I am new to the Stamp Forum but I have been a member of the Coin Forum for some time. My specialty is Circulating Counterfeit coins.
Recently I undertook a project to evaluate and dispose of a large amount of material from the estate of George Perkins, Esq. of Dartmouth, Mass.
I have been documenting some of the coin related finds on the Coin site but I am in new territory when dealing with Stamps and Covers. Beyond a brief foray into stamp collecting in Junior High School about 50 years ago, I have little understanding of the world of stamps.
Here are a few covers I found in the collection today. I like the looks of some of them but have no real idea of value. The correspondence (covers) run from 1821 to the 1940s. But the largest number seem to date near the Civil War. Most have no stamps and the letter is folded closed with the address and postal marks on the outside. So the number of actual envelopes is smaller.
I am wondering if anyone can identify these covers and estimate the value? I tried to get what I see as representative types. My personal bias runs to the color illustrated ones but there are fewer of them.
I have several 100 covers in all to evaluate in the next few months. Any help would be appreciated. But I don't want to ask dumb questions if these are $2 type items and I should sell them as a large lot.
The first is a "political" cover but it is dateless.

The next is one of the stampless covers a folded letter from 1851. The post mark is Charlestown, MS (where MS stands for Massachusetts).

The next one dates to 1834 and is postmarked Taunton, Mass. I photographed both sides because of the notes and the wax seal.


This one is an envelope that has a Green Postmark from South Framingham, Mass but lacks a date. I liked the way they cancelled the stamp with a pen. The stamp also has no perforations.

I liked this one because it was stamped FREE. It is a folded letter addressed to the Hon. Elijah Hayward Commissioner of the Land Office Washington, DC. Should I be opening these letters to see what they say or does contents not effect value very much?

This is the oldest letter so far. It is a letter sent by a ship the Brig Thomas of Boston in 1821.

This is the first of a pair of letters that were in an envelope with notes as follows: "Transatlantic SFL wrapper to France, 1857" There are other notations about the Postal marks.

The second letter or cover is very similar but the postmarks show clearer - I believe they were together because of the address.

This is a folded letter from 1848 - again the Postmark reads MS for Massachusetts. The large hand written 5 where the stamp would be caught my eye.

This envelope was odd because the entire thing was printed in a "security" like set of lines on the OUTSIDE. The advertising is formed by leaving part of the grid out. The date is not 100% clear could be 1859 or 1860 or any similar date with rounded numbers.

This envelope has an embossed picture of the American House (Hotel) that was located on Hannover Street in Boston before the big fire. There is a Postmark and a stamp placed on the postage stamp that reads "PAID" oriented vertically.

The last one I found today is from an insurance company containing a bill. I liked the picture of the Indian from the Massachusetts State seal. Insurance in 1863 cost $123 a year. The insured Mr. Cory must have been a rich fellow. His address Westport Point is still a pretty nice area.

I hope this was worth the effort and that it is interesting to those of you who collect covers.
I will post other interesting items as time permits provided these are of some value.
I actually like these things so I hope they are of little value so I can buy them from the estate.