Hawaii, 1851, 13c Blue,
"Hawaiian Postage" (3). Type II, three huge margins at top, bottom and
right, the left margin (between two cliches in form) is ample, stamp free
of any repair, slight creasing and small tears typical of the fragile
pelure paper when found in its natural state on cover, pair of 3c Dull
Red (11) damaged from vermin and lifted from its original position over
13c Missionary, cancelled by part strike but heavily impressed San
Francisco Cal. circular datestamp, the impression carries thru to 13c
stamp, leaving a slight indentation that ties it, both stamps paying United
States and Hawaiian postage -- composite 5c Hawaiian, 2c ship captain's fee
and 6c U.S. transcontinental rate -- on buff cover to Farmington Falls Me.,
with original letter datelined "Lahaina March 22d/54" to which the
addressee has added an introductory letter on the other leaf, second
dateline "Farmington Falls May 10/54", minor cosmetic cover
restoration -- stain removal around edges and sealed opening tear at upper
left -- but the Missionary is untouchedONE OF SIX RECORDED COVERS WITH MIXED FRANKING OF HAWAIIAN MISSIONARY AND UNITED STATES STAMPS -- THE ONLY COMBINATION INVOLVING THE 13-CENT "HAWAIIAN POSTAGE" STAMP. DISCOVERED IN A STEAMER TRUNK OF PAPERS AND OFFERED TO THE MARKET FOR THE FIRST TIME.
This cover is No. 3-II-COV-144 in our census of Hawaiian Missionary stamps (see Honolulu Advertiser sale catalogue, Sale 769, Appendix). There are 28 individual Missionary covers known, but of these three are permanently contained at the National Postal Museum and a fourth is at the British Library, leaving 24 covers available to collectors. Of these, only six have combination frankings with United States stamps, including the famous 2c cover. Only this cover has a 13c "Hawaiian Postage" used with United States stamps.
Based on the Lahaina March 22 dateline and Farmington Falls May 10 date, the cover was carried from Hawaii on the ?????, which departed on March ?? and arrived in San Francisco on April ??, in time to make the mid-month eastbound Panama sailing. March 1854 is a relatively late use of the 13c "Hawaiian Postage" Missionary, but 13c is the correct composite rate, and the practice of affixing United States postage over Hawaiian postage is evidenced by several other covers from the same period.
The absence of Hawaiian postal markings -- in particular, the "Honolulu * U.S. Postage Paid *" red datestamp -- suggests two possibilities: 1) the paste-over franking was viewed in Hawaii as sufficient to indicate full prepayment to the San Francisco post office, or 2) the cover left Lahaina and was not handled directly by the Honolulu office.
An exciting artifact of Hawaiian postal history and well-suited for exhibition (Image)
Hawaii, 1853, 13c Dark Red,
Thick White Wove (6). Full to large margins, uncancelled, affixed under
pair of 3c Dull Red (11), mostly ample margins, left stamp lifted
and folded over to show Hawaiian postage, tied by "San Francisco Cal. 8
Dec." circular datestamp on brown cover to Farmington Falls Me., red
"Honolulu * U.S. Postage Paid * Nov. 14" circular datestamp, neat 1854
docketing, some cosmetic improvements to cover -- staining removed from
bottom and small mended opening nick at top -- but the stamps are
untouchedFINE AND EXTREMELY RARE PASTE-OVER COMBINATION OF 13-CENT KAMEHAMEHA III STAMP AND UNITED STATES 1851 ISSUE.
The 13c stamp prepaid the 5c Hawaiian postage, 2c ship captain's fee and 6c transcontinental rate. The practice of applying United States stamps over Hawaiian postage dates to this period in 1854, as evidenced by six to ten such paste-over covers. (Image)
Hawaii, 1853, 5c Blue, Thick
White Wove (5). Ample margins to slightly in, used with 10c Green,
Ty. III (15), ample margins except in at right, 5c uncancelled at
Honolulu, both tied by "San Francisco Cal. 5 Sep." circular datestamp, red
"Honolulu * U.S. Postage Paid * Jul. 31" circular datestamp on buff cover
to Farmington Falls Me., red crayon "2c due" crossed out in pencil,
orange-red "Paid" straightline indicates payment of 2c ship captain's fee,
with letter enclosure datelined "Mokawoon July 22 & 26
1855"VERY FINE. A REMARKABLE AND EXTREMELY RARE FRANKING THAT LEFT THE 2-CENT SHIP CAPTAIN'S FEE UNPAID ON ARRIVAL AT SAN FRANCISCO. BELIEVED TO BE A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF STAMPS AND MARKINGS -- FROM THE CROSWELL CORRESPONDENCE.
In our analysis of a similar cover in the Honolulu Advertiser sale (lot 103), we stated that the "Paid" marking -- identical to this strike -- was most likely applied at Honolulu to indicate to San Francisco that payment of the ship captain's fee had been received. However, the difference between the orange-red ink of the "Paid" and the deep red ink of the Honolulu datestamp causes us to revise our opinion. We now believe that San Francisco applied the "Paid" after receiving reimbursement for the 2c, perhaps through an accounting with Honolulu. (Image)