The Classic Cancel

Item #	Description	Price
c301	#J3 pair, F-VF, tiny fault, on intact cover to Baltimore, MD. The cover was mailed unpaid from Canada as evidenced by VF strike of "HALIFAX - N.S. CANADA B MY 8 83" postmark. The cover was carried by non-contract steamer into Boston, MA, as evidenced by a May 10 receiver on reverse. (Most of this receiver is on the back flap which is intact but pasted down within the envelope.) As such, the cover was marked with an arched "SHIP" and "SHIP-LETTER DUE _____ CTS". It is unclear where the ornate large "2" at upper right was applied and possibly struck out in pencil. (None of these three markings are documented in Blake & Davis, BOSTON POSTMARKS TO 1890.) As a ship letter the owner of the non-contract vessel was due a fee of 2¢ for the letter. At the post office where deposited (Boston) the letter was charged a double 6¢ for the current (3¢) rate of postage, to be collected at the office of delivery, the Boston PO to be reimbursed for the ship letter fee when the doubled postage was collected from the addressee. The letter was next sent (probably by contract coastal steamer) to Baltimore ("BALTIMORE MD. REC'D. MAY 11 4 PM" receiver on back) where the 3¢ #J3 pair 6¢ postage due stamps were applied. Note the pair bears a Baltimore quartered cork killer precancel. The Baltimore PO precancelled four stamps simultaneously by placing the cancellation at the intersection of four stamps. This was similar to the method used for the Wheeling grid control cancels on the 5¢ and 10¢ 1847 issues. A wonderful and very scarce example of the use of postage dues on a ship letter.	SOLD
c302	#J4, quartered cork killer, on unpaid, unreduced envelope sent to Portland, ME, cover source not determinable. "Ships Letter" penciled at upper right. Upon arrival and delivery to the New York the post office, a clerk applied the binocular "NEW YORK MAR 12 81 DUE 5 CENTS" postage due marking. The 5¢ due rate, established July 1, 1875 for foreign countries with which different rates had not been established by postal convention or other arrangement, applied principally to correspondence received from the West Indies, Central America, and countries on the west coast of South America. It was written out in Sections 1127 and 1128 of the 1879 P.L. & R. The letter was then sent on to Portland where "PORTLAND ME. RECD. MAR 13 12 PM" receiver and "CARRIER MAR 14 7 AM" marking were applied on reverse. The cover bears a red wax seal but most of the sealed flap is missing. Scarce.	~~$100~~ $80
c303	#207, WILMINGTON DEL. FEB 188[?] postmark and ellipse killer tie to intact cover to Baltimore, MD. The cover bears a #J3 3¢ postage due bearing a Baltimore quartered cork killer precancel. The Baltimore PO precancelled four stamps simultaneously by placing the cancellation at the intersection of four stamps. There are no specific postage due markings on the cover, but there appears to be a crossed out pen "6" at upper left. Nice example of the Baltimore precancel.	$30
c275	#U395, fine entire, small reduction at right, postmarked WASHINGTON, D.C. AUG 19 1904 and bearing black straight line "STEAMBOAT" and "DUE 2" hand stamps. The cover also bears a #J39 2¢ postage due stamp canceled by a light magenta WASHINGTON double oval killer. The due represents the ship fee payment for delivery from the incoming steamboat. The cover was delivered uncancelled, thus the D.C. postmark. The cover contains its original letter datelined Edgewater, VA Aug 17 1904. Based upon its content and the cover's passage via steamboat, I believe that this "Edgewater" represents a coastal area near Norfolk, VA and not the inland Grayson County town of this name. A scarce and attractive later example of the steamboat mail into the nation's capitol.	SOLD
c234	#J3, 2 XF sound copies, each with blue New York circle of pearls precancel, on VF mourning cover front from England. The cover has a LONDON MY 5 87 postmark tying a one penny stamp. The London P.O. noting the deficiency stamped its black postage due "T" and wrote a blue crayon "15" [centimes] for the 1½ penney (3¢) postage deficiency. Upon receipt the N.Y.P.O. placed its arched "U.S. CHARGE TO COLLECT .6" at upper left, reflecting a penalty doubling of the deficiency, and the two 3¢ dues. The postage due stamps are of the reddish brown variety, a color sometimes confused with the much scarcer red brown #J17. Indeed, this item has a 2000 APES certificate declaring the stamps to be #J17. Students of the early postage due issues have never seen the NY pearls precancel on #J17, issued in 1884. Moreover, copies of #J3 with NY pearls are documented used as late as in June of 1887. When the first class postage rate dropped to 2¢ in 1883 the N.Y.P.O. had a large inventory of the 3¢ #J3 stamps to work through, one of the reasons that the #J17 is so scarce on cover. Nevertheless, this is still a quite impressive postage due item, combining good markings, attractive stamps and the late use of the NY precancel.	SOLD
c233	#J3, SE, perf faults, bearing a clear black letter "C" in double oval precancel of Chicago, IL (Piszkiewicz type PD-2) on intact cover mailed from Brooklyn, NY. The apparently double weight cover has 3¢ postage paid by a #183 and #206 canceled by Brooklyn ellipse killers and SEP 1 82 postmarks. There is a black "DUE 3" in circle (a style unlisted in Piszkiewicz) and a blue "C. & A. R.R. [Chicago & Alton Railroad] CHICAGO. GEN. PASS. & TK'T. DEPT. SEP 5 1882" receiver on front and a CHICAGO CARRIER SEP 3 postmark on reverse. This example of this very scarce Chicago postage due precancel represents its latest known use (Piszkiewicz. p.429). A terrific piece of Chicago postage due postal history.	SOLD
c246	#J15, VF sound 1¢ postage due with New York circle of pearls precancel on VF intact unsealed circular from SOCIETA UNIONE E FRATELLANZA ITALIANA to local NY address. The due pays the 1¢ charge for undelivered third class mail. The cover bears an XF sound 1¢ #206 canceled by a superb strike of the large NEW YORK (station 2) PO in barred double oval killer. Upon failed delivery the post office added magenta strikes of "N.Y.P.O. RETURN POSTAGE DUE ___CENTS" with blue crayon "1" and a large "RETURNED TO WRITER CANNOT BE FOUND" pointing hand dated 1887 MAY 2. This date constitutes a late date of use for the NY pearls precancel (reported to be June 1887). A very attractive example of this use of the postage due stamp.	SOLD
c235	An early postage due cover with with novel handling. #207 strip of 3 canceled SAINT PAUL MINN. AUG 24 on cover to Philadelphia, PA. The St. Paul P.O. apparently determined that the cover weighed 1½-2 oz. and marked it "Due 3" in blue crayon. The cover was received in Philadelphia (AUG 26 receiver on back) where the Philadelphia P.O. stamped the circled "DUE 3" and the 3¢ #J3 postage due stamp was applied and canceled. How it was paid is open to speculation. Possibly the addressee left some funds with the P.O. for such purposes before moving, or someone at the Philadelphia address paid it so the letter could be forwarded. In any event, Philadelphia applied the boxed "FORWARDED" marking and AUG 28 postmark with circled "9" killer and forwarded the letter free of charge. To ensure that the Waterville P.O. to which it was being forwarded would honor the paid postage, a Philadelphia clerk circled the "DUE 3" and wrote "Paid in Phil'a P.O." along with his signature. (The ink of the note matches that used to re-address the cover.) I believe that there still may have been some confusion at the Waterville P.O. (AUG 29, 1882 receiving postmark on back). Normally the post office of delivery collects the postage due. There is evidence in the form of gum residue and light abrasion that another stamp (probably a 3¢ postage due) was applied over the St. Paul postmark but then removed. Note also a penciled "Paid" plus another signature at upper left. This fascinating cover has minor edge faults and is missing its mail flap.	SOLD
c212	#U277 intact entire, postmark CAMBRIDGE STA. [MA], MAY 19, sent to Chicago, from where this postage due cover eventually arrived in the Washington, DC Dead Letter Office. The cover has multiple related markings detailing its handling ([F] front, [B] back, [P] Piszkiewicz reference): [B] [P RC-13] CHICAGO, ILL. REC'D. 12, 21 MAY 2 AM 1886; [B] [P p. 292] CHICAGO, ILL. S., MAY 21 7 AM 86 S in ellipse receiver at South Branch; [F] penciled "Not There"; [B] [P p. 292] CHICAGO, ILL. S., MAY 25 12 M 86 S in ellipse applied when cover returned to the GPO; [B] [P GD-1] magenta boxed GEN. DEL. MAY 25 1886 3 P.M.; [F] [P AD-11] "ADVERTISED JUN 5 =" (sound #J15 1¢ postage due precanceled with light strike of 3 vertical bars ["Silent Precancels" Chicago G] applied for the advertising fee); [F] [P p. 411] bold UNCLAIMED; [F] manuscript "Returned to S. B. July 15/86"; [B] "CHICAGO [???] 15 JUL ="; [B] penciled "Stamp Collect [?]"; [B] USA DEAD LETTER OFFICE JUL [?] triangle. A marvelous example of the processing of advertised mail in the Chicago post office, with a scarce Chicago precancel to boot!	~~$125~~ $100
c214	#J2x5 2¢ postage dues (strip of 3 and pair), fine, tiny edge faults, double ruled black crayon pre-cancels, on intact cover from Geneva, Switzerland to Worcester, Mass. ("GENEVE EXP. LET. 16 VIII 84" postmark partially obscured by the dues). The cover bears a 25 centime French stamp that would have been adequate postage had the cover been mailed from France, but was invalid for use from Switzerland. Thus the cover was treated as totally unpaid. This is evidenced by the red crayon "0" below the stamp applied by the Swiss postal service and the NEW YORK AUG 30 84 DUE 10 CENTS binocular mark applied on arrival in the U.S. The 10 cents of postage due reflects a penalty doubling of the 5¢ UPU rate for single weight letter. The Worcester post office applied the postage due stamps upon arrival (WORCESTER, MASS. REC'D. AUG 31 10 PM hand stamp on reverse). A nice and quite scarce example of the postage due treatment of invalid postage.	SOLD
c215	#J19, fine, sound 10¢ dark claret postage due, canceled by OXFORD, MASS. MAY 5 postmark and fancy star killer on intact cover from England. The postage due stamp pays a penalty doubling of the 5¢ per half ounce for a double weight cover paid only a single rate. The cover bears a faulty British 2½p Victoria stamp canceled Manchester, AP 27 90 and a British T 25 [centime] due mark. On arrival the NY exchange office applied its NEW YORK MAY 3 90 DUE 10 CENTS binocular hand stamp indicating the penalty doubling of the due amount. Scarce use of an on cover fancy cancellation of an early postage due.	~~$75~~ $65
c178	Cover from England underpaid by 1½ penny, hexagon British T 15 due marking and NEW YORK DUE 6 CENTS DEC 12 94 binocular hand stamp, F+ sound #J24 pair on reverse, paying double the deficiency. Cover is VF and intact with a couple sealed tears at bottom. What makes this cover particularly interesting is that it is a scarce, early 1894 example of mail processed in the "M.I. & R." ("Mail Inadmissible & Returnable") office, part of the Inquiry Department of the NYPO that operated 1894-1916. Also note the the mail was addressed to the "Post Office" so we have a General Delivery back stamp. From research done earlier by another, I learned that the M.I. & R. office was created to keep dangerous (explosives and flammables, poisonous or hazardous) materials out of the mail stream. The regulations associated with this were vague and frequently misunderstood, and much short paid mail ended up in its hands. Anything that a clerks was uncertain how to handle was shunted off to the M.I. & R. office.	~~$150~~ ~~$125~~ $100
c161	#J32, fine sound pair, tied by small BOSTON, MASS letter U double oval postmark with superb strike of arched "SHIP 4" ship letter postal marking (Blake & Davis 688, used 7/26/1864-4/21/1901) on unreduced cover from Liverpool, England (corner), manuscript "Per Sachem" steamer directive, to Boston merchant, BOSTON F.D., MAY 8 97 receiver on reverse. Arfken (p. 97) notes, "A ship letter to a major port which had carrier delivery service and addressed to that port, would be a drop letter liable to a 2¢ charge doubled to 4¢ per half ounce." He further notes only two such covers bearing large numeral dues have been reported, illustrating one from this same correspondence on p. 99. A wonderful and exceptionally scarce use of postage due irrespective of due issue.	SOLD
c163	#J4, fine, sound, tied on VF, fresh cover to Boston, MA by two strikes of what appear to be a muddy magenta letter "C" or broken circle (killer unlisted in Arfken), with VF NEW YORK, OCT 25, 79 DUE 5 CENTS binocular due hand stamp. The cover originated in Haiti, evidenced by an XF strike of large, blue DUTHIERS & TRAVIESO, Port-au-Prince, HAITI fancy double oval firm hand stamp, and was sent to Messinger & Sweet, a Boston match manufacturer. The cover is docketed "via Kingston [Jamaica]" at upper left with the notation "5 cts Paid by W D. S." at bottom. The 5¢ due rate, established July 1, 1875 for foreign countries with which different rates had not been established by postal convention or other arrangement, applied principally to correspondence received from the West Indies, Central America, and countries on the west coast of South America. It was written out in Sections 1127 and 1128 of the 1879 P.L. & R. This is an early use of the 5¢ due to pay the deficiency on a cover from a small, rare source country. For accuracy, it has a 7mm reduction at right affecting nothing and a blue BOSTON, MASS. CARRIER, OCT 25 mark on back. All in all an absolutely marvelous due cover!	SOLD
c165	#J18, fine, sound, tied by small NEW YORK PO barred double oval killer on intact cover from GERMANY. Cover bears a defective 10pf German coat of arms stamp postmarked Dresden, 11/??/93 paying only the domestic rate. The German postal service applied the UPU "T" (Arfken type 12) due marking and a penciled "12½" representing the German postage deficiency. When received the NYPO applied a "COLLECT POSTAGE .5 CENTS" (note the unusual period before the "5"), double the postage deficiency. Ex-Warren Bower. According to his notes this odd 5 CENT due marking is seen mostly on Germany to U.S. letters. Attractive.	~~$100~~ ~~$90~~ $75
c166	#J26, VF, sound with horizontal brush stroke precancel, on unreduced cover from GERMANY. Cover bears a 20pf German coat of arms stamp tied by indistinct Reinberg, 18/6/92 postmark paying the single weight UPU rate. Upon arrival in New York the NYPO determined that the cover was double weight and applied its NEW YORK JUN 30 A 92 DUE 10 CENTS binocular due marking before sending on to Cleveland, Ohio where the 10¢ due stamp was applied. Cover contains the original letter. A small portion of the back flap is torn away affecting a CLEVELAND JUL 1 receiving postmark. Scarce precancel use of the due stamp.	~~$100~~ ~~$90~~ $80
c168	#210, fine, tied by light Zanesville, OH, FEB 26 postmark and ellipse killer on cover to Washington, DC with fine #J1 tied by bold "UNCLAIMED". The cover bears several dated WASHINGTON postal markings documenting the processing of this cover that eventually wound up in the Dead Letter Office: REC'D FEB 27 1886 (back); MAR 1 11:30AM 86 numeral 7 ellipse (front, lower left); GENERAL DELIVERY, MAR 1 1PM (back); large letter L ellipse and MAR ? 1886 postmark (front, a marking typically found on DC covers with postage due); ADVERTISED WASH. D.C. MAR 6 1886 (front); and finally, WASHINGTON, D.C. Post Office, D.L., APR 3 1886 (back, a dead letter marking). The 1¢ due was applied when the letter was advertised, but with no one calling for the letter, the stamp was canceled by the UNCLAIMED hand stamp. The cover is reduced 5mm at right with the upper right corner clipped, all affecting nothing. A very interesting processing of an advertised cover.	~~$85~~ ~~$75~~ $65
c169	#U163 entire, intact with tears, canceled by BOSTON MASS JUN 25 83 5 PM time on bottom postmark and numeral 4 vertical ellipse killer (Blake & Davis 2086 + 2128), to New York. Cover with fair red oval JUL 6 NEW YORK POST OFFICE ADV Due 1 Cent and #J1, VF, sound, with blue New York pearls precancel paying the advertised fee. The entire's indicia bears a bright purple circled UNCLAIMED I.D. and blue double oval D.S. No. 1 (directory services for addressees letter B last name) as well as a NEW YORK I.D. AUG 18 83 back stamp.	~~$75~~ ~~$65~~ $50
c174	#210, fine, sound, tied by NEW YORK NOV 21 84 postmark and ellipse killer on VF corner advertising cover to New Haven, CT (NEW HAVEN, CONN. REC'D. NOV 22 receiver on reverse). The cover was apparently rated double weight on receipt, the receiving post office applying a 2¢ #J15, canceling it with an unusual black single ring killer. Attractive, clean postage due cancellation item.	SOLD

Off Cover Stamps

Early Issues

1861-67 and 1869 Issues

Banknote Issues

Stationery, Cards, Other

Postage Due