Not Sure If I Should Pull The Trigger On This One.

Some of you may know that I am in the hunt for covers from Lowell Mass.
I have come across a cover that I am suspicious off. I can't quit place my finger on it but I thought I might post the link to an ebay auction and see if my peers can identify why I am so scidish about committing. If posting a link is against forum rules, by all means delete the posting.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1575801058...=lowell+mass

Edit: What bothers me is the intense black of the cancel. It just seems out of place. I guess what makes me doubt the cancel is that the cover is dated to 1860's. I'm sure this may be the case, but the Cancel doesn't seem to have faded as with the writing. Maybe I don't know enough about inks from that time frame, but I certainly could use a little education on the subject. Another thing about that cancel is the too perfect crosshatching of the cancel.
So there you go, some of my concerns.

Seems ok. The dealer is an honest one, I have purchased a number of German covers from him over the years.

It looks fine to me.

The "BPM 1096" refers to illustration 1096 on plate 66 of Maurice Blake and Wilbur Davis's "Boston Postmarks to 1890". Boston has a large number of geometirc killers in the 1860s and this one is identified broadly to 1861-1866.

As for the ink. The cancel ink the the writer's ink would be of different composition and would age differently. I see no problem here.

I agree with the direction you take with local postal history . Not limiting yourself to origin mail, but to incude mail which went through or TO the city of interest. Many collectors ignore these last two groupings.

As for purchase, it is likely to be inexpensive, but its overall appearance (stained, reduced) would make it unlikely to be included in an exhibit. You will find better.

Links and ebay linked lots die early deaths. So here is the cover:

It is always better to be on the hunt for an upgrade than looking for your first example, especially here given your reasons to collect Lowell, MA.

I did not say whether to bid, I said factually, that "you will find better". I think this is obvious.



I would agree for small towns or rare markings/uses, but given the size of Lowell, finding decent-looking incoming mail from the 1860s will not be difficult.
The challenge at shows is that dealers tend to file by origin city or by stamp, thus making a complete search of their stock tedious for a city collector.
Somewhat in contrast, ebay listings often have the destination listed. A quick search for "to Lowell" revealed several dozen nice items in the U.S. postal history category - and some in the 1860s.

from: https://goscf.com/t/90687 another thread by this thread's OP.

While I agree with you generally John Becker, the OP is or seems more interested in aspects other that exhibit quality.

That said, I hope the OP does the same search on ebay as you suggested. She may be pleased with what turns up.

Yes, there is a difference between a plain cover and a mail piece which has significant content. I have collected postal history and local history/documents for 40+ years and appreciate both aspects.
Done posting here unless the OP has a direct followup question. Have a good day.

I went ahead and bid .75 cents. Seems like a reasonable price while searching for better.
In fact I had a dream about biding for stampless covers.

If you can ID the year, it has potential to be a really great cover, IF it is 1865. I looked for an April 14, 65 cover for a couple years and there were a few in the $100+ range, but finally found an inexpensive one where the seller didn't know it was the date of Lincoln's assassination. Maybe not "Postal History" but definitely "History".
Good luck, Ray

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I very much appreciate it. :)

(Now I hope you'll let us know if you win... I had nothing to contribute to this conversation but I'm curious!)

Does not close for 5 days and change.

I anticipate that you will be outbid (sniped) at the last minute. The listing says "5 have added this to their watchlist" so there is other interest. While not a rare cancel, Boston is popular and that is a very clean crisp strike. The stamp and cover are not very pretty but postmark collectors are more forgiving when encountering a nice cancel.

Have you investigate the addressee to see if they are important figures from early Lowell?

is the ebay listing title for:



Good honest seller and I am not competition.