2011 Rarities of the World continued...

VERY FINE. A RARE USE FROM HAWAII TO BOSTON, SENT VIA CHINA AND ENGLAND RATHER THAN VIA SAN FRANCISCO OR MEXICO. ESPECIALLY DESIRABLE WITH A CONTEMPORARY REFERENCE TO THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.

According to Fred Gregory's unpublished manuscript, letters from Hawaii were sometimes sent to the United States on ships traveling to Asia, and from there to England and across the Atlantic to the East Coast. This route via China and England was a shorter distance than the sailing route around Cape Horn. The British P & O Line started running service to China in September 1845, further decreasing transit times. The letter offered here was likely carried to China on the American schooner Indiana, which cleared Honolulu on July 25, 1848.

News of the gold discovered at John Sutter's sawmill on February 24, 1848, spread slowly. It was Mormon Elder Sam Brannan, a shrewd San Francisco businessman, who set off the rush for gold on May 12, 1848, when he was heard shouting in public, "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!", after having spent weeks quietly buying up large quantities of any merchandise miners would need.

Ex Ishikawa and Honolulu Advertiser. With 1996 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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A VERY FINE APPEARING EXAMPLE OF THE LEGENDARY HAWAIIAN 1851 2-CENT MISSIONARY, ONE OF PHILATELY'S RAREST STAMPS. ONLY FIFTEEN EXAMPLES OF THIS WORLD-RENOWNED RARITY ARE RECORDED, OF WHICH TEN ARE AVAILABLE OUTSIDE MUSEUMS.

The first postage stamps of the Hawaiian Islands are known to collectors as the "Missionaries" because of their use on mail sent by early missionary settlers on the islands in the 19th century. The Missionaries were authorized by the Honolulu postmaster, Henry M. Whitney, a prominent merchant and printer. They were printed in 1851 at the offices of Honolulu's newspaper, The Polynesian, using printer's type currently on hand.

Stamps were printed from a "plate" consisting of two subjects. The left stamp was Type I and the right stamp was Type II. The two types can be distinguished by the position of the letters in the top label: in Type I the letter "P" of "Postage" is slightly indented, in Type II it is directly beneath the letter "H" of "Hawaiian".

The Missionaries consist of three denominations: 2c, 5c and two styles of 13c. The 2c is the rarest. It was used primarily on newspapers and other printed matter which was often destroyed. Its other function was to prepay the 2c ship fee on mail to the United States -- the only recorded 2c cover demonstrates this ship fee usage.

Fifteen 2c Missionary stamps are recorded, including the unique unused stamp and the unique cover. They can be seen at http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/HI1/HI1.pdf. Of the thirteen used copies, five are in museums, leaving eight used off-cover stamps available to collectors (including one on piece). None of the eight available used copies is entirely sound.

Census No. 1-II-CAN-10. Ex N. C. Nash, New England Stamp Co. (1896), C. H. Colket, J. M. Paul (1910), P. Parrish, D. L. Pickman (1913), Warren H. Colson, Admiral Harris and Isleham. Illustrated in the Meyer-Harris book on p. 96. With 1995 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF TWELVE RECORDED UNUSED EXAMPLES OF THE HAWAIIAN 1851 5-CENT MISSIONARY, OF WHICH ONLY TEN ARE AVAILABLE TO COLLECTORS

#Our census of Hawaii No. 2, published in Part 1 of the Honolulu Advertiser catalogue, is available at our website at http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/HI2/HI2.pdf . We record twelve unused copies, two of which are in the Tapling Collection at the British Library. Of the twelve copies, only one is completely sound.

Census No. 2-I-UNC-20. With 2011 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN ATTRACTIVE USED EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT HAWAIIAN MISSIONARY. ESPECIALLY DESIRABLE WITH SUCH A BRIGHT RED CANCELLATION.

Our census of Hawaii No. 2, published in Part 1 of the Honolulu Advertiser catalogue, is available at our website at http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/HI2/HI2.pdf . The example offered here, with the red Honolulu circular datestamp, is desirable since the entire design is clearly visible.

Census No. 2-I-CAN-38. Ex Clapp, Wilson, Harris and Collector C. With 1994 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN ATTRACTIVE USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1851 13-CENT "HAWAIIAN POSTAGE" MISSIONARY STAMP. DESIRABLE WITH THE RED SUGAR CANE CANCEL, WHICH ALLOWS THE ENTIRE DESIGN TO BE CLEARLY SEEN.

Our census of Hawaii No. 3, published in Part 1 of the Honolulu Advertiser catalogue, is available at our website at http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/HI3/HI3.pdf .Census No. 3-I-CAN-102. Ex Crocker and Ishikawa. (Image)

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FINE. ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED SOUND EXAMPLES OF THE 1852 13-CENT "H.I. & U.S. POSTAGE" MISSIONARY.

There are 52 examples of the 13c "H.I. & U.S. Postage" Missionary in our updated census (see Honolulu Advertiser catalogue, Siegel Sale 769, Appendix I or http://www.siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/HI4/HI4.pdf ). Only 35 used stamps are recorded off cover or on piece, and about two-thirds of these are repaired or in museum collections. Of those unrepaired copies that remain in private hands, only two sound examples are recorded: the stamp offered here and the example offered in our sale of the Twigg-Smith collection (Siegel Sale 931, lot 4007).

Census No. 4-II-CAN-176. Ex Potts, Moody, Krug and Collector C. With 1994 P.F. certificate (Image)

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A VERY FINE COVER WITH THE HAWAIIAN 1857 "5" ON 13-CENT KAMEHAMEHA III PROVISIONAL STAMP USED IN COMBINATION WITH THE UNITED STATES 12-CENT 1851 ISSUE. ONE OF ELEVEN SUCH COMBINATIONS RECORDED BY GREGORY.

Five of the nineteen 5c provisional covers recorded by Gregory were carried on this trip of the Vaquero, which stopped at Honolulu on its way from Australia and carried two bags of mail when it cleared Honolulu on June 27, 1857. She returned to safe harbor with a broken mast and left again on June 29 with additional mail, arriving in San Francisco on July 16 (Gregory).

No. 8 in the Gregory census. Ex Rohloff and Kramer (where erroneously described as carried on the Fanny Major). With 2003 P.F. certificate (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 1859 ONE-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL ISSUE. ESPECIALLY DESIRABLE WITH PART ORIGINAL GUM.

Very few unused examples of this issue have any trace of gum. With 1974 Friedl certificate. With 1974 and 2008 P.F. certificates. (Image)

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