Auction Detail
July 2023
United States Postal History
Prices Realized Now Online
- The Van Koppersmith Collection of Ship Mail (728) Apply The Van Koppersmith Collection of Ship Mail filter
- Erivan Collection of Western Postal History (229) Apply Erivan Collection of Western Postal History filter
- The Nancy Clark Collection of Maine Postal History (127) Apply The Nancy Clark Collection of Maine Postal History filter
- The Mark Schwartz Collection of Essex County, Massachusetts Postal History (104) Apply The Mark Schwartz Collection of Essex County, Massachusetts Postal History filter
- The Graham Booth Collection of Transatlantic Mail (103) Apply The Graham Booth Collection of Transatlantic Mail filter
10 covers mounted on exhibit pages, including 1841 Thomas J. Cope to Yorkshire, 1844 Shenandoah to London and 1842 to Philadelphia, 1835 Pocahontas to Philadelphia and re-mailed to Newport, Rhode Island, 1827 Algonquin to London, 1841 Susquehanna to London (ex-Wraith), 1834 Monongahela to Liverpool, 1821 Tuscarora to Derby, 1827 Montezuma to London, and 1848 Tuscarora II to Philadelphia, generally fine to very fine and most with partial contents transcribed, an interesting group of this scarce and collectible line
approximately 68 items, most of which are written up on exhibit pages, begins with a few 1840s/50s covers but heavily focused on the second half of the 19th Century with better frankings and destinations, several NYFM cancels, 12-rate cover from New York to England, San Francisco to Yorkshire on last voyage of Cuba, and more, generally fine to very fine, an interesting group for the specialist
eight covers mounted on well-annotated exhibit pages, includes 1845 Siddons to New Orleans via New York and returned, 1845 and 1847 Siddons to Philadelphia, 1840 Siddons to London with two-line "Waterford Ship Letter", 1837 Shakespeare to London with framed "Portsmouth Ship Letter", 1840 Garrick to Montreal via New York, and 1847 Garrick from Mobile, Alabama to London with "Way 11" handstamp, generally very fine, a wonderful group of this line
33 items mounted on exhibit pages, begins with 1846 illustrated lettersheet showing her original six-mast design, August 1845 maiden return voyage folded letter from New York to London, 1846 New Orleans to London via New York, August 1852 maiden voyage to Australia folded letter from Worksop to Melbourne with 1sh Green (ex-Ward), November 1852 Melbourne to Sydney with Victoria 2p Yellow brown, January 1853 maiden return voyage Melbourne to England with NSW 3p Sydney View, October 1853 Melbourne to London second return voyage with Victoria 3p Blue (ex-Ashby), November 1853 Sydney to England second return voyage with NSW 3p Queen Victoria, April 1854 London to Sydney franked 1sh underpaying the NSW ship letter rate on scrapped Great Britain voyage (Louis certificate stating that this franking of 1848 10p Brown and two 1854 1p Red is unique), October 1854 Melbourne to Scotland third return voyage with Victoria 1sh Blue (ex-Moreton), October 1854 Melbourne to New Brunswick with Victoria 1sh Blue (ex-Tabeart), May 1857 Sydney to England with two NSW 6p Gray, May 1857 Melbourne to London registered letter with two Victoria 6p Yellow orange and 1sh Rose & blue (ex-Moreton), May 1857 Melbourne to England with Victoria 6p Orange "woodblock" and red "Paid 22 Au 57 Liverpool Ship" handstamp (only used on this voyage), May 1857 Melbourne to Ireland with strip of three Victoria 2p Victoria on Throne, two May 1857 covers from Adelaide to Scotland with South Australia adhesives, May 1861 Victoria to England with Victoria 6p Blue, and more, generally very fine, an extraordinary collection documenting the history of this steamship during her service to both the United States and Australia, replicating this group would be exceedingly difficult
approximately 123 items on exhibit pages, all identified by voyage, an incredible array of uses and markings including several Philadelphia freight money letters, "Steam Boat" handstamp on cover to Albany, Penny Black used with "Exeter Py Post" and "Fore Street Hill Penny Post" handstamps, "Harnden's Express from Boston" handstamp, oval "PL" (Paid Late), two letters referring to the loss of the Columbia in 1843, forwarder's handstamps including "Maze Bristol", "Gilpin's Exchange Reading Room and Foreign Letter Office N. York", "Meyer & Hupeden New York", "George Hart New-York", "Harnden & Co's Foreign Letter Office Phila.", "Meyer & Stucken New York", and "Hale's For. Letr. Office New York", generally fine to very fine, an extraordinary lot documenting the early history of this significant vessel, viewing a necessity as words cannot accurately convey just how many scarce and interesting items are here
15 covers on exhibit pages, ships including Arago, Franklin including 1854 Chicago to Scotland with scarce "24" handstamp, Fulton including 1866 New York to London (third voyage after Civil War), Humboldt including 1853 New York to Switzerland, and Union including 1855 New York to Antwerp with "U.S. Pkt." handstamp, generally fine to very fine
15 covers on exhibit pages including 1851 Washington from Philadelphia to Bremen with "Phila. Paid 24Cts." handstamp corrected to "21" and straightline "Part Paid", 1855 Washington from Pennsylvania to Bremen with "24/9 KrR America Uber Bremen", 1856 Washington to Florence with two 1c, three 3c, and 10c stamps (faulty), two Prussian Closed Mail covers by Hermann, 1853 Hermann London to New York with circular "Too Late G.P.O.", and more, generally fine to very fine
33 covers on exhibit pages, ships including Birmingham, Constellation, Hercules, John Jay, John Wells, Manhattan, Meteor, Panthea, Sheffield, St. Andrew, Stephen Whitney, Sylvanus Jenkins, United States, Virginian, Waterloo, and William Byrnes, mostly dating to the 1820s and 1830s but a few later, generally fine to very fine
18 items on exhibit pages, most dating to the 1830s and 1840s, ships including Gladiator, Independence, London, Mediator, Ontario, Quebec, Samson, St. James, and Wellington, generally fine to very fine, an interesting group of this relatively small line
45 covers mounted on exhibit pages, ships including Union Line Utica, Henry IV, Burgundy, Ville de Lyon, Poland, Sully, Charles Carroll, Francis Depau, Rhone, Baltimore, Zurich, Francois Premier, and Formosa; Old Line Iowa, Duchesse D'Orleans, Charlemagne, Havre I, and Sully; and Second Line Howard, Marmion, Erie, Bayard, Normandie, Don Quixote, France, Oneida, and St. Nicholas, as well as several unknown ships, generally fine to very fine, many scarce trips and vessels as a number of these lines and ships were short-lived, a wonderful group for the specialist in early transatlantic mail
approximately 59 covers mounted on exhibit pages covering a wide variety of lines and vessels, including Red Swallowtail, Red Star, Black Ball, Dramatic, Blue Swallowtail, and more, a number of freight money letters including several quadruple-rate, several covers from Enoch Train's White Diamond Line, New Line's Rochester and Queen of the West, Black Star's Jacob A. Westervelt, and more, generally very fine and accompanied by incredibly useful write-ups, a fantastic group of material detailing the rise of transatlantic mail across the 1820s to 1840s
approximately 80 covers on various exhibit pages and dealer cards, largely telling the story of the escalating postal tensions between the United States and Great Britain from the Discriminatory Period, the Retaliatory Period, the Restored Rates, and the Treaty Period, impossible to mention everything but we note August 16, 1848 England to New York by Ocean's Washington franked with strip of three GB 2p Blue; December 2, 1848 Liverpool to Boston by Cunard's Niagara on penultimate westbound retaliatory rate voyage; January 3, 1849 folded letter Constantinople to Philadelphia via Liverpool (by Cunard's Niagara); February 13, 1849 Tarboro, North Carolina to Scotland via Boston and Liverpool, carried on first Treaty Rate voyage of Cunard's Niagara; March 22, 1849 Le Havre to Portland, Maine by Hermann on her first Treaty Rate voyage (ex-White); and August 12, 1849 Baltimore to Amsterdam by Cambria (ex-Winter); although not entirely organized this group presents a wonderful opportunity to learn about this fascinating period of Anglo-American relations and the development of fast and reliable transatlantic mail, a useful group worth a close inspection