Auction Detail
July 2023
United States Postal History
Prices Realized Now Online
- The Van Koppersmith Collection of Ship Mail (729) Apply The Van Koppersmith Collection of Ship Mail filter
- Erivan Collection of Western Postal History (329) 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 Graham Booth Collection of Transatlantic Mail (118) Apply The Graham Booth Collection of Transatlantic Mail filter
- The Mark Schwartz Collection of Essex County, Massachusetts Postal History (104) Apply The Mark Schwartz Collection of Essex County, Massachusetts Postal History filter
binder with 48 covers on exhibit pages including a wide variety of late fee markings, handstamps including "Too Late", "Unclaimed", "Sent to Quarantine", and "Sent Back to England Without a Reason for Non-Delivery", as well as five covers with United States special delivery stamps and one with 10c registry stamp (F1), fine to very fine, an interesting group
32 items mounted on exhibit pages, many better throughout including 1840 London to Bermuda by Skylark and Velocity, 1842 London to Bermuda by Britannia and Margaret re-rated to "1/3" to include inland (the last time such a charge was made on British packet mail), Barbados to Bermuda by RMSP Clyde and Curlew, 1856 Turks Islands to Bermuda by Merlin, and 1866 London to Bermuda sent unpaid by Cuba and Alpha, generally very fine, a rare and interesting group sure to please the specialist
approximately 90 covers on exhibit pages, the vast majority of which are Cunard Line but some earlier ships as well, couple of cross-border covers, some early 20th Century material but the primary interest and value lies in the middle of the 19th Century, generally fine to fine, many provenances including ex-Tabeart, White, Montgomery, Boettger, and Needs
25 covers mostly mounted on exhibit pages, includes various Small and Large Queen frankings, June 1874 Liverpool to Prince Edward Island less than a year after PEI joined the Dominion, 1900 Boer War patriotic Toronto to Wales, and more, generally fine to very fine, an interesting group
29 items mounted on exhibit pages, better items including 2c-5c on registered letter to the HMS Rodney in the Mediterranean, 8c on registered cover to Pennsylvania, 3c with 5c registry stamp on cover to Nova Scotia, 2c-3c on 1897 Montreal Fair advertising cover, two 5c on cover to Jamaica, 10c on cover to London, 1c on uprated 1c postal card to Bermuda, 2c on all-over Boer War Union Jack patriotic, 15c on overweight cover to Ontario, 1c used with 2c Small Queen on cover to New Brunswick, and more, also includes group of 25 unmounted covers that did not make it into the exhibit but are nevertheless interesting and useful, generally fine to very fine, a scarce and attractive group
approximately 200 covers, many still on their original dealer cards or fragments of exhibit pages (with others not written up at all), a huge variety of material ranging from throughout the 19th Century (and early 20th), we note (in no particular order): 1829 London to Boston printed circular carried on Jewel Line's Amethyst, 1864 England to Canada with block of three 2p Blue with "Insufficiently Prepaid" handstamp, 1873 London to San Francisco with 6p Gray, 1822 Paris to Vermont carried by Black Ball's Amity, 1896 New York to Switzerland with type F supplementary mail cancel, 1827 Paris to New York by Second Line's Queen Mab, 1893 postal card to Germany with type F supplementary mail cancel, 1827 Liverpool to Boston circular by Jewel Line's Topaz, 1838 London to Philadelphia by Red Swallowtail's Ontario (departure delayed due to frozen Thames), 1837 Vera Cruz to London via New Orleans and New York, 1847 Mexico City to London via New Orleans and Boston, 1848 "Forwarded by Harnden & Co. Boston" oval on folded letter to Rome, 1838 Liverpool to Boston on maiden voyage of Black Ball's Cambridge, 1855 London to San Francisco, 1845 New York to London with superb "New-York 5 Paid Aug 15" datestamp, 1847 New York to Edinburgh with manuscript "Found open when received at P.O. L'pool and resealed", and several Gold Rush-era covers from San Francisco to London and France, generally fine to very fine, certainly many more interesting items to be uncovered by a close inspection
red datestamp with manuscript "Ship 27" rate on folded letter to Morrisville, Pennsylvania, datelined "U.S. Ship Brandywine, Port Mahon [Minorca], Apr 15 1832", very fine, Port Mahon was the base of the United States Navy in the Mediterranean for over 20 years, in 1825 the USS Brandywine was tasked with conveying the Marquis de Lafayette back to France
datestamp with manuscript "Ship 14½" rate on folded letter to Newburyport, Massachusetts, datelined "London, 26th June 1811", very fine, ex-Hazelton
black straightline postmark with manuscript "Ship 27" rate on folded letter to York, District of Maine, two-page letter datelined Guadalupe, Mexico, endorsed "pr Ship Stranger, Capt. Bragdon", very fine and rare, ex-Hazelton
datestamp on folded letter from Portugal to Dartmouth, Massachusetts, manuscript "Ship 27½" war rate, overall wear and internal splitting, fine
datestamp on folded letter from Liverpool, England to Providence, Rhode Island, manuscript "Ship 20¾" rate, endorsed "Grand Lark", small piece missing from address panel, otherwise very fine
datestamp on folded letter from St. Bartholomew to Wiscapett, Maine, manuscript "Ship 8" manuscript rate on either side of datestamp, endorsed "P Cap. Smith, Brig Spartan", very fine, an unusual configuration of markings