Show Your 1851-61 Era Cancellations And Postal Markings

The dead letter office is a pretty interesting topic - Chip posted a nice one.
Here are three that I have.

The top cover is a scarce 1851 3c orange brown usage with the earlier DLO marking. Sent paid, returned unpaid. "no person of that name here".

The middle one went across the Atlantic and came back.

The bottom one shows Philadelphia's unique way of marking these: DEAD. You gotta love it.
- there is a black jack cover with a similar Philly marking showing consistency, and there is at least one other like the cover I have.

Chip, fantastic and thanks for the links. I have to mention the Leominster 'held for postage' with "no go" written on the #26.
Great postal history.

I'm really looking forward to the Boston show.

I picked up a really pretty trans-Atlantic lady's cover. . .I'd like to understand it a little more.




Here is my write-up so far:
1859 Lady's Cover from Indianapolis to France
12¢ Black, Plate 3 (#36B) used with 3¢ Type IV, the pair tied together by blue INDIANAPOLIS, IND. / JUN 28 / 1859 CDS on an ornate lady's bronze-printed envelope to Fesches-le-Châtel, France. Struck with red New York "PAID 3" credit exchange marking (Hubbard & Winter #206) and a blue French octagonal "ET. UNIS / SERV. AM. / 15 JUIL" American-packet entry handstamp. Backstamped LE HAVRE / 15 JUIL 1859 and PARIS / 16 JUIL 1859, documenting carriage by the Havre Line on the American service under the 1857 U.S.–France postal convention.

I want to know what packet carried this cover. I'm referencing North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840-75 by Hubbard and Winter and do not see a Havre line (or any American packet line) that arrived in Havre on Jul 15 1859.

I'd also like to verify the rating - I think 15¢ fully paid for this letter: France was credited with 3¢, and the US retained 12¢ to cover both the inland and transatlantic portion of the letter's journey.

Any help is appreciated, and enjoy this pretty cover in any case!

Correct. The 1857 US French treaty allowed for full prepayment to the destination. I am not in a position at the moment to lookup sailings.

I saw that cover listed and it was on my bid list for awhile. I am glad I did not bid on it and you got it. Nice item

Steamer Ocean Queen.

Look under Vanderbilt line.

Thank you TX! I missed the listing under the Vanderbilt line.

This the latest use of the demonetized 1857 3¢ I've seen - 57 years late. I do not think it is a philatelic use - I have another from the same correspondence along with several covers franked with 3rd-bureau stamps as would be expected in 1918.

Hi Philazilla --

Love that demonetized 1918 usage of the 1857 3c -- which is 6 years later than the demonetized usage of an 1851 3c imperf on cover that Chase sent to himself in 1912 -- and soon to be hammered down in Siegel's upcomming sale 1367 -- lot 311 (see scan attached). Obviously the Chase cover is clearly a philatelic usage -- but still, it made it through the mails undetected.

Thanks for showing yours -- very nice showpiece!

Regards // ioagoa

edited to correct grammar / typo

That Chase cover would be cool to add to a collection - anything connected to Chase, Ashbrook, Luff, etc . .and even more modern-day and recently-departed experts like Cellar or Amonette add interest to these stamps and covers.

My late-use cover is part of an 11-letter correspondence, and even though there were no contents - just the covers, I was able to piece together a story around them - one of my favorite things to do with covers:

57 Years Late: The 1857 3¢ Washington in the Edwin W. Fuss WWI Correspondence
Mechanic, Military Police — 76th & 78th Divisions, U.S. Army

This group of eleven letters traces the World War I service of Edwin W. Fuss (1892 – 1953) of Newark, N.J., a machinist who served as a
mechanic in the military police companies of the 76th and 78th Divisions. Ten envelopes were addressed to Miss Pauline E. Thomas (1894 – 1972), his future wife, and one to his sister Clara C. Fuss (1895 – 1998), all living on Summer Avenue in Newark.

Most were mailed from the Trenton N.J. "Dix Branch" post office on YMCA patriotic stationery or Military Police corner-card envelopes.

In May 1918, Fuss sailed for France aboard the S.S. Mesaba with Company A, 303rd Military Police, 78th Division, as shown on U.S. Army Transport Service records. Three earlier covers from April 1918 bear 1857 3¢ Type III Washingtons (#26)—a spectacularly late demonetized use, accepted 57 years after these stamps became invalid in 1861. By 1918, it is likely few postal clerks recognized the obsolete design, and the letters were processed and delivered without penalty. These may be among the latest documented examples of the 1851–57 issue used postally in the United States.

The sequence concludes in July 1919 with a Jersey City "Merritt Branch" cancel, coinciding with Fuss's demobilization. He returned to Newark and married Pauline the following March. Together, the covers unite philatelic rarity, postal evolution, and personal narrative, linking a Civil War-era stamp issue to a World War I love story.

@philazilla - you might want to take a closer look at the 3c stamp on the nice ladies cover you have. Siegel botched the id on the stamp, they called it a 3c Ty IV (26), which is non-sensical.

Since I was collecting before they re-did the types and numbers I often get confused myself - which is why I didn't catch it right away. But Ty IV is 26A, not 26.

Thanks TX - I caught that too and thought it was probably a 26, after I examined it, I think it is a 26A based on the curve in the RFL. What do you think?

Now that I look at it again, that curve could just be a little paper distortion? That LFL is straight as an arrow.

We should probably wait for someone who has studied more of these than I to weigh in.

Usually when its a 26A, its pretty straightforward and obvious, at least that has been my experience, but maybe I've missed some by assuming that.

A single 3c rate, and a double 6c rate registered letters. The pair are 3c Scott #25.

Each stamped with "paid 5" to indicate that the 5c registry fee was paid in cash.
The registry fee was independent of the regular postal rate and was fixed at 5c as you can see.

Accounting for the registry fee was not supposed to be paid by stamps, which it wasn't here, it was paid in cash, but, additionally, there wasn't supposed to be any accounting on the cover for this fee either. That would be a clue that there might be something valuable inside. As I alluded to in an earlier post:

https://goscf.com/t/89572&whichpage=9#833348

These practices were not always adhered to.

The "paid 5", however, is actually pretty rare to find. Evidence of the specific 5c fee is seldom found.

Hi TX - that is very interesting - I will look out for anything with a "paid 5" on it - I would have had no idea what that was - I would have assumed that an old handstamp was used for convenience rather than for a particular reason. I have one, presumably, registered cover from the era with an "R" handstamp and manuscript "Reg 14"



Stamp is 85R3, and I believe the cover is from 1852.

Right era, but stampless.
(Stamps were not required until 1855)

Posting because it's another way to pay a double rate letter plus the registration paid in cash (even though it was before the formal start of national registration on July 1, 1855). Contents mention banknotes enclosed, leading to the double weight.