1851, 2c Blue (1) and 5c Blue (2). Both Type II, the Missionaries are free of any repairs and are essentially in very fine condition; the 2c has mostly ample to large margins with framelines complete all around except for a small nick in the upper left corner, where a tiny part of the line has been discreetly filled in on the lettersheet; the 5c has three mostly ample margins and is just touched at left, there is a short closed tear at bottom and a small part of the frameline has been filled in at bottom right. Each Missionary is tied by the 7-bar grid cancel on a bluish folded cover addressed in the hand of William Dawson to Eliza A. Dawson, care of Jacob H. Dawson, at 273 Cherry Street in New York. To the left of the stamps is a clearly struck red "Honolulu*U.S. Postage Paid*Oct. 4" (1852) circular datestamp. The Missionaries are used in combination with a horizontal pair of United States 3c Brownish Carmine (11), 1852 printing from Plate 2 Late, ample margins to just slightly in at bottom left, tied by "San Francisco Cal. 27 Oct." circular datestamp, 1849-53 style with "Cal." in upper and lower case letters

THE ONLY KNOWN COVER BEARING THE HAWAIIAN 2-CENT MISSIONARY. THE RAREST AND MOST FAMOUS OF ALL HAWAIIAN AND UNITED STATES COVERS AND UNIVERSALLY RANKED AMONG THE WORLD'S MOST IMPORTANT PHILATELIC ITEMS

On this cover the Missionary stamps prepay the 5c Hawaiian postage and 2c ship captain's fee, and the pair of United States 3c stamps prepays the 6c trans-continental rate in effect at this time.

The 2c Missionary cover does not bear a year-dated marking, but can be reliably dated to 1852. The sender, William Dawson, sailed from San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands on the schooner Samuel Roberts, which departed on March 10, 1851. His first letter from Hawaii (see Part 2, lot 2073) was written from Lahaina on April 19, 1851, in which he remarks, "I have cast my anchor on this Island & settled down in peace after having been tossed on the timultuous Waves of Life for Thousands of Miles & have come to the end of my journey. Thus, his correspondence with family and friends back home begins in April 1851. Another Missionary cover from the Dawson find is dated February 20, 1852 (see lot 29).

Further evidence of 1852 usage is provided by the United States stamps and the San Francisco postmark. The 3c pair comes from Plate 2 Late, which is known used as early as January 1852, and the Brownish Carmine shade and impression are typical of the 1852 printings and in stark contrast to the Rose Red shades circulating in 1854. The San Francisco circular datestamp, having a wide font and the letters "Cal." in upper and lower case, came into use in 1849 and is found on covers through early 1853, but no later.

The final factor in determining the year-date is the sailing schedule. The Mary A. Jones sailed from Honolulu on October 5, 1852, the day after the postmark was applied, and arrived in San Francisco on October 26, a voyage of 21 days. An interesting comparison can be made between the 2c Missionary cover and two other Missionary covers carried on the same voyage (see lot 5 and Census No. 2-I-COV-70, Appendix I). In the case of the 2c mixed-franking cover - a very early use of U.S. stamps from Hawaii - the San Francisco post office felt compelled to cancel the United States stamps immediately after unpacking the mail, and they used the "Cal." device dated October 27. In the case of the other two covers, which had no U.S. stamps (one fully prepaid by a 13c Missionary, the other with U.S. postage due), there was no such compulsion. Those two letters were held for the regular processing of mail bound for the East Coast via Panama on November 1 and were postmarked with the "CAL" style of San Francisco datestamp.

This famous 2c cover, which has been included in every list of the world's most outstanding philatelic items, often as Number One in terms of rarity, quality and usage, has a fascinating provenance that is detailed in Alvin Good's The Life and Adventures of a Philatelist (pages 81-82). According to Good's account, during the summer of 1905 a defunct tannery in Bridgeport, Connecticut (reported in other accounts to have been Newark, New Jersey, or New Bedford, Massachusetts), was being cleaned for conversion to a Morocco factory. Some 35 years earlier the building had been abandoned, and, in feeding old papers and records into the furnace before leaving, the previous occupants had choked out the fire, leaving bundles of half-burned papers in the stove's belly. The workman now given the job of cleaning out the boiler and furnace knew something about stamps and became intrigued by the presence of old stamps on folded letters and envelopes scattered among the charred papers. When he noticed the partially burned envelope with a strip of three 13c Missionaries (see lot 29), he dug deeper and found the folded cover bearing the 2c Missionary. Fortunately for philately, this letter escaped an incendiary fate, showing nothing more than a faint spot at left where the lettersheet was licked by the flames.

The Dawson Missionary covers were sold soon after their discovery to or through New England Stamp Company. The firm featured the 2c cover on their season's greetings card of 1905-06 as "The Rarest Cover Known to Philately." It was acquired by George H. Worthington, the Cleveland chicle magnate and the leading American collector of the time, for a price reported to be $6,000. Alvin Good, the source of the 2c Missionary cover's provenance, was Worthington's philatelic secretary. A pencil note on the back indicates that the cover was purchased by Worthington in March 1905.

The entire Worthington collection was acquired privately in 1917 by Alfred F. Lichtenstein, who retained some portions of the collection and sold others through a series of auctions in 1917-18. Lichtenstein and another major collector of the time, Alfred H. Caspary, are said to have had an informal truce whereby they avoided concentrating on the same philatelic subjects. Therefore, while Lichtenstein formed his own fine, but relatively modest, collection of Hawaii, the 2c cover was released, giving Caspary the opportunity to acquire it for his formidable collection of Hawaiian classics.

When the Caspary collection was sold by H. R. Harmer in October 1957, the 2c Missionary cover was purchased by Raymond H. Weill Co. for $25,000 - a phenomenal price that was 2-1/2 times the realization for the Alexandria "Blue Boy" postmaster's provisional cover in an earlier Caspary sale. The Weills retained the cover in stock briefly, until a collector, Mr. P., acquired it for his stellar United States collection. In 1969 the Weills purchased the Dawson cover along with Mr. P.'s entire holdings for $4.07 million, but it was not long before Alfred J. Ostheimer III made the cover his most significant single acquisition and the cornerstone of his Hawaii collection.

After The Honolulu Advertiser purchased the Ostheimer collection in 1970, the 2c Missionary cover was absent from the market during the quarter-century when important covers climbed in value. Thus, what has been described as "the most valuable and interesting of any early nineteenth century cover" (Alvin Good) and "by far the most important item in Hawaiian philately [and] one of the greatest covers in the world" (Dr. Norman S. Hubbard, "Aristocrats of Philately", Interphil `76 Catalogue, p. 79), will be offered at auction for the first time in 38 years.

Exhibited among "The Aristocrats of Philately" at Anphilex 1971 (New York City) and Interphil 1976 (Philadelphia). Shown by invitation in the Courts of Honor of fourteen international philatelic exhibitions and illustrated in the exhibition catalogues for London 1980 and World Stamp Expo 1989. Displayed in the "Gems of Hawaii: The Persis Collection" exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum in celebration of the museum's first anniversary.

Illustrated in Rare Stamps, L. N. and M. Williams (p. 27); Encyclopedia of Rare and Famous Stamps, L. N. Williams (p. 129); described and illustrated in Hawaii, Its Stamps and Postal History, Meyer-Harris (p. 30 and 113); featured in Life magazine's "The World's Greatest Stamps" (May 3, 1954) and on the cover of Esquire magazine (October 1956).

Ex George H. Worthington, Alfred F. Lichtenstein, Alfred H. Caspary, Mr. P. Collection, Alfred J. Ostheimer III.

Census No. 1-II-COV-15. Other census references: Meyer-Harris 9; Brewster 1-II-On Cover-1; Bash 1-1. With 1995 P.F. certificate

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1851, 5c Blue (2). Type I, large to huge margins on three sides, a bit irregular at upper left and frameline just touched at right, short separation tear at upper left corner, free of any repair and very slightly creased by a vertical fold in the envelope; the Missionary escaped cancellation by the vivid red "Honolulu*Hawaiian-Islands*Mar. 5" circular datestamp, although under magnification a few tiny red ink specks are visible on the stamp; used from Honolulu to San Francisco on a California Penny Post Company, 5c Black on Buff entire (34LU13A) with printed address in six lines "To Agent of the Penny-Post Co./San Francisco,/Cal./Box 5150./Please Deliver To/Messrs. Noble & Haskel, Davis St., near California."; additionally franked with United States 1851 3c Yellowish Rose Red (11), early 1856 shade, ample to large margins, bright shade, cancelled and tied by the "San Francisco Cal. 21 Mar." circular datestamp in black with matching "Ship 6" clamshell-style circular rate handstamp; the envelope is fresh and clean

AN EXTRAORDINARY MIXED-FRANKING COVER, SHOWING FOUR DIFFERENT FORMS OF POSTAGE, INCLUDING A RARE HAWAIIAN MISSIONARY, THE UNITED STATES 1851 ISSUE, THE SAN FRANCISCO FANCY SHIP-LETTER DUE HANDSTAMP, AND THE RARE PREPAID ENTIRE OF THE CALIFORNIA PENNY POST COMPANY

This remarkable cover does not carry a year-dated postmark, but it can only be a March 1856 usage. The California Penny Post Company was started by J. B. Goodwin as a city delivery post in June 1855 and, by the beginning of 1856, faced increasing pressure from a hostile San Francisco postmaster. Service ceased after approximately one year in business. The 1856 usage also ties in with sailing dates of the Yankee, which cleared Honolulu on March 5, 1856, and arrived in San Francisco on March 20.

This cover involved a complex rating structure that leaves some room for interpretation. We can be certain that the 5c Missionary stamp prepaid the Hawaiian postage and that the "Ship 6" marking corresponds to the correct rate for a ship letter delivered within the port of entry. The California Penny Post Company 5c entire represents the correct fee for delivery from the post office to the addressees, Noble & Haskel. The box number facilitated the holding of mail at the post office until the Penny Post Co. picked up letters for delivery to the addressees.

The 3c 1851 stamp was probably affixed to this entire by the sender from a supply procured in San Francisco in early 1856, possibly before being carried to Hawaii. We can speculate that he arrived in Honolulu, conducted his business, and used the prepaid entire by adding the Hawaiian stamp to the U.S. postage - either unaware, unconcerned or confused as to the correct prepayment of United States postage. The Honolulu post office considered the U.S. portion of postage unpaid, as it was marked with the "Hawaiian-Islands" datestamp, not "U.S. Postage Paid." On arrival in San Francisco, the post office treated the entire as an unpaid ship letter, rating it 6c due with the handstamp. Whether or not the Penny Post Co. or its patrons, Noble & Haskel, received credit for the 3c stamp is uncertain. However, considering the tension between Goodwin's local post and the San Francisco post office, no favors were likely to have been extended. There is a pencil note on back, "Found in California Penny Post files", indicating that this may have been retained by Goodwin as evidence in his fight against the post office.

The use of a Hawaiian Missionary stamp on this March 1856 cover occurs late in the Missionary issue's life, but appropriately at a time when 5c stamps were in great demand and short supply in the Islands. The April 1855 rate change in the United States effectively increased the composite rate from 13c to 17c and created an increased demand for Hawaiian 5c stamps that could be used in combination with U.S. 12c stamps. By the beginning of 1857 the shortage of 5c stamps had reached the critical point, and supplies of 13c Kamehameha III stamps were provisionally surcharged "5" cents. In the context of the new demands and shortages created by the April 1855 rate change, the use of a 5c Missionary stamp in March 1856 is understandable.

This unique Missionary cover was acquired by the late Richard Saffin in the late 1920s or 1930s in New York City's stamp district. Saffin was a reclusive collector whose extensive postal history collection, including a number of never-seen-before covers, came to the market in 1982 when his estate was sold through Christie's. The cover had been secreted away for nearly seven decades and was not included in the Meyer-Harris or Bash lists of Missionaries. The cover was certified genuine by The Philatelic Foundation in 1982 and acquired by Raymond H. Weill on behalf of The Honolulu Advertiser collection at the auction.

Although this Missionary cover has not had time in the public eye to receive the same widespread exposure as other important philatelic rarities, it would be difficult to overstate its singular status and significance. Of the 30 Missionary covers in our census (Appendix I), only six are mixed frankings with United States stamps, including one defective example and another with a repaired stamp. In the context of worldwide mixed-franking covers, the coincidence of two nations' postage stamps and local-post franking is, to our knowledge, unique in this period and found elsewhere only among the Chinese Treaty Ports of the 1890s.

Ex Richard Saffin. Illustrated in Letters of Gold, Jesse L. Coburn (p. 63)

Census No. 2-I-COV-76. Other census references: Brewster 2-I-On Cover-6. With 1982 and 1995 P.F. certificates

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