Auction Detail

large red 36mm circular datestamp on 1851 folded letter to Westfield, New York, matching "Paid" handstamp, light wear and vertical crease away from postmark, very fine strike, the earlier of the two known examples of this postmark, which was the first employed by Chicago to incorporate the rate into the datestamp (after the rate reduction of July 1, 1851), a rare and important postmark

clear strike of circular datestamp ties 1851 3c Dull red (11) to cover to Detroit, blue cornercard for "James H. Rees, Land Agent, No. 63 Clarke St.", extremely fine, an immaculate Independence Day cover which represents the latest known use of the A-3 device, this postmark was in use for almost 11 years and is the longest-lived postmark in Chicago history, illustrated in Piszkiewicz (page 9)

red datestamp with matching cog "10" on 1849 folded letter to Newark, New Jersey, personal letter written on Christmas Day, fine and attractive, this scarce postmark was only in use for two months 

red datestamp with matching straight-line "Paid" and "48" in circle on 1850 folded letter to Newry, (Northern) Ireland, red "America Liverpool Paid Oc 6 50" and "38" credit handstamps applied upon arrival in England, some overall wear but fine appearance, the only example of this rate handstamp and the highest rate stamp recorded from Chicago, Reference: illustrated in Piszkiewicz (page 22)

black datestamp on 1854 cover to Sacramento, California, red straight-line "Paid" and "Paid 6" in arc, light edge wear, very fine, a rare use of the "Paid 6" handstamp which only appeared for a short time in 1854, Reference: illustrated in Piszkiewicz (page 23)