Let's See Your Territorial Covers!

There is at least one fraudulent cover with a pair, PF cert 519081.

Thanks for the pointer. That's an interesting comparison item. I see it on pfsearch.

http://pfsearch.org/pfsearch/images/519/519081.jpg




I have stared at scans of many Virginia City Pony covers over the years, and there are a lot of them that have been improved, restored, repaired - or in the above case, fraudulently altered.

I see no evidence of any fakery on the cover I picked up. It is a well known item, having been handled by Frajola, Siegel, and been in George Kramer's collection. Many knowledgeable people have seen it.

I was not implying that it was in any way faked. It's a great cover. Just showing that they do exist. Plenty of fake Wells, Fargo covers here, too.
https://www.philatelicfoundation.or...fake-covers/

Two key "tells" about the PFC 519081 cover, from my perception -

1) the Pony stamps and the #65 stamp are very neatly, and carefully straightly placed on the cover. While not condemnatory, things that look too good need to be evaluated more carefully. These covers aren't usually "neat".

2) There is no Wells Fargo Frank on the cover, and since all of the postage is on this cover - private and US, there was no paste-up. While not completely condemnatory, at this point in time WF was seriously using their Franked envelopes and that is a big red flag.

Of course this is a return envelope to a company, so it would not be likely to have the WF frank. But I agree, they always do seem to be on one.

This is not quite territorial, since it is dated in 1867, but too much of a coincidence to let this pass after txstamp's great Pony Express cover post.

Postmaster Samuel W. Chubbuck appointed postmaster at Gold Hill, NV on March 2, 1867. If my memory is correct, he was a clerk at the post office prior to his appointment during the territorial period..



Edited to add the picture postcard of Gold Hill, NV in 1865...


and in 1870....


and 1882...


Edited again to correct name of postmaster, and to add the following item, which is NOT in my collection, but harvested from an auction site some time back.

Samuel W Chubbuck signed as Secretary of the Keystone and Arrington Consolidated Gold and Silver Mining Company, April 20, 1864.

I will say, that I waited a "long" time, before I got into fairly serious collecting of Western Postal history for just these reasons. I wanted to get to a point where I had stared at enough material to where I had learned what I felt needed to know to protect myself somewhat.

You do need to know what you are doing, or have a trusted knowledgeable dealer or advisor helping you out. Of course, there is the Philatelic Foundation.

I don't want to scare anyone away from this area - but, to just inform you of what to be aware of. Collecting early territorial, and Western Postal History is a really rewarding, interesting and highly educational area. I cannot begin to relay how much I've learned from doing this.

The Western Cover Society is a great resource, as is the US Philatelic Classics Society.

https://www.westerncoversociety.org/
https://www.uspcs.org/

Mike L - that's a really nice document !

edit: I wonder if he applied the Gold Hill handstamp on the cover I posted (as a clerk). Very interesting.

I just added a couple of additional items to the previous post of the Gold Hill, NV postmaster commission. I wanted to keep all the images in one place.

Mike L

Back on Jan 30, 2021, I posted the following document on page 7 of this thread, which is the letter sent by the Post Office Department to Thomas J Sanborn, informing him of his appointment as postmaster for the town of Sanbornton, Wisconsin Territory. It is dated June 30, 1837.

I am reposting it here so that it can be shown with the postmaster commission document which confirmed the appointment of Sanborn as the postmaster, which was executed by Postmaster General Amos Kendall, signed on Sept 15, 1837.



At the time of the original post, I did not own the postmaster commission. In one of those cool events of fate, it showed up several years later and I was able to acquire it for my collection.



Although physically located in what was then Wisconsin Territory in 1837, based on the listings in the book The First Hundred Years of United States Territorial Postmarks, 1787-1887, by Carroll Chase and Richard McP. Cabeen, Sanbornton would be only the 17th post office established in what later became Iowa Territory and then the State of Iowa.

Arkansas, 8 June, manuscript postmark on folded letter sheet to Levant, Me. Manuscript "25" rating (single letter rate for more than 400 miles), pencil notation on flap "dated Post of Arkansas A.T., Jun 5, 1826".

One of seven covers reported from the Arkansas post office, the earliest from 1820.

Arkansas Post was the first capital of the Arkansas Territory, from 1819-1821. The capital was moved to Little Rock in 1821.

In 1686, Henri de Tonti established it on behalf of Louis XIV of France for the purpose of trading with the Quapaw Nation.

I guess since I posted the first capital of the Arkansas Terr, I might as well post the second, and final one - still during the Territorial era.

Nov 29, 1832 - Little Rock.
Little Rock, to Gettysburg, "Free" handstamp and "W. Field, PM." postmaster free frank below.

Since other documents were posted in this topic, thought I'd share mine.

Hawaii officially became a United States territory on August 12, 1898, following the passage of the Newlands Resolution by Congress. The Territory of Hawaii was formally established on June 14, 1900.

I just received this cancelled stock certificate last week.
Lot #3410 from Schuyler Rumsey Auctions, Inc. Sale #125 April 25-27, 2025
Hawaii, Revenue, 1893-94, 20¢ on 25¢ green, in combination with U.S. Revenue, 1898, Battleship, 5¢ lilac (R167) on 1900 Pioneer Mill Company stock certificate for one share, tied by purple handstamps, Very Fine.

Very interesting piece @hawaiibrian, congratulations on your win!
Just wondering, can you make out any of what the purple hand stamp says?

Hi - is the Pioneer Mill Co related to the Pioneer Inn - which was in Lahaina but burned down in the bad fire?