Auction Detail
March United States Postal History
Featuring The Leonard Piszkiewicz Collection of Chicago Postal History, The Van Koppersmith Collection of Philadelphia Postal History and The Tony Dewey Collection of Hartford Postal History
- (-) Remove The Leonard Piszkiewicz Collection of Chicago Postal History filter The Leonard Piszkiewicz Collection of Chicago Postal History
approximately 300 covers and cards in two binders, beginning with Chicago's first duplex postmarks in 1881 and continuing through the mid-20th Century, note advertising covers including various hotels, Wesson "time on bottom" cancels, and much more, generally fine to very fine throughout, a wonderful survey of the duplex cancellations used in Chicago across the decades, see Piszkiewicz chapters
approximately 55 covers beginning with Chicago's first four-bar device used in 1924, note several early airmail and special delivery covers, continues through about the 1990s, generally fine to very fine, an interesting collection of these unassuming cancellations, see discussion in Piszkiewicz (pages 67-72)
three covers, first ca. 1851 with "Free. Post Office Business." fancy handstamp on cover to Warrenville, Illinois, red "Chicago Ill. Sep 29" datestamp, overall toning and faults; second ornate printed "Post Office, Chicago, Ill., Official Business, Free." frank in upper right of 1862 cover to Springfield, Illinois, July 27 double circle datestamp, very fine; third with same frank at upper left of locally-addressed cover with blue "Chicago Advertised Nov 24 1862" shield handstamp (AD-4), also very fine, a rare trio with very few examples recorded of either the handstamped or printed frank, all three illustrated in Piszkiewicz (page 25)
37 covers, cards, and tags ranging from 1877 to 1956, begins with couple of UO12 entires, various stations and postmarks represented throughout, generally very fine, an interesting group
blue handstamp on cover postmarked "Fort Madison Ioa Mar 8 1864", addressed to Bubendorf, Switzerland, carried by Allen Line St. Andrew from Portland, Maine to Queenstown, blue manuscript "45" debit to Switzerland and red "170" due, backstamped Aachen, Basel, and Bubendorf, light wear, very fine and scarce, illustrated in Piszkiewicz (page 182)
red backstamp on 1874 cover to London, two 3c Green Bank Notes tied by blue negative "A" with "3" postmarks, matching "Chicago Ill. June 20" datestamp alongside, red "London E.C. Paid 6 Jy" marking, very fine and attractive
red exchange handstamp on 1868 cover to Montluel, France, "St. Paul Minn Dec 16" duplex ties 15 Black (77), blue Calais entry also ties with matching boxed "PD" alongside, January 8, 1869 Montluel arrival backstamp, fine and scarce marking
red handstamp on cover postmarked "Sheboygan Wis Feb 19 1863", franked with pair of 1861 3c Rose and 30c Orange (65, 71), each with neat grid cancel, addressed to Rokewood, Victoria, Australia, carried by Allan Line Nova Scotia from Portland, Maine to Liverpool, red March 15 London transit, backstamped Melbourne May 10 and Rokewood May 12, light overall wear, fine and rare, illustrated in Piszkiewicz page 180
red datestamp on 1869 cover from Frankfurt to San Francisco, vertical pair of North German Confederation 7kr Ultramarine (22) tied by boxed "Frankfurt A.M. Postexped 15/11 69" datestamp and straightline "Franco", very fine cover handled by the Chicago exchange office
black depreciated currency handstamp on incoming 1882 cover from Dresden, black boxed "T" handstamp and 10c Postage due (J5) with "C" precancel, backstamped "Chicago Ill. Unpaid Jul 31" (FN-230), very fine and attractive, a late use of this handstamp
23 covers from the 1850s through 1880s, mix of stampless, stationery, and covers with adhesives, several with red "U.States" in arc handstamp and matching "Paid 10", also note 1863 blue "U.States 10" in arc on cover to Toronto, 1863 blue "U.States" in arc with "Insufficiently Prepaid" two-line handstamp on cover to Vankleek Hill, and other interesting markings and frankings, somewhat mixed condition, still an interesting and scarce group for the specialist
approximately 135 mostly-outbound covers to all parts of the globe, spanning the 1860s through 1990s, begins with 24c on 1865 cover to England, three 10c on 1868 cover to Switzerland, strip of four 3c on 1868 cover to England, various "Chicago Paid All" handstamps as outlined in the Piszkiewicz book, later destinations including Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, England, and more, somewhat mixed condition but many fine to very fine covers throughout, the ideal lot to accompany Chapter 25 of the Piszkiewicz book for which this collection formed the basis, a group like this would be exceedingly difficult to recreate