Davis's Penny Post, Baltimore
Md., (1c) Black on Lilac (57L1). Type F (Position 6), ample margins
just touching corner ornaments, tied by red "Davis' One Cent Dispatch"
circular handstamp on ca. 1856 brown cover to Capt. Wm. W. Virdin at
the Western Hotel in Baltimore, blue embossed woodcut corner card of
Fountain Hotel, cover has two small sealed edge tears, stamp lightly
creasedVERY FINE. THE FINEST AND MOST OUTSTANDING OF THE FOUR RECORDED COVERS BEARING THE RARE DAVIS'S PENNY POST STAMP.
Our records of 14 Davis's Penny Post stamps contain four genuine covers: 1) Ty. F, tied by red handstamp on Fountain Hotel corner card cover to Western Hotel, Baltimore, ex Hollowbush, Malcolm, Golden (realized $10,000), the cover offered here, 2) Ty. F, with bottom right corner sheet margins, tied by red handstamp on back of cover to Miss Louise Senss (?), Baltimore, ex Caspary, Boker, 3) Ty. A, with top left sheet corner margins, uncancelled on small Valentine cover to Miss Caroline Lamden, ex Hollowbush, Golden, and 4) Type unknown, tied by red handstamp, ex Brown (5c 1847 stamp added to cover at the time -- possibly removed now). In addition to the genuine covers, there are other covers to which genuine Davis stamps have been added (all predate the post's existence). The cover census by Steven M. Roth (Chronicle 173) agrees with our data.
Ex Hollowbush (his partly erased cost code on back), Malcolm and Golden. With 1999 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail $11,000.00. (Image)
Davis's Penny Post, Baltimore
Md., (1c) Black on Lilac, "Pennq" for "Penny" (57L1a). Type B (Position
2), original gum, huge bottom margin showing tips of ornaments from stamp
below, other sides large except just barely into corner ornaments, crease
in bottom margin outside design, faint horizontal crease in
stampEXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. THE "PENNQ" SPELLING ERROR WAS RECOGNIZED BY ELLIOTT PERRY IN 1959 AND LISTED IN SCOTT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2000. THIS IS THE ONLY ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE AMONG THE FOUR RECORDED ERRORS.
Typeset stamps are by nature more prone to variation. Typesetters composing a sheet of stamps were sometimes forced to sacrifice uniformity to complete the setting. Fonts or border pieces were interchanged. Even individual characters were used incorrectly, if misread by the typesetter or deliberately substituted for used-up type. Stamps such as the Honour's "Conours" and "Bents" (4LB8c), Glen Haven "Gien" (71L1a), Moody's "Henny Dispatch" (110L1b) and Hoyts "Lettcr" (85L1) are a few prominent examples of typographical errors among the carrier and local issues.
The Davis's "Pennq Post" error was not noted by Denwood Kelly, and it remained unlisted in Scott for 40 years since Elliott Perry wrote to the U.S. Specialized editor, Eugene Costales, in April 1959, reporting the "Pennq" variety. Of the fourteen recorded 57L1 stamps, four come from Position 2, which we classify as Type B, in which the "q" character is used instead of "y". This is the only original-gum example among the four, details of which follow: 1) original gum, ex Lilly, Kelly, Golden (realized $7,500), the stamp offered here, 2) pencil-cancelled corner copy, ex Golden, 3) red handstamp cancel, ex Schwartz, offered in lot 73, and 4) cut to shape.
Ex Lilly, Kelly and Golden. With 1999 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail $8,250.00. (Image)
Davis's Penny Post, Baltimore
Md., (1c) Black on Lilac, "Pennq" for "Penny" (57L1a). Type B (Position
2), large margins except touched at right, Davis's red circular
handstampVERY FINE USED EXAMPLE OF THE "PENNQ" SPELLING ERROR, OF WHICH FOUR ARE RECORDED.
Ex Schwartz. Scott Retail $8,250.00. (Image)