1869 Pictorial Issues On Cover

This cover was sent from Sacramento, California to the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg
(Grossherzogtum Oldenburg). The red Bremen packet mark shows an April, 1870 date.



This cover is franked with two 1869 10c Eagle and Shield stamps bearing
"circle of wedges" fancy cancels.



Oldenburg existed from 1180 until 1918 as a county, duchy and grand duchy.
It was located near the mouth of the River Weser. In 1871 Oldenburg joined the German Empire.

This 3c cover shows an interesting piece of farm equipment from circa 1870.



The name "Buckeye Mower" suggests like it would have been manufactured in Ohio, not Watertown, NY.



The Buckeye Mower.

This is the first registered cover (Reg. #1) from the post office in the small town of Vinton, Iowa.
It has a 15c Scott #119 Landing of Columbus and a 3c Scott #94 Washington F grill.

This is the second registered cover (Reg. No. 2) from the post office in the small town of Hallowell, Maine. Today Hallowell is Maine's smallest city, covering 5 square miles with
a population of 2,467. The postmark reads Oct 15 [1869]. (It would have been even better to have Oct 31, Halloween!). The 18c registered letter rate was paid with the unusual
combination of a Scott #114 3c 1869 pictorial issue Locomotive and a Scott #77 15c Lincoln.



(I won this cover with an absentee bid in the Regency-Superior auction held at the recent stamp show in St Louis.)

Since I am never going to be able to show you an example of the 90c Cent 1869 Pictorial on cover, here is the next best thing.

From The William J. Ainsworth Collection of Abraham Lincoln's Image on United States Postage Stamps - Spink Shreves Galleries - April 17, 2009



Lot 137 - #122, 90c Carmine and black, used, tied to small piece by rare nearly complete "N. York Steamship" c.d.s., deep rich colors, fairly well centered, stamp has been lifted for examination and hinged in place, small surface scrape and a minor thin spot, of little relevance given the famous status of this item, as it is the only known example of the Ninety Cent 1869 Pictorial used on piece; a highly important piece to the 1869 specialist or collector of used classic U.S. stamps and postal history, as this is essentially the only way one will ever obtain this high value in lieu of a complete cover, with the famous "Ice House" cover bearing this stamp, now recovered after being stolen nearly forty years ago, has been finally returned to family members of its original owner David Baker, and it is not known when, or if, it will ever be offered on the open market (and if it does we would suspect it would realize fifty to one hundred times the anticipated realization of the piece offered here); 1986 PF certificate; ex-Forster.....Est. $10,000-15,000

Here is the story of the famous "Ice House" cover (shown above), which is
the only known example of the 90c Lincoln used on cover.

One-of-a-kind stamp treasure, missing for 38 years, turns up
by Stacy Finz, SF Chronicle Staff Writer

G'Day Tom,How very interesting this cover is,what happens to the two that walked in to the store with it,were they paid the finders reward or were the paid a total amount for having the cover .

Another first for the series is the first time a train/locomotive is found on a stamp.
Great stuff everyone!

They may have gotten a finder's reward. It is a shame that there was not a criminal investigation. They might have figured out who stole it!

Here is a 3c locomotive cover to Sparta, Wisconsin to Applecreek, Ohio.





A grilled Lincoln stamp (Scott #98) was used to pay the registry fee.

This cover shows an unusual way to pay the 3c first class rate plus the 15c registry
fee -- A 12c Steamship and a 6c Washington. Both stamps are hard to find on cover,
and there are very few covers with these two stamps used together.

The "Ice House" cover realized $431,250 at auction this month.
The auction house made a video about the Ice House Cover to promote the sale.

Tom - thanks for the info.

I saw the upcoming sale of the Icehouse cover in Linn's, but I hadn't heard about the final price.

Near enough to half a million,that's some cover

I confess I can't imagine how it would feel to own such a philatelic treasure. On the other hand, when I think about a half-million, I think about all the OTHER stamps I could buy with that money if I sold the cover.

"Opportunity Cost," I believe they called it my Economics class

KirkS