2004 Rarities of the World continued...

THE EARLIEST AND ONLY RECORDED VALENTINE COVER WITH THE RARE CLARK & HALL PENNY POST STAMP. ONLY FIVE EXAMPLES OF THIS STAMP ARE RECORDED, EACH USED ON COVER. ONE OF THE GREATEST RARITIES OF AMERICAN LOCAL POSTS.

William J. Clark and Charles F. Hall advertised the opening of their "City Express and Penny Post" in the Feb. 13, 1851, edition of The Missouri Republican. Clark and Hall timed their opening to capture a share of the lucrative Valentine market. The first announcement noted that stamps were available for one cent each. This cover has special significance as the earliest known usage (possibly a first day of the post) and the only Valentine cover among the five recorded examples.

The five covers with 49L1 are recorded as follows (all 1851 dates): 1) uncancelled, red Feb. 27 datestamp, to Emily Smith, Long Island N.Y., ex Ferrary, Lilly, Hall (realized $17,500), 2) uncancelled, red Apr. 23 datestamp, to Emily Smith (as above), ex Boker, 3) uncancelled, red May 29 datestamp, to Emily Smith (as above), ex Boker, Golden (realized $15,000), 4) uncancelled, red Jul. 20 datestamp, to Emily Smith (as above), ex Boker, and 5) cancelled by three ms. X's on Valentine cover to Eliza Pettus, local street address, Feb. 14, 1851 enclosure, discovered in 1924 by Morris Pettus, the cover offered here. No stamps off cover are known.

This cover was discovered in 1924 among family papers belonging to Morrison Pettus, whose grandfather was William G. Pettus, Secretary of State of Missouri in 1822 when the Grizzly Bears seal of the State was adopted (the basis of the St. Louis "Bears" provisional design). The cover is addressed to Eliza Pettus in care of William G. Pettus. Articles regarding the discovery, including a feature in the New York Times, are included in this lot.

With 2002 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail $19,000.00. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. WITHOUT QUESTION THE FINEST TIED EXAMPLE OF THE HANFORD'S PONY EXPRESS LOCAL-POST STAMP.

Ex Malcolm and Jarrett. With 2003 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail $1,250.00. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. A SUPERB STAMP ON FRESH COVER. ONE OF THE FINEST OF THE ELEVEN RECORDED JENKINS' 89L1 COVERS.

An overview of the post and the different stamp printings is provided in our Golden sale (lot 1273) and at our website: www.siegelauctions.com/1999/817/yf817209.htm#222.

Ex Schwartz (Image)

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF FOUR RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE MENANT & CO. LOCAL POST STAMP. A GREAT PHILATELIC RARITY.

According to The Great Mail, Menant & Co.'s Express Post commenced operations in 1853 at 21 Conti Street and were still in business as late as 1856, although at a different address, 118 Exchange Place, near the post office. The Scott Catalogue contains a footnote to No. 104L1 that reads "Only four examples are known. Two have Philatelic Foundation certificates." There is a total of four in our records (all unused with faults): 1) the stamp offered here, ex Souren, illustrated in The Great Mail (p. 133), 2) ex Middendorf (faults including hole at top right), 3) ex Caspary (thins) and 4) vertical crease, 1999 Rarities sale (realized $22,000 hammer).

Ex Souren. With 2001 P.F. certificate. (Image)

VERY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF ANY PIPS DAILY MAIL STAMP WITH A CANCELLATION. AN OUTSTANDING LOCAL-POST RARITY.

Very little is known about Pips Daily Mail, but the stamp itself identifies George Abrahams, Stationer, as the proprietor at 86 Hamilton Avenue in South Brooklyn. The stamps come on five varieties of paper, and, although not rare unused, the cancelled example offered here is the only Pips Daily Mail stamp known used. The double-circle datestamp is typical of the style used in New York City in 1862 and 1863, when the post is reported to have operated.

Ex Mason, Ackerman, Perry and Schwartz. Illustrated in Patton book (p. 289). (Image)

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF OF THE FINEST OF THE SEVEN REPORTED OFF-COVER EXAMPLES OF ROBISON & CO.'S LOCAL-POST STAMP.

Robison & Co. was a relatively small local post in Brooklyn, New York. Elliott Perry located three Robisons in the city directory listings who were in the express business: Cornelius D. Robison at 140 Chambers, 1857-58, Francis Robison at 707 Greenwich, 1857-58, and William Robison at 64 Cedar, 1852-53. It is not known which, if any, of these men was the proprietor.

The most famous example of the Robison & Co. local-post stamp is the one tied on cover to Jas. H. Watson, 231 Henry Street in Brooklyn. The cover was discovered circa 1895 by F. E. Kneeland Jr., a Brooklyn teen-aged boy who found it while searching through a relative's papers. It passed to Ferrary, then to Caspary, and was later to become one of the cornerstones of the Boker collection. Other examples of Robison & Co.'s stamp must have been discovered in the 1860's, because catalogues published in 1864 and 1865 contain listings for a Robison & Co. post.

Our records contain eight examples of 128L1, including seven off cover and the one on cover. Five of the off-cover stamps are known to have small faults. The stamp offered here has a relatively clear strike of the blue "Paid" cancellation ("I" and "D" show). (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. THE ROSE UNION SQUARE POST OFFICE IS EXTREMELY RARE IN USED CONDITION.

No used example of the Rose 141L3 stamp was contained in the Caspary, Boker, Middendorf or Golden collections.

Ex Schwartz. Signed Sloane. With 2000 P.F. certificate (Image)