Part II - LOCALS A - G continued...
SPECIAL NOTE: Lot Numbers with an "A" preceding them will be offered in three special sessions. Please refer to the Arrangement of the Sale web page for the schedule.
| Lot | Lot Description | ||
| A | 969 |
 City Dispatch Post Office, New
Orleans La., (5c) Black on Pink Glazed (43L2). Comma after "Office"
variety, large margins, couple negligible corner creases, uncancelled as
always, used on folded letter to William M. Stakely, postmaster of
Madisonville Tenn., originating in Vera Cruz, Mexico, letter
datelined "Vera Cruz, 21 May 1847", blue "New Orleans La. May 28"
circular datestamp and matching large "10" due handstamp, ms. "3" over "4"
(probably a correspondence sequence number), the letter itself is an
interesting description of Vera Cruz from a Tennessee volunteer in the
Mexican War, mentions soldiers under General Scott's command, surrender of
Puebla, closes with postscript "A Private opportunity offers, so I will
send this to Orleans & have it mailed there...The U.S. Flag is waving over
the Castle. It look grand.", a few reinforced splits along
foldsVERY FINE. ONLY FIVE EXAMPLES OF THE NEW ORLEANS CITY DISPATCH POST OFFICE 5-CENT ON PINK STAMP ARE RECORDED, INCLUDING THREE GENUINE COVERS (NONE CANCELLED). THIS IS THE FINEST KNOWN 43L2 STAMP AND THE ONLY COVER USED FROM VERA CRUZ, MEXICO. According to Huber's The Great Mail, the New Orleans "City Dispatch Post Office", as it was named, advertised in the Daily Picayune in 1847. The post was owned by J. Murray at 108 St. Charles Street at the corner of Poydras. It advertised four collections a day -- at 10 a.m., 12 noon, 3 and 5 p.m. -- and had 23 letter-drop boxes located throughout the city. Stamps were sold for 5c each, or 30 for a dollar. Prepayment was mandatory on letters to be delivered to the post office and optional on city-delivery letters. Unlike local-post operators in other cities, Murray enjoyed a cooperative relationship with the post office, evidenced by his notice that a box was located in the Post Office building and letters from the mails to correspondents in the city would be picked up and delivered by Murray's carriers. Given the peculiar politics of the city at the time, one wonders if the relatively higher letter rate of 5c included a small gratuity for the New Orleans postmaster. The City Despatch P.O. stamps come in two colors of glazed paper: Green and Pink. Of the Green (43L1), three examples are known, including two tied on separate covers. Of the Pink (43L2), five are recorded, including three genuinely used on covers, one affixed to a cover and a stamp on piece. Details of these five examples are as follows: 1) comma after "Office", uncancelled (tiny corner creases), used on May 21, 1847 folded letter from Vera Cruz, New Orleans May 28 circular datestamp and "10", ex Hollowbush, the cover offered here, 2) period after "Office", uncancelled (filing crease), used on 1847 folded letter to Adj. General, Washington D.C., New Orleans Apr. 29 circular datestamp and ms. "f" (free), ex Caspary, Boker, Lilly, 3) comma after "Office", uncancelled (filing crease), used on 1847 folded letter to Pres. James K. Polk, New Orleans Apr. 22 circular datestamp and ms. "f" (free), ex Caspary, Lilly, 4) period after "Office", uncancelled ("touched up at left"), affixed to 1846 folded letter to Philadelphia, New Orleans Apr. 2 circular datestamp, too early and probably does not belong, ex Caspary ("may not belong"), and 5) period after "Office", uncancelled (creases) on piece, ex Lilly. Dr. Hubert C. Skinner kindly corroborated our records. Compared with the other four, the stamp on this cover is the finest example of 43L2, with only two tiny corner creases (three of the others are creased and one is repaired). This is also the only City Dispatch Post Office cover known to originate outside of New Orleans, in this case, at Vera Cruz, Mexico, from a soldier in the Mexican War to his friend back home, the postmaster of Madisonville, Tennessee. Ex Hollowbush. (Image) |
E. 20,000-30,000 |