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| Lot | Sym. | Lot Description | Est/Cat | Realized |
| 1462° |
 Carnes & Co. City Letter &
Package Express Essay. Business card in red embossed on white glazed,
with logo at left, and address and proprietors names at bottom, logo
with pencil frame and "5" in all four corners, and "City Letter Express"
lightly obliterated by pen, card with light soiling at edges and faint
diagonal crease, pencil on back, Very Fine, this is the only recorded
sketch of Carnes' second stamp design -- the first design, used to
produce Scott No. 35L1, is the same design as the original illustration on
the business card, the second design, used to produce Scott Nos. 35L2-35L8,
is virtually identical to the amended design on the card (Image) |
E. 750-1,000 | 750.00 | |
| 1463° |  |
 Carnes' City Letter Express,
San Francisco, (5c) Rose (35L1). Complete sheet of 12 with wide margins
all around, original gum, h.r., a few Mint N.H., few creases incl.
horizontal at center affects two stamps, otherwise Very Fine, scarce
complete sheet, this is the first we have offered in any of the Carriers
and Locals auctions we have held in over ten years, with 1997 P.F.
certificate (Image) |
2,200.00 | 1,500.00 |
| 1464° |  |
 Carnes' City Letter Express,
San Francisco, (5c) Rose (35L1). Full to large margins, tied by black
"Paid" handstamp on large cover addressed in blue to 267 Washington Street
South in San Francisco, bold matching "CARNES' EXPRESS/SAN FRANCISCO"
straightline handstamp at center, blue ms. instructions in corner "send
by Carnes Carier", cover with light vertical folds not affecting
stampA MAJOR LOCAL POST RARITY, REPRESENTING THE PROPER USAGE OF THE CARNES CITY LETTER EXPRESS STAMP DURING CARNES'S OWNERSHIP. ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST SPECTACULAR OF ALL AMERICAN LOCAL POST COVERS. The local-post scene in San Francisco during the 1863-67 period is confusing to reconstruct, due to the similarity of names among competing posts and the changes in ownership, with one selling out to the other. All of this must be reconstructed from dated material and city directories. According to information gleaned by Ernest A. Wiltsee from contemporary sources, the Carnes City Letter Express was started in 1865 by George A. Carnes, a former postal clerk. Very early on, Carnes issued the Grizzly Bear stamps with his name. During the first year, Carnes also acquired the San Francisco Letter Express and changed the post's name to Carnes San Francisco Letter Express. Whether Carnes or William E. Loomis bought out Gahagan & Howe's City Express has been debated, but in late 1866, Carnes and his partner sold out to Loomis. From 1867 on, we find the Carnes stamps and San Francisco Letter Express Horse & Rider marking used by Loomis. Eventually Loomis altered the Grizzly Bear printing plate by removing the Carnes name and printed his own stamps (Scott 98L1). This is the only Carnes cover known to us that was clearly carried by the original Carnes service, for which it was created. With 1994 P.F. certificate. (Image) |
17,500.00 | 12,000.00 |
| 1465° |
 Carnes' City Letter Express,
San Francisco, (5c) Rose (35L1). Large margins all around, blue
"City. G. & H. Express" oval cancel, Extremely Fine, the nominal
$100.00 Scott value does not begin to reflect the rarity of a genuinely
cancelled Carnes stamp, especially with the Gahagan & Howe oval (ca.
1864-65), undercatalogued in Scott at $300.00
(Image) |
E. 500-750 | 550.00 | |
| 1466° |
 Carnes' City Letter Express,
San Francisco, (5c) Rose (35L1). Large to huge margins, cancelled by
blue "Paid" in frame, diagonal crease at lower right, otherwise Extremely
Fine (Image) |
300.00 | 200.00 | |
| 1467° |
 Carnes' City Letter Express,
San Francisco, 10c Rose, Blue "X" Overprint (35L2). Unused (no gum),
large to huge margins, Extremely Fine
(Image) |
300.00 | 350.00 | |
| 1468° |  |
 Carnes' City Letter Express,
San Francisco, 5c Blue, Tete-Beche Pair (35L7a). Complete sheet of 18
containing three tete-beche pairs, unused (no gum), creases affecting 35L7a
pairs, otherwise Extremely Fine, ex Golden
(Image) |
1,950.00 | 500.00 |