Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc.

VERY FINE. ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ALL CARRIER COVERS, BEARING THE LARGEST KNOWN MULTIPLE OF KINGMAN'S FOUR-LINE STAMP.

Eliab J. Kingman was Dr. John H. Honour's brother-in-law and served as the first assistant in Honour's Penny Post from its inception in 1849. It is reported that sometime in 1851, Kingman received his own appointment as a government carrier and divided the city's routes with Dr. Honour. According to the Faber account (Pat Paragraphs, 1981 Reprint, pp. 247-248), Kingman retired in March 1858 and was replaced by Joseph G. Martin, a relative to the Honour family through marriage.

The Scott listings for the two Kingman's stamps are out of chronological sequence. The four-line type, 4LB15, preceded the three-line type, 4LB14, by at least three or four years. The four-line stamp is also considerably rarer, with a total of just 13 recorded stamps. Because the basic form used for Honour's 4LB8 was used to print Kingman's 4LB15 stamp, it is possible to reconstruct the Kingman's setting. When the name "Kingman's" was inserted, some border pearls were repositioned, but there are still enough unique features belonging to the different positions to enable us to assign the 13 recorded stamps to 8 of the 10 positions in the Kingman's setting.

The thirteen 4LB15 stamps (including erased "Kingman's" variety) contained in our census are listed here (positions identified according to our plating analysis): 1-3) vertical strip of three (Pos. 5/7/9) on Valentine cover (no date) offered here, ex Caspary, Boker, 4-5) vertical pair (Pos. 6/8), uncancelled on cover front, ex Chapman, Caspary, Boker, 6) pen-cancelled (Pos. 3), tied by Dec. 11 circular datestamp on cover to Spartanburg, ex Boker, 7) uncancelled on piece or cover (Pos. 5), Costales photo file, 8) "Kingman's" scratched out (Pos. 1), corner margins, tied by ms. on inbound cover from Raleigh N.C., Jul. (or Jun.) 22, 1857, ex Hessel, offered in lot 263, 9) pen-cancelled (Pos. 8) on piece, ex Caspary, 10) pen-cancelled (Pos. 9, missing pearl at right) on piece, ex Caspary, Richardson, Sheriff, 11) pencil cancel (Pos. 4) on piece, ex Middendorf, 12) uncancelled (Pos. 9, missing pearl at right), ex Ferrary, Caspary, and 13) uncancelled (Pos. 3), Costales photo file.

From the census it can be determined that there are only two confirmed 4LB15 covers (excluding the erased-name variety), one of which is this Valentine with the unique strip, and the other is the single tied by a Charleston Dec. 11 circular datestamp. The pair on a cover front (or piece) is the only other known multiple. An uncancelled stamp (No. 7 listed above) is affixed to either a piece or cover. Even allowing for another stamp or cover that we may have overlooked, there is no question that this strip used on a Valentine is the most important of all Kingman's carrier items, and, in our opinion, it ranks very close to the unique Beckman's City Post cover in significance among Charleston carrier issues.

Ex Caspary. Note on back "9/28/14 St. Louis St. & C. Co. DNN" (Image)

VERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE COMBINATION OF THE KINGMAN'S THREE-LINE CARRIER STAMP AND 3-CENT 1851 IMPERFORATE ISSUE.

As noted in the description of lot 261, the Kingman three-line stamp, 4LB14, followed the four-line 4LB15 stamp by a few years. The format of 4LB14 matches the stamps printed for Martin, Steinmeyer and Beckman in 1858, 1859 and 1860, and it is probable that the same setting was used with the names changed as required. Kingman is reported to have retired in March 1858, based on dated examples, the 4LB14 stamp was probably issued in mid-1856 and not used after March 1858. Genuine covers are found in this time period. Other covers with untied stamps used prior to 1856 are most likely enhancements. (Image)

VERY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE "KINGMAN'S" ERASURE ON THE FOUR-LINE STAMP, 4LB15, AND A UNIQUE COVER IN SEVERAL RESPECTS.

This is the only recorded cover with 4LB15, the four-line Kingman's stamp, used in combination with a regular issue (see lot 261 for census details). It is also the only known example of the four-line stamp with Kingman's name erased, and it is also the only on-cover example of the erased-name variety.

The date of use, July 1857, falls into the period just prior to Kingman's reported retirement (March 1858) and during the time the second Kingman's issue, 4LB14, was in use. Our explanation of this usage is that the cover was mailed from Raleigh without the carrier stamp, addressed in care of J. H. Willy & Co., who wrote the delivery instructions at lower left, affixed the stamp and gave it to the carrier department. The stamp was definitely cancelled by pen first, then the name (including the cancellation) was scratched out with a sharp instrument. The reason for this erasure has never been satisfactorily explained, and it remains a matter of speculation. Perhaps a carrier other than Kingman (J. G. Martin?) was given the cover, and, after cancelling the stamp (with an "M"), he scratched out Kingman's name to avoid confusion over who was responsible for delivery.

Ex Hessel. With 1975 P.F. certificate. (Image)

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN EXTREMELY RARE EXAMPLE OF THE THREE-LINE KINGMAN'S CARRIER STAMP WITH NAME ERASED.

The July 1857 date of the cover offered in the previous lot falls into the period of use of Kingman's 4LB14 three-line stamp. As explained in lot 263, the "Kingman's" name was scratched out after the stamp was cancelled. In both cases, the cancel appears to be an "M" initial, which may represent Joseph G. Martin, who took over the post after Kingman retired in March 1858.

Ex Hessel. With 1975 P.F. certificate. (Image)