Ebay Auction Oops? I Think Someone Was Asleep At The Wheel

The auction title is:
NobleSpirit~No Reserve~1646/97~Valuable Group Early Official Covers From 1847

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NobleSpirit..._77935wt_923

Not all covers are from 1847. One wonders if any of the covers are from 1847.

"from 1847" means that is the earliest date in the lot.

appears to be at least one 1847 stampless, and "from 1847" has two meanings.... "1847" and eliding "from 1847 till now"

From 1847 . . . oh.

The auction ended at $84, that's looked like a pretty good lot for that price. Condition was a problem with a lot of them but I'm pretty sure that you could sell 4 or 5 of those and get your money back.

The 1847 item does not appear to be a stampless cover or any other postally used item. Instead it is a handwritten appeal to the superior court in a Georgia city dealing with a civil case, possibly libel, which the postmaster accepted under oath as agent for the court. The oath provided proof of filing date. Throughout the 19th century and well into the mid 20th century until the Supreme Court changed the standard in New York Times v. Sullivan, libel suits were widely used by segregationists to attack abolitionists, and sometimes slaves or freed blacks. Thus the item could be of interest to civil rights historians.