Show Your 1851-61 Era Cancellations And Postal Markings

txstamp -- Thanks for the clarification on the use of the stampless rate marks during the overlap period when pre-payment by stamps was optional -- much appreciated -- and makes much more sense now. You just might make a postal history convert out of me yet! Regards //ioagoa

edit is to correct typos only

Stampcrow, how interesting is your cover, randolphmacon collage, and what are the odds???? that a "brother" of your letter ends up with me in the Netherlands. Not as nice as your cancellation ;-(

Mr Beale Davis must have moved after your cover (#11) and before receiving mine, as mine has a #26 on it

Dutch, I noted the Randolph Macon is listed as RN9 in Simpson (haven't verified) that would say it's fairly uncommon. Pretty interesting.

Stampcrow, it is listed as a rarity 9, 2 to 3 known
there are 2 different sizes, both are Rarity 9

a google image search for : randolph macon college stamp cover

gives me 3 more (3 plus the 2 you and me showed here). 2 of them seem to be green cancells, not black.

if this is so:
1. simpson has missed the green
2. the rarity 9 stands if judged just by this little investigation

This was put into the Chicago Post Office after the regular mail closure to receive the Chicago Supplementary Mail CDS.

Franked with two 3c #26's.

Txstamp, what a wonderful clear cancellation of supplementary mail, very nice piece!



this one is interesting, and has some interesting markings and a #25

this is what I see;

send from Dubuque, iowa, on 21 aug 1857
to
Fairfield, Iowa

forwarded on august 26 1857 from Fairfield
to
Keokuk, iowa

and again forwarded, from Keokuk this time,on sept 15th, to Chicago Illinois

and at some point it was also advertised, most likely in Keokuk as the cover seems to have been stuck there for 2 weeks+

in manuscript we see:
3
3
---
6
4
---
10

i am presuming 2x3 cents for 2x forwarding, 4 cents for advertising?

but I am terrible at rates so this might be wrong, please correct me if I am

I think that there is a missing Mt Pleasant CDS, or, more likely, manuscript postmark.
Its either there and I'm missing it, or it was faint and has faded, or it is on the back.

I'm thinking it went from Dubuque to Fairfield to Mt Pleasant, then to Keokuk (probably where advertised), then delivered in Chicago.

Forwarded to Mt Pleasant from Fairfield would be the missing 3c, for a triple-forward unpaid, since advertising was typically 1c.

Fairfield is in Jefferson County, so those two notations go together.
The black Forwarded marking goes with Keokuk.
I think the Advertised markings are from Keokuk.

Of high interest is the fact that "Care of .., No 52 Lasalle st ... Chicago Ill" appears to be the final destination, and since its "care-of" and to a street address, I'm thinking it was successfully delivered in Chicago, and it was actually advertised in Keokuk. The arrangement of the due markings seem to support this. To get a '4', as you see, it must have been forwarded + advertised in the last place prior to Chicago - aka Keokuk.

Are there any markings on the reverse?

One additional different observation on your nice forwarded cover, is that it is franked with a Type I 3c (#25) stamp.

While the earliest known use of the perforated 3c stamp is Feb 28, 1857, use of it perforated was very sparse, and scarce until about September. There are quite a few August uses out there, it did pick up quite a bit in August, but its still a nice rather early perforation use, under the Second contract of Toppan Carpenter, with the government. I believe the first contract terminated at the end of June.

First Contract uses of 3c #25, #25A are legitimately very scarce items. I look for these and they are "hard" to find. These would be roughly Feb-June uses.

edit: A few years ago, for fun, I put a blind bid (not seeing the lot), on a Stanley Piller left over 3c perforated lot. It had 5 First Contract covers in it, which was 5 more than I had seen in quite a few prior years. For 3c collectors - it also had a 26A phantom "E" on cover. Needless to say, I was quite happy, as noone bid me up.

Txstamp, thank you so much for helping me figure out this cover!!!!, this is great.

nothing on the back and no contend

i read Mt as MR

i have a disadvantage as being Dutch, I am not so familiar with the town names is your country

i did see it is a #25, did not know about the scarcity of 1st contract #25/25A


do know what a 26A is, not a fantoom E

so nice , learn every day!

to add one to the cancellations of the stampless used on stamp, with not correct rate
a 5 cents CDS from Apalachicola Florida used in 1857 on a #26 stamp



and I have one more randolphmacon collage, nice embrossed ladiescover

2 "on piece" cancellations of the time:




Louisville/cincinattie sb mail line cancell , on #11A

Simpson page 200, number 20, rarity 7

and





Brashear LA fancy postmark

on strip of 3 #11A (16-18L2L) and a #7

cancellation simpson page 50, #99, rarity 9

tx , I took a look at the few #25/25A stamps I have didn't see anything definitively from Feb-June, 1857.
Are there any unique stamp characteristics for the perforated first contract issue?

Meanwhile here's a couple "stampcrow' ragged looking 3's.

No unfortunately not. They are generic 25/25A's. There are probably a plate or two (maybe 1L) from which none are recorded.

To identify these you need a dated cds on an off-cover stamp. For on cover, docketing can also help; anything to definitively date the use. There are a lot of covers that cannot be dated so they cannot be classified as First contract.

Thought I'd start chiming in here.
This one just missed being a GREAT cover-- the date is the EKU for the 3c 1861, a rose pink out of Baltimore, but this one is a damaged 26A dated 8/19/1861:

I've always wondered about the legitimacy of this one- it this could be December 1861, with illegal use of a 3c 1857, already demonetized, from Bridgeport, CT to Baltimore, but the 3c 1861 doesn't appear to me to be an 1861 shade, and looks more like a '65 or '66 with muted, dull color. Opinions welcome!


A few pinks
64, ex-McClung, and he described this one as "Pastel Pink". Ravenna OH, November, 1861, grid killer:


64, bad patriotic cover, but the prettiest, cotton candy pink I've owned, from Lexington, KY:


64, cover from Buffalo, NY 10/10/1861 t Philadelphia with a grid killer:


I'll send a few more later, Ray