Auction Detail

62X4, New Orleans, Louisiana 5c Red brown on bluish, horizontal pair, margins large to just grazing with frameline at top, tied by "New Orleans La 21 Sep" datestamp and straightline "Paid" to cover to Charleston, South Carolina, very fine and fresh, Seybold's purple handstamp and Molesworth notations on reverse (Scott $700)

74X1, Liberty, Virginia 5c Black, uncancelled single on cover to Fincastle, Virginia, with "Liberty Va. 10 Jul" postmark at center, cover and stamp with some water stains, sealed tear at top left and slightly reduced at left, stamp tiny bit of blue ink at bottom right, still fine and rare, one of just two recorded examples of this stamp used from Liberty and one of the great Confederate States rarities, 2022 Philatelic Foundation certificate (Scott $25,000) The Liberty, Virginia provisional stamp is something of an anomaly. Only three examples are known, all used on cover: two from Liberty, Virginia (July 7 and July 10), and a cover from Salem, Virginia (December 6, last sold in the "Erivan" Collection Sale 3). As all three stamps are identical it appears they were made individually by impressing printers type by hand. Liberty is the historic name for Bedford, Virginia (the name was changed in 1890), which sits approximately halfway between Salem and Lynchburg, a distance of about 60 miles. Construction on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which extended westward from Lynchburg, began in 1850, and service to Bristol, Virginia (in the western part of the state) began in 1856. During the Civil War the line was extremely important to the movement of troops and supplies. The fact that two cities linked by the railroad both used this stamp seems unlikely to be coincidental; it has been suggested that "the provisional stamps were available briefly to persons who sent their letters to the Liberty (or Salem) offices from outlying areas, as a means to indicate prepayment in the absence of coins or government stamps" (R.A. Siegel Sale 815, Kilbourne Collection, 1999). Provenance: Count Philipp von Ferrary (Gilbert Sale 4, 1922) Arthur Hind (Charles J. Phillips Sale 1, 1933) Alfred H. Caspary (H.R. Harmer Sale 991, 1956)

88X2, Victoria, Texas 10c Red brown on Green, single with nearly full margins tied by brown "Victoria Tex. Jun 23" datestamp and matching "Paid" handstamp on 1863 cover to La Grange, Texas, very fine in every respect, one of just two covers recorded with any Victoria Provisional, an extraordinary cover and without a doubt one of the gems of Confederate philately, 2022 Philatelic Foundation certificate (Scott $115,000) The Victoria, Texas provisional postage stamps were created by postmaster James A. Moody, who served in that position from 1838 to 1865. The stamps were printed by the Victoria Advocate newspaper, and were unknown to the philatelic world until 1893. Today, with only 14 total stamps known from Victoria, these are amongst the most poorly-known of all Confederate provisional stamps. As with all Texas provisionals, we refer you to Charles W. Deaton's 2012 book, The Great Texas Stamp Collection, for much more information about these attractive stamps. Provenance: Alfred H. Caspary (H.R. Harmer Sale 991, 1956) H. Gray Muzzy (H.R. Harmer Sale 1764, 1967)

3, 1862 2c Green, mint strip of three, large margins all around, o.g., left stamp small stain, otherwise very fine and fresh (Scott $3,000 as singles)