margins including left sheet
margin, brilliant color, tied by blue "Wells, Fargo & Co. Virginia Cty.
N.T. Feb. 12" oval datestamp on 3c Pink entire with printed frank, to Clara
B. Crittenden in San Francisco, 1865 letter enclosed, small sealed edge
tear at top centerEXTREMELY FINE. A CHOICE STAMP AND BEAUTIFUL VIRGINIA CITY PONY COVER FROM THE FAMOUS CRITTENDEN CORRESPONDENCE. With 1981 P.F. certificate. (Image) |
E. 4,000-5,000 |
| A | 1583 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, 25c Red (143L9). Large to huge margins including right sheet
margin, tied by blue "Wells, Fargo & Co. Virginia Cty. N.T. Feb. 22" oval
datestamp on 3c Pink entire with printed frank, to Clara B. Crittenden in
San Francisco, 1865 letter enclosedEXTREMELY FINE. ANOTHER CHOICE STAMP AND BEAUTIFUL VIRGINIA CITY PONY COVER FROM THE FAMOUS CRITTENDEN CORRESPONDENCE. With 1981 P.F. certificate. (Image) |
E. 4,000-5,000 |
| A | 1584 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, 10c Blue entire (143LU2). 10c printed over black Wells, Fargo
& Co. frank next to 3c Pink embossed stamp on a front only with backflaps
added, evidently a paste-up usage, overall lithographed Gould & Curry
Silver Mining Co. design, two strikes of blue "Wells, Fargo & Cos. Express
S.Frco. 3 Apr." large double-circle datestamp, piece mended at bottom,
nonetheless one of the great Wells Fargo rarities -- only two reported to
exist -- ex Lichtenstein (Image) |
E. 2,000-3,000 |
| A | 1585 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, (unstated value) Black, "To Be Dropped in New York Post Office"
(143LP1). Large margins to just clear at top right, uncancelled, used
on blue folded letter datelined "San Francisco Febry. 4, 1860" to
Towle & Co. in New York City, blue "Wells, Fargo & Cos. Express S.Frco. 6
Feb." large double-circle datestamp and matching "Paid" in oval, sender's
routing "p. St. Sonora", Feb. 24 receipt docketing, file
foldEXTREMELY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED COVER WITH WELLS, FARGO & COMPANY'S "DROPPED IN NEW YORK POST OFFICE" STAMP, WHICH PREPAID THE EXPRESS RATE FROM CALIFORNIA TO NEW YORK. The Scott Catalogue erroneously lists this stamp under "Newspaper Stamps" in the Wells, Fargo & Co. section. In fact, its real purpose was not to prepay newspaper charges, but to pay the express fee on letters carried by Wells, Fargo & Co. over their steamship route and "dropped in New York Post Office" as the stamp states. In this case, the letter was addressed to a local New York City firm and was probably delivered by or picked up from Wells, Fargo & Co.'s agent. The example offered in the following lot shows the 143LP1 stamp used with U.S. postage and the "N. York Steamship" circle, which is appropriate for a letter entering the mails for a location outside New York City. We record only this cover, the piece offered in the following lot and five off-cover stamps (including a stamp added to a cover, described as such in the Middendorf collection). From the March 1973 Robson Lowe sale. (Image) |
E. 7,500-10,000 |
| A | 1586 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, (unstated value) Black, "To Be Dropped in New York Post Office"
(143LP1). Two huge margins, other sides clear to touching, tied by ms.
"4" due marking on piece with two 3c Dull Red (26) tied by bold "N. York
Steamship" in dateless circle, part of address "Gray...Plymouth"
indicates destination outside New York City, small thin in piece
onlyVERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE TIED EXAMPLE OF THE WELLS, FARGO & COMPANY'S "DROPPED IN NEW YORK POST OFFICE" STAMP IN COMBINATION WITH THE 1857 ISSUE. As noted in the previous lot, the purpose of 143LP1 was not to prepay the newspaper rate, but to prepay the express fee on letters carried by Wells, Fargo & Co. from California to New York. In this case, the letter entered the New York Post Office and was marked 4c due (plus the 6c postage) to make up 10c rate. Ex Caspary. (Image) |
E. 4,000-5,000 |
| A | 1587 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, (unstated value) Black, "To Be Dropped in New York Post Office"
(143LP1). Unused (no gum), three large margins, touched at upper left,
tiny thin, Fine appearance, very rare
(Image) |
E. 750-1,000 |
| A | 1588 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, (unstated value) Blue, Newspaper, Horizontal Pair, Imperforate
Vertically (143LP9b). Block of nine with vertical perfs missing except
at left, original gum, Extremely Fine, a remarkable multiple of this scarce
variety (Image) |
E. 1,000-1,500 |
| 1589 |
 Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony
Express, (unstated value) Blue, For Publishers' Use, Newspaper
(143LP10). Rough margins touching frameline, tied by blue "Wells, Fargo
& Co's Express, San Frnco. Cal." on piece of wrapper, stained, scarce (Image) |
E. 200-300 | |
| 1590 | Wells, Fargo & Co., Newspaper Issues. 29 stamps on pages, unused and used, generally Fine appearance with minor faults, modest Scott value but scarce nonetheless | E. 200-300 | |
| 1591 | Wells, Fargo & Co., Stamp and Postal History Balance. More than 100 items, ranging from Wells Butterfield & Co. Eastern express labels to Wells, Fargo & Co. Western franks, various bills of lading, covers, stamps, express franks, Wells-related companies (Pomeroy, Letter Express), includes "U.P.R.R. May 9" route agent's circular datestamp on Wells Fargo franked entire with blue oval express handstamp, some reference material, some faults, many Fine or better | E. 750-1,000 | |
| 1592 |
 Westervelt's Post, Chester
N.Y., (1c) Black on Buff (144L1). Complete sheet of six, unused (no
gum), large margins, Extremely Fine, only two sheets of the First Issue are
reported in Patton book (p. 306) (Image) |
E. 400-500 | |
| 1593 |
 Westervelt's Post, Chester
N.Y., (1c) Black on Buff (144L1). Large margins, tied by
"Chester N.Y. Feb. 3" circular datestamp, used with 3c Rose (65), s.e.,
tied by grid on cover to Middletown N.Y., 1865 docketing also ties stamps,
Very Fine, extremely rare early (legitimate) use of Westervelt's Post, ex
Chapman, Caspary and Middendorf (Image) |
E. 1,000-1,500 | |
| 1594 | Westervelt's Post, Chester N.Y., Stamp Study Collection. Mounted stamps including genuine, reprints and counterfeits, nicely annotated, minor faults in some, Fine-Very Fine appearance | E. 100-150 |