1860's Free Frank By Acting Uspto Commissioner Shugart

i have an envelope with a partial free frank. see attached photo. the envelope is from the 1860's. anyone know if this is worth anything???

Patent office franks are listed in Volume II of the American Stampless Cover Catalog (mostly at values from $25-$50). There is a note that patent franks were frequently done by the clerk as "acting" commissioner; Shugert was the chief clerk from 1853-9, and his frank is valued at $30 in the catalog. My own experience is that legal size franks are not particularly popular.

great. thanks for the info.

Here's a connection between the addressee of the cover (Riley Root) and the US Patent Office:

Well it probably is worth something but in this arena it would be from a collector of free-franks and government officials. It's worth what someone will pay like anything else. From the looks of it the fellow that had it matted & framed would have been your guy. But without the whole story in it's original context it's hard to give any exacting dollars & cents figure. Having said that though it is desirable just because of the names involved and it's link to postal history and history in general. Neat piece and thank you for showing it. May we see the rest of it?