American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Large even margins, cancelled by sharp strike of red
"Paid", tied by impression thru paper on undated folded cover to New York
City with street address added in pencil, Extremely Fine, exceptionally
choice example of the Small Eagle on cover, ex Emerson and Hall (Image) 
American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Large margins all around, tied by red oval of stars
cancel on Feb. 28, 1844 folded letter from Boston to New York City with
street address added in pencil, sender's notation "P.M." (possibly
"Private Mail"), Extremely Fine, remarkably choice tied usage, ex Hall (Image) 
American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Position 4 with double transfer at top, large margins,
tied by red oval of stars cancel on Mar. 29, 1844 folded letter from
Boston to New York City, addressed in blue to Front Street with number
added by ALMCo. office in pencil, slight wear along file fold, Extremely
Fine, a beautiful and very scarce tied Small Eagle usage (Image) 
American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Large margins, tied by red oval of stars cancel on
folded cover to New York City street address, May 17 (1844) docketing,
Extremely Fine, a remarkably choice tied example of the Small Eagle stamp
(Image) 
American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Large to huge margins, tied by ms. "X" cancel, red
"Forwarded by American Mail Co. Oct. 14 from No. 101 Chestnut St. Philada."
circular datestamp on folded cover to Philadelphia, 1844 docketing, file
fold, Very Fine, ex Hall (Image) 
American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Gum toned as often for this early printing, large margins,
ink wash cancel, used on folded letter to New York City datelined
"Boston, Jany. 26th 1844" -- two days after Boston office
opened -- Very Fine, only a few American Letter Mail covers from
January 1844 are recorded -- service commenced on January 23 (NYC to
Philadelphia) and the earliest recorded cover is docketed as originating
from Philadelphia on January 25, followed by two January 26 covers (one
from Baltimore, ex Golden, and the cover from Boston offered here) (Image) 
American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Thick Paper (First Printing), Positions 4-5, horizontal
pair, left stamp double transfer at top, large margins all around, faint
gum toning as often with this early printing, ms. "X" cancels, sender's
"Paid" notation beneath pair on Feb. 4, 1844 folded letter from
Philadelphia to Boston street address, ms. "2 cts Due" for local
delivery charge, some wear and splits along folds (reinforced with hinges),
trivial scuff in top margin of pairVERY FINE. THE EARLIEST OF FIVE RECORDED MULTIPLES OF THE AMERICAN LETTER MAIL SMALL EAGLE STAMP ON COVER (ALL PAIRS). AN OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT MAIL USAGE.
Our records contain just five Small Eagle pairs on four covers and one front only (offered in lot 2616). These are listed chronologically as follows: 1) Feb. 4, 1844 folded letter to Tileston & Hollingsworth, Phila. to Boston, ms. "X" cancels, 2c delivery charge, the cover offered here, 2) May 28, 1844 folded letter to Tileston & Hollingsworth, Phila. to Boston, ms. "X" cancels, 2c delivery charge, Robson Lowe sale, Oct. 26, 1973, 3) ca. June-August 1844 front only to Jasigi & Goddard, NYC? to Boston, red "Paid" cancels, Boston handstamp, offered in lot 2616, 4) vertical pair, red "Paid" cancels, on Jul. 1, 1844 folded cover to Buck & Peters, Boston to NYC, red NY handstamp, ex Duckworth, Schwartz, and 5) Sep. 14, 1844 docketing on folded cover (unknown origin) to E. Bingham, Detroit, pair used with Letter Express 96L3a bisect, Siegel Sale 784, lot 2200. (Image)
American Letter Mail Co., 5c
Black (5L1). Horizontal pair, torn from sheet with mostly large margins
except at sides where slightly scraping design, two strikes of vivid red
"Paid" cancel (impressions tie thru paper) on cover front only to Boston,
matching "Forwarded by/American Mail Company/Office 12 State Street,
Boston" three-line handstamp -- this marking was used from June to August
1844 -- fold barely affects pair, Very Fine appearance, only five Small
Eagle pairs are recorded on covers, including this front (see lot 2615 for
census details) (Image) 
American Letter Mail Co.,
(5c) Black on Gray (5L2). Large to huge margins all around, uncancelled
but tied by gum toning, used on Sep. 22, 1844 folded letter from Boston to
Troy N.Y., small red "PAID." straightline handstamp applied by Wm.
WymanVERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE CONJUNCTIVE USAGE, INVOLVING WYMAN'S AND AMERICAN LETTER MAIL COMPANY FOR TRANSPORTION FROM BOSTON TO TROY.
This cover is comparable to the Wyman-ALMCo.-Pomeroy triple-conjunctive usage from Boston to Buffalo in our Golden sale (lot 452), which was the subject of an article by Richard Schwartz (The Penny Post, Apr. 1995). However, in this case, only two firms were involved, because the American Letter Mail Co. maintained offices in Albany and Troy. The sender gave the letter to Wyman, whose main office was located in Boston and whose principal route was New York-Boston. Because Wyman did not serve Troy, the letter was given to ALMCo. in Boston for transmission to its Troy office via Albany. The stamp prepaid the ALMCo. postage. We can speculate that Wyman, who did nothing but convey the letter to ALMCo. within Boston, probably applied the stamp after collecting 5c from the sender. (Image)