Semi-Official Carriers 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 | 171 |
 Baltimore Md., 1c Red on
Bluish, "LMB" Carrier Stamp (unlisted). Cut to semi-oval shape,
uncancelled, used on Oct. 21, 1849 folded letter to Georgetown D.C., blue
"Baltimore Md. Oct. 23" circular datestamp, matching "Paid" straightline
struck over ms. "Pay" (in sender's hand) with different ms. "5" rate
applied at post office, very faint overall age toning which serves to tie
the stamp -- when the corner of stamp is gently lifted, one can see that
the lettersheet surface beneath is not tonedVERY FINE. THE UNIQUE EXAMPLE OF THE STAMP BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN ISSUED IN 1849 BY LIVINGSTON M. BENNETT, A BALTIMORE CARRIER. This cover bearing the LMB stamp was first described by Harry N. Konwiser in a Stamps article in December 1944. Denwood Kelly included the LMB cover in his series on Baltimore carriers and locals, but he misread the initials as EMB (Kelly acknowledged the mistake in later correspondence). In recent years, students have reached general agreement that the initials, LMB, represent Livingston M. Bennett, the carrier appointed to District 9 on July 12, 1849. Further confusing the identification is the transcription of Bennett's middle initial as W in the Baltimore carrier advertisement (quoted by Kelly in his CCP article) -- M and W are similar in writing, and the mistake is not unusual -- but the name appears as L. M. Bennett in Orders of the Office of the Postmaster General (reference: Steven M. Roth, Chronicle 173, p. 19). There is a general similarity between the LMB stamp and the carrier stamps issued in Baltimore in 1850 (Scott 1LB1-1LB5). In ink and paper, the LMB stamp closely resembles the Red on Bluish stamp, Scott 1LB1. It is quite likely that the same printer made both stamps. The Scott Catalogue has not yet listed the LMB stamp, but its authenticity, use in the proper period, historical provenance and status as a semi-official carrier stamp are strong reasons to justify future listing. (Image) |
E. 2,000-3,000 |