2005 Rarities of the World, Part One continued...

EXTREMELY FINE. THE ONLY SURVIVING COVER BEARING FIVE COPIES OF THE 10-CENT ST. LOUIS POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL. THIS IS THE HIGHEST-RATED FRANKING OF ANY ST. LOUIS "BEARS" COVER. IN OUR OPINION, ONE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST SPECTACULAR POSTMASTERS' PROVISIONALS COVERS IN EXISTENCE.

The St. Louis "Bears" were issued by Postmaster John M. Wimer from November 1845 until the first United States General Issue became available in July 1847. The stamps were issued in three denominations -- 5c, 10c and 20c -- and were sold at a premium over face value to pay the costs of printing. All of the stamps were printed from a single copper plate of six subjects (2 x 3) engraved by J. M. Kershaw. The plate underwent two significant modifications. Philatelists identify each state of the plate as Plates 1, 2 and 3, but in fact the same piece of metal was used in each state.

On Plate 1 there were three 5c subjects in the vertical column at left (we refer to the positions on the sheet, which are mirrored on the plate) and three 10c subjects at right. To fill the need for 20c stamps, the denominations on two of the 5c subjects (Positions 1 and 3) were burnished out and reengraved with "20", creating Plate 2. After some time the two 5c values were restored by burnishing out the "20" and reengraving "5", which is Plate 3. The three 10c subjects were untouched throughout the modifications to Positions 1 and 3. The 5c Position 5 was slightly altered on Plate 3 by adding a large dot to the inside of the ball at the bottom of the "5".

The pending availability of adhesive "Post-Office Stamps", as they were called, was first announced in St. Louis in the St. Louis Republican on November 5, 1845, advising readers that stamps "will be sold." In the November 13 edition of the same paper, it was announced that Postmaster John M. Wimer would "furnish nine ten-cent stamps and eighteen five-cent stamps for one dollar, the difference being required to pay for the printing of the stamps." The earliest documented use of a St. Louis provisional stamp is November 13, 1845, only three days prior to the date of this cover. It is possible that November 13 was the first day the "Bears" stamps were put on sale, presuming that the announcement was placed in the newspaper to coincide with the stamps' availability. In any event, it is almost certain that the cover offered here is a "first week" use of the "Bears".

Five large groups of St. Louis "Bears" have been discovered during the past 132 years. In 1869 J. W. Scott acquired a correspondence bearing 50 of the 5c, 100 of the 10c and three 20c stamps, probably all of which have been removed from their original covers. In 1880 the Riggs correspondence produced 20 examples of the 5c and 10c. In 1889 the J. & J. Stuart correspondence provided 25 examples of the 5c and 10c, most on Pelure paper. The huge "Louisville" find in 1895, salvaged by a janitor who was burning papers, yielded 75 of the 5c, 46 of the 10c and 16 of the 20c, including se-tenant multiples that revealed the plate layout and proved the authenticity of the 20c stamps, which had been in question since 1869. All of the stamps in the Louisville find were found on covers addressed to Tyler & Rutherford, a banking firm in Louiville, but many of the stamps were later removed. Additional material from the Tyler & Rutherford correspondence surfaced around 1902 and was acquired by C. H. Mekeel. In 1912 the first portion of the Charnley & Whelen correspondence reached philatelists, which provided another six of the 5c, 61 of the 10c and 16 of the 20c. Additional Charnley & Whelen covers were sold over the next three decades.

The two largest St. Louis "Bears" correspondences were addressed to Tyler & Rutherford in Louisville, a distance under 300 miles, and to Charnley & Whelen in Philadelphia, a distance over 300 miles. The postage rates in effect during that period were 5c for any distance under 300 miles and 10c for 300 miles and over. Our comprehensive census information on the St. Louis "Bears" contains three covers paying the 50c rate. This is the only one paying the rate solely by 10c stamps, and the only one with the 10c on Greenish, 11X2. The covers paying the 50c rate are: 1) 2 x 11X3 used with 11X5 on May 21, 1846, folded letter to Charnley & Whelen, Philadelphia, ex Boker and Weill sale, 2) 11X5 used with 2 x 11X6 on May 28, 1846, folded letter to same correspondence, and 3) the cover offered here. A fourth cover, bearing a vertical strip of three and a vertical pair of the 10c on Gray Lilac, 11X5, was in the original Charnley & Whelen correspondence, but it has since had the stamps removed and is no longer intact. In fact, the survival of this cover bearing five Very Fine to Extremely Fine lightly-cancelled St. Louis 10c "Bears" is miraculous, considering how many stamps were removed from covers in the major finds.

Ex "Charnley & Whelen Find" (H. R. Harmer sale, Dec. 13, 1948, lot 23). With 1979 P.F. certificate. (Image)

VERY FINE AND CHOICE. A RARE SOUND FOUR-MARGIN UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT ST. LOUIS "BEARS" PROVISIONAL ISSUE ON GREENISH PAPER.

Very few St. Louis "Bears" are known in unused condition, and the 5c is especially rare unused. Of the few in existence, only a handful are sound.

With 1975 P.F. certificate. (Image)

VERY FINE APPEARING EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT ST. LOUIS "BEARS" POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL ON GREENISH PAPER.

With 1997 P.F. certificate (Image)