2 Congress Covers, 3/17/1866 And 6/1/1861

found 2 interesting covers in a lot:

1. Preston King, MC, 6/1/1861, OGDENSBURGH NY cancell and a Free stamp.

2. John. H Ketcham, major-general and after a MC,3/17/1866 cover embrossed/printed with 39th congress decorations, with congress cancel. contend nice.scan of contend not great because did not want to close the lit

i would like to know more on the FREE stamp, how rare are they,and knowing they are opened rough but wandering what would be a realistic value for them, they are not my main interest so probably better in someone else collection.

If they were in good condition such covers from relatively unknown members of the House of Representatives from this general era seem to sell in the $8 to $15 range. Free franks from Senators tends to go for more since there were relatively few Senators compared to Representatives. Covers as damaged as these, especially since the main area of damage is to the import parts of the free franks and cancelations would be substantially less. One other thing to think about is that much of this kind of mail and many of the free franks were not actually written by the member of Congress but rather by a secretary or clerk.

Ketchum is better known than King since he fought in the war between the state, but he was not a famous general. He began as a Colonel (back then you basically bought your officer's commission) and then was eventually promoted to Brigadier General (1 star). In the last few months of the war he was given a Brevet Major General rank (2 stars) which means that he was not actually a Major General but rather it was just a temporary promotion. He commanded the 150th New York Infantry regiment and while they were at the famous battle of Gettysburg they were not really in the fight to any great extent. They only suffered 7 men killed from their entire Regiment. Later in the war they were put under General Sherman and were part of Sherman's infamous "March to the Sea" where they went from Atlanta to Savannah making war on the civilians the entire way, killing pillaging these civilians and destroying their homes, crops and livestock. While he was only a junior general in this, this questionable act did not enhance his reputation. By the end of the war, his Regiment had only lost 41 men which compared to most Regiments was very little. It indicates that they were not in the front lines in any significant battles.

thank you kimo, info much appreciated. will put them in a low end no reserve auction

I agree that with the damage these don't have much value. In VF condition I think the retail price would be higher than you were previously quoted. If I had these in stock I'd have had them at $20-25 for the first one and $30 or $40 for the second.

ok thank you for this additional info

Prices are all over the place but here are some recent actual sales on ebay of covers in decent condition with free franks of Representatives from this time period.

1856 - Sold for $7.99 http://www.ebay.com/itm/1856-JACOB-...047675.l2557

1860 - Sold for $9.99 http://www.ebay.com/itm/1860-Cover-...047675.l2557

1862 - Less common war time use - sold for $19.95 http://www.ebay.com/itm/E-P-Walton-...047675.l2557