Auction Detail
June 2023
"Erivan" Collection Part IX and Canal Zone Stamps and Covers
Our June sales include Part IX of the "Erivan" Collection of United and Confederate States Postal History and a catalogue of Canal Zone stamps and covers featuring the collections of James W. Crumpacker and Paul F. Ammons.
lower left corner margin copy (position 11) showing framelines on three sides, tied by blue straightline "Paid" with matching "Baltimore Md. May 5" datestamp alongside on 1847 cover to "Mr. Nathan Smith Lincoln, Member of College, Hanover, New Hampshire", neat "May 5, 1847" docketing, extremely fine and choice, undoubtedly the finest of the five covers bearing a 10c Baltimore adhesive on white paper
The discovery of this cover was first announced in the New York Times on April 17, 1930, in an article titled "Baltimore Stamp, Worth $10,000, Is Found By Natalie S. Lincoln on an 1848 Letter." Natalie Sumner Lincoln, the editor of the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine and a noted detective novelist, found it while "rummaging through [a wicker] basket" in her workshop. The letter was addressed to Lincoln's father, Dr. Nathan Smith Lincoln, an officer in the Civil War and prominent physician, while a senior at Dartmouth College. The article makes several inaccurate claims, such as the 1848 date and the fact that the stamp was cancelled in red ink.
In 1930 this cover was sold to John A. Klemann of the Nassau Stamp Company for $10,000, who then sold it to Alfred H. Caspary. In its three appearances at public auction, the cover has realized $9,000 (Caspary), $19,000 (Lilly), and $110,000 (Weill). In the Caspary catalogue, it was described as "one of the most outstanding philatelic items in existence."
Baltimore 10c Provisionals are extremely rare. Just two examples are recorded on blue paper, one on a small piece and one on cover (which realized $155,000 in the "Erivan" Collection Part VII). The stamps were subsequently printed on white paper, despite the incorrect order of the Scott Catalogue listings. All five known examples of the white paper stamps are still on their original covers. The cover offered here is by far the finest example known, and rivals the 10c blue paper cover in terms of beauty and quality.
Provenance: Alfred H. Caspary (H.R. Harmer Sale 967, 1955)
Josiah K. Lilly (R.A. Siegel Sale 312, 1967)
Weill Brothers' Stock (Christie's, 1989)
provisional handstamps at upper right of cover to Philadelphia, matching "Baltimore Md. Oct 10" datestamp at left, pressed horizontal filefolds, very fine, Hayes Census #39, USPCS Census #20059 (Scott $4,500)
Before 1972, the Scott Catalogue assigned major numbers to the different colors of Baltimore handstamped envelopes (white, buff, salmon, manila), with buff being the most common and the other three colors carrying a premium. John R. Boker, Jr. believed that these subdivisions were unnecessarily confusing, and convinced Scott to consolidate the listings into four major numbers. For specialists in the issue, salmon envelopes are still scarcer than some of their counterparts and are thus valued higher.
Provenance: Alfred H. Caspary (H.R. Harmer Sale 967, 1955)
free frank on March 15, 1848 folded letter to Washington, DC, endorsed "on p. office business" and "free", vertical filefolds, otherwise very fine, Postmaster James M. Buchanan's signature will be familiar to anyone who has seen the Baltimore Provisional stamps and stamped envelopes, after eight years as postmaster he became Minister to Denmark and passed away in 1876 at the age of 73, a lovely collateral item
large margins all around (position 30), manuscript cancel and tied by red "Boston 5cts 11 Apr" datestamp to cover to New York City, matching straightline "Paid", stamp barely affected by ironed-out vertical filefold, a very fine and rare example of the New York City Provisional originating in Boston (of which Piller recorded 19 and the USPCS census records 26), USPCS Census #20522
positions 1 (right) and 3 (left), originally a vertical pair, used with 10c Black on gray lilac (11X5) on 1846 folded letter to Philadelphia (Charnley & Whelan correspondence), margins large except one 20c touched at bottom and 10c touched at top, tied by neat manuscript cancel, red "St. Louis Mo. May 21" datestamp and two strikes of matching straightline "Paid" alongside, manuscript "50" rate, one 20c slightly wrinkled at bottom prior to use, trivial horizontal filefold away from stamps, extremely fine, the highlight of our 1948 Charnley & Whelan sale and widely considered to be the most important St. Louis Bears cover in existence, 2023 Philatelic Foundation certificate
The Charnley & Whelan find of St. Louis Bears was the fifth major find of these celebrated stamps. Although the story has been told many times over the intervening years, it deserves to be revisited once again. According to our 1948 sale catalogue:
In December 1912, the well-known business house of Charnley and Whelen of Philadelphia decided to have their basement cleared out.
A paper manufacturer was approached and contracted to remove from the basement the accumulation of waste paper and records.
In clearing the paper, he discovered a number of entires with stamps upon them and, although no philatelist himself, he had read and heard sufficient to know that these letters might be of some commercial value. When he finally made enquiries he was amazed and delighted to learn that he had a veritable philatelic gold-mine.
The news—and news it certainly was—soon circulated and in due course legal proceedings were taken for the recovery of this "paper" which had become "gold." Judgement was given however that the contractor was the rightful owner. The further publicity arising from the litigation brought enquiries from the philatelic world and at least one tempting offer.
This offer, made in 1933, was however refused, the owner writing on the envelope containing the entires "I did not know what to do with the money."
No happier answer to his question could be his final decision to bequeath the "Find" on his death to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennyslvania for the use of its Masonic Homes at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Over the course of 42 lots bearing a total of 71 St. Louis Bears, the Charnley and Whelen sale realized a grand total of $43,220. The highest price for a single lot was this cover (lot 26), which sold for $4,600.
The St. Louis Bears were produced from a single copper plate of six subjects, arranged two across and three down. This plate was altered twice, for a total of three states. Additionally, the St. Louis Bears were produced on three different papers: greenish wove, gray lilac wove, and bluish pelure. An understanding of these states and papers will explain the great rarity of the 20c on greenish offered here.
The first state of the plate had three 5c stamps (left column) and three 10c stamps (right column). This original state was primarily printed on green paper. It was then determined that there was a need for 20c stamps, so the top and center 5c stamps (positions 1 and 3) were altered. This second state (first alteration) therefore produced one 5c stamp, three 10c stamps, and two 20c stamps, and was primarily printed on gray lilac paper. Eventually it was determined that the demand for 20c stamps was inadequate, and positions 1 and 3 were converted back to 5c. This third state (second alteration) was primarily printed on bluish pelure paper.
Although the three states roughly correspond to the three paper types, evidently a small number of stamps from the first alteration were printed on greenish paper, resulting in the extremely rare 20c on greenish. Only five examples of this stamp are recorded: three off-cover singles, and the two stamps on the cover offered here.
four mostly large margins, tied by magenta grid to cover to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, blue "Buffalo N.Y. Dec 20" (1847) oval datestamp with fleurons, very fine and attractive early shade and impression, USPCS Census #5554 (Scott $425)
Provenance: Sidney A. Hessel (H.R. Harmer Sale 2343, 1976)
four huge margins, tied by red "New-York Jan 8" datestamp and matching grid to partial 1850 folded lettersheet to Hartford, Connecticut, manuscript "Paid", vertical filefold, very fine stamp
ample margins, tied by black grid to cover to Flushing, New York, red "Boston 10 Cts. 19 Feb" datestamp used in error and corrected with large black "5" handstamp, very fine and unusual, USPCS Census #3574
four large margins, tied by blue cancel to illustrated C. W. Carpenter & Co. Chemical Warehouse folded lettersheet to New Orleans, matching ""Philada. Pa. 10cts Jul 5" datestamp alongside, small sealed tear at top and horizontal filefold, otherwise very fine and attractive
margins ample to clear, tied by red grid to 1849 folded letter to Cleveland, Ohio, matching "New-York May 17" datestamp, very fine, USPCS Census #8195
horizontal strip of three, margins large to grazing, tied by red grids to cover to Munich, Germany with matching "New Haven Con. May 13 1856" datestamp alongside, endorsed "Via Prussian Closed Mail", stamps also tied by red New York City credit datestamp, red boxed "Aachen 25 5 Franco" and backstamped Munich, very fine and attractive
used alongside 3c Dull red (26), 5c Brown (30A), 10c Green (35), and horizontal pair of 30c Orange (38), tied by large "Paid" in grids from Boston to 1860 folded letter to Shanghai, China (Augustine Heard correspondence), endorsed "Via Marseilles" and "pr. Str. Fulton from New York", backstamped "Boston Br. Pkt. Nov. 9", London November 23 transit, manuscript "8" and red crayon "84/4" ratings, 90c reperforated on all four sides, other stamps small faults, very fine appearance, one of just six 90c 1860 covers in existence, one of the most iconic and spectacular classic United States covers, 1993 Philatelic Foundation certificate
Of the six 90c 1860 covers in existence, two originate from the Augustine Heard correspondence to Shanghai. $1.68 postage pays the rate for letters between 1¼ and 1½ ounces. It was carried by the Havre Line's Fulton to Southampton, and then by Great Britain to China via Marseilles, with the United States and Britain each collecting 84c. This cover was extensively discussed by Stanley B. Ashbrook, both in his Special Service and in the 1951 17th American Philatelic Congress Book. In his 1987 article on the 90c 1860 issue on cover (Chronicle Vol. 39, No. 3), Richard Searing declared this to be the "most striking of the five recorded genuine examples" (the census has been updated, but we agree with his sentiment).
With regards to the 90c stamp being reperforated on all four sides, we will turn Ashbrook's Special Service (page 602):
A number of years ago two brothers wandered into a dealer's shop and each had a shoe-box of some family correspondence, which they wanted to sell. One had a cover with a single 90c 1860, a cover as good as gold. The other one also had a cover with various stamps of the 1857-60 issue, including a 90c 1860 with the perforations trimmed from all four sides. The dealer told the young man that his cover would have had more value if the 90c stamp had not been timed, and the young man explained that he had removed the stamp from the cover and cut the perforations from all four sides because he had a perforated 90c in his album and no 90c imperf to go in the imperf space. Later he replaced the trimmed copy on the cover. This is a true story.
For many years the 24c, 30c, and 90c were listed in the Scott Catalogue as imperforate stamps although it is now known that they were never issued as such. It was the owner's blind acceptance of the catalogue listings that caused him to alter the stamp on this cover; or, as Searing eloquently put it, "Such is the price of ignorance in trying to fill an album space created for a proof that never should have been listed as a stamp."
Provenance: Henry C. Needham
Robert A. Paliafito
Ryohei Ishikawa (Christie's Robson Lowe, 1993)
Blake Myers (R.A. Siegel Sale 882, 2004)