24c Gray (78b). Tied by target cancel and Illinois town datestamp on cover to London, England and forwarded to Paris, France, 24c stamp also tied by red "3 Cents" credit handstamp, forwarding postage paid by horizontal strip of three and single of Great Britain 1p Red, Plate 80 (33), tied by bold strikes of "88" in barred oval handstamps, "London MY 31, 1866" datestamp, French transit and receiving markings, one stamp in Great Britain strip folded back to display the 24c stamp, light edgewear, Very Fine and attractive two-country franking, ex "Sevenoaks"

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24c Gray (78b). Tied by 6-point Star in Circle fancy cancel, Chicago circular datestamp on small cover to Liverpool, England and forwarded to Sheffield, red "3 Cents" credit handstamp of Chicago, forwarding postage paid by Great Britain, 1857, 1p Rose Red (20) tied by "466" in barred oval and "Liverpool 22 AU 1866" circular datestamp, "Brown Shipley & Co. Liverpool" forwarder's handstamp, Liverpool and receiving backstamps, 24c small tear at bottom right, otherwise Very Fine and attractive

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24c Gray (78b). Used with 10c Yellow Green (68), cancelled by segmented cork cancel with "Richmond Me. Feb. 26, 1866" double-circle datestamp on small cover to Callao, Peru, Panama Mar. 9 transit and red "24" credit handstamp, manuscript "Ship America, Capt. Morse care American consul (ship landing at Chincha Islands)", cover slightly reduced at left and 10c with pulled perf and slight crease from position on cover, Fine, a scarce cover which was written shortly after the breakout of the Chincha Islands War, with 2004 P.F. certificate

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24c Gray (78b). Used with 5c Red Brown (75), tied by Salem Mass. circular datestamp, red "N. York Brem. Pkt. Paid May 10" circular datestamp on back of ca. 1866 cover to St. Petersburg, Russia, blue "America/Uber Bremen/Franco" three-line handstamp, manuscript rate markings including "26" credit, stamps with small perf flaws from placement near edge and 24c internal tear, missing part of backflap and cover faults mostly confined to back, otherwise Fine Pierce correspondence use to Russia via Bremen-Hamburg mails, ex Gibson

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24c Gray (78b). Used with 1c Blue (63) and two 10c Yellow Green (68), tied by "Newport R.I. Dec. 4, 1866" circular datestamps on cover to Paris, France, red "Boston Br. Pkt. Paid 5 Dec." circular datestamp, small boxed "P.D." also ties 1c stamp, red "45" credit handstamp, receiving backstamp, slightly reduced at top, 1c and 24c barely affected from placement at edge of cover, appears Fine-Very Fine, with 2000 P.F. certificate

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24c Gray (78b). Natural s.e. at left, stamp has piece torn from margin at top right (evidently from separation and not affecting design), tied by full bold strike of New York Union Soldier's Head fancy cancel on small cover to Norwich, England, addressed to Raveningham Hall in Norfolk, red "New-York Am. Pkt. 3 May 5" (1866) credit datestamp, red London Paid transit datestamp (May 16) also ties stamp, Norwich receiving backstamp (May 16), couple sealed tears at bottom, slightly reduced at right

VERY FINE APPEARING COVER AND A SUPERB STRIKE OF THE NEW YORK CITY UNION SOLDIER'S HEAD FANCY CANCELLATION ON A HIGH-DENOMINATION 1861 ISSUE PAYING THE TREATY RATE TO ENGLAND.

The creation and use of this fancy cancel in the Spring of 1866 coincided with the return of soldiers from the Civil War. It is known on at least one domestic cover, but apparently the cancelling device migrated to the foreign-mail exchange office, where it was used to cancel stamps on mail to foreign countries. This explains why it is found on high values of the 1861-66 Issue, including the 10c, 12c, 15c, 24c, 30c and 90c denomination stamps off cover. Covers with this cancel are very rare, probably because European stamp collectors removed the high-value stamps from covers. We recently offered one to Italy in the Raymond Vogel collection (Sale 995, lot 2206, realized $32,500 hammer) and a 15c cover to Germany in the Artemis collection (Sale 1012, lot 32, realized $15,000 hammer).

With 1990 P.F. certificate. Ex Herzog, Wunderlich and Dr. Skinner.

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24c Gray (78b). Used with 3c Rose (65), tied by corks, "New Orleans La. Nov. 19" circular datestamp on orange cover to Mons, Belgium, red "N. York Am. Pkt. Paid 7 Nov. 24" credit datestamp also ties 24c stamp, neat "Am. Packet" backstamp, 3c short perf at bottom right, otherwise Very Fine

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24c Gray (78b). Used with 1c Blue (63), tied by circle of wedges on 3c Pink entire (U58) to Dresden, Saxony, with Wells, Fargo & Co. printed frank, blue "Paid Through" straightline indicating express service, red "N. York Am. Pkt. 7 Paid Nov. 21" credit datestamp ties stamps, blue Verviers transit, receiving backstamp, the top edge is acidified and very brittle, causing stamp and cover faults, still presentable and scarce Wells, Fargo & Co. cover to Germany prepaid at 28c Prussian Closed Mail rate, ex Dale-Lichtenstein

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24c Gray (78b). Two, one with wide s.e., other torn along left when separated but not readily apparent, tied by circle of V's, red "Boston Br. Pkt. Paid 7 Aug." (1866) backstamp on attractive pale orange lithographed corner card cover to London, England, sender's ship designation "Str. Scotia, New York, Aug. 8th" (departure date in 1866) and red London receiving datestamp (Aug. 18), red "38" credit handstamp, small scuff at upper left, stamps with faults which do not appear obvious, otherwise Very Fine appearance, with 2005 P.F. certificate

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24c Gray (78b). Rich color, used with 3c Rose (65), tied by bold strike of circle of wedges and "Chicago Ill. Oct. 10" circular datestamp on 1866 cover to Louvain, Belgium, red "N. York Am. Pkt. Paid 7 Oct. 13" credit datestamp, receiving backstamp, trivial overall wear, Very Fine, scarce usage paying the 27c rate via Belgian Closed Mail

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