Confederacy, 1863, 10¢ Blue, Perforated. Rich color, tied by "Montgomery Ala./Oct. 8" cds on small pink cover to Montgomery, overpaid drop rate but probably mailed outside Montgomery and postmarked on arrival, Extremely Fine, a choice perforated usage on this pristine cover, ex-Brooks, Everett and Hill (Pictured in Monroe Book, pg. 75). Scott No. 11e  Estimate $750 - 1,000. There were no "officially" perforated Confederate postage stamps. However, there were stamps that were perforated by Confederate Post Office Department officials for experimental purposes. William C. Stone, in a discussion with August Dietz many decades ago, covered this situation most succinctly in his statement: "Stamps were perforated by officials, but not officially." The following is a quote from August Dietz regarding the facts surrounding the "official" perforations:H. St. George Offutt, and a number of officials of the Post Office Department, on receipt of the small perforating machine from England, gave the device a try-out on some sheets of stamps from stock. The experiment proved unsatisfactory, both on account of the slow process of piercing a single row at each operation, and because of gum "clogging" the counters; whereupon perforating was definitely abandoned. Inasmch as these sheets could not be destroyed, for obvious reasons, they were put back into stock, and issued to postmasters, on requisition, along with the imperforate sheets. In this manner they found their way into the hands of the public. $0 (Image)