Absolutely Not What They Claimed It Was... But I Bought It Anyway.

When I saw this auction lot, I knew immediately it wasn't what they claimed it was:







Postage used as revenues on document is one of my specializations... but this ain't one.

There was no revenue tax in 1858. No, this is simply postage paid to send the insurance policy through the mail.

That said, these are collectible in their own right, and they are found most frequently with single stamps affixed, not multiples, i.e., the vast majority from this era would have had a 3-cent stamp affixed. Also, despite the staining, it's an interesting position piece usage.

The last image below is a 1600dpi scan of the stamps, if you want to zoom in at high resolution.

Looks like three #9 to me. They all look recut.

Very nice. Pos 1-2-3R1L, all ty IV, #9.

Nice use. I have a single frame exhibit of this company, which would go on to become the first significant user of the window envelope in the 1870s. I haven't seen a mailed policy with the 1851 issue before (I have a stampless example, but no 1851s or 1857s).

I've never seen a windowed envelope dated in the 1800's. I think my earliest are around 1903.

Sorry to run this off on a tangent. This may oversimplify the several types of windows and their chronology of introduction.
1. Early, A cut-out area to read directly from the contents.
2. c1900+, A complete envelope with a treated area of the paper to make it transparent like glassine
3. And later, A plastic layer glued over the die-cut cut-out area.

1885, borrowed from ebay:


Very modern Coke bottle-shaped window with plastic liner. I wish it were used:

Fantastic info, everyone!! John Becker, do you have a time period for that Coca-Cola envelope? Thanks.

Coke dating: Backflap slogan of "It's the real thing" was introduced in 1969, so soon after that.

Thank you!!

Very cool!