"New York" [1764],, two-line handstamp on incoming folded letter from England to Philadelphia, endorsed "p the Hayfield Capt Macky" at lower left, manuscript "3.16" [dwt] due (3dwt postage plus 16dwt ship fee), converted to local currency in Philadelphia with manuscript "1/9" (1sh 7d postage plus standard 2d carrier fee), very fine (Image)

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"Baltimore" [1774],, partial backstamp on folded letter to Philadelphia datelined "Balt 2d July 1774", manuscript "2.16" [dwt] rate (converted to 1sh 4d in Philadelphia), very fine
This letter is dated the same day that William Giles Goddard announced his "Constitutional American Post" in the Maryland Journal. There is no way to tell if this folded letter was carried from Baltimore to Philadelphia by Joseph Bryan, a rider employed by Goddard to carry mail over this route, or if it was (more likely) carried by the dying Parliamentary Post. (Image)

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Savannah to Scotland Blockade-Run Mail [1780],, folded letter internally datelined "Savanay Jouly the 23 1780", written by an English seaman on leave in Savanah, sent by private ship to Portsmouth, England where it received a two-line "Portsmouth Ship-Lre" handstamp, from there carried overland to London and its destination in Dunbar, Scotland, address panel faded and some light wear, still fine, British forces occupied Savannah from December 29, 1778 to June 11, 1782, during which time Americans blockaded the harbor with privateers and navy ships (Image)

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(Halifax, North Carolina) [1781],, April 1781 folded lettersheet to "The Hon'ble Brigadier General [Jethro] Sumner in Halifax [North Carolina]", endorsed "On Public Service" and "p. Express", very fine, Sumner, at this time, was the commander of troops in North Carolina, having recently been attached to General Nathanael Greene, and before that attached to General Horatio Gates (Image)

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(Military Express to Fredericksburg, Virginia) [1781],, folded letter addressed to Richard Young in Fredericksburg, a civilian contractor supplying the American army with food and supplies, marked "Public Service" and "pr. Express, A Snead", upon arrival endorsed "Rec'd from Maj Claiborne 13 april 81", vertical file folds, otherwise very fine, Richard Claiborne was attached to Lafayette's army in Virginia in the lead to the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown (Image)

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"Boston 4 Oct 1781",, dateline on folded letter to North Haven, Connecticut, endorsed "Care of Mr. Daggett", carried outside of the mails, very fine, such private carriage of a letter was only legal so long as the carrier did not receive remuneration (Image)

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France to Boston Blockade-Run Mail [1782],, folded letter datelined "Bordeaux 26 Jan 1782", carried aboard an American vessel which ran the British blockade and entered the mails at Cape Fear, North Carolina, marked "forw'd 10" [d] due for ship fee and postage to Boston via Suffolk, very fine, during this period the British imposed a blockade along the East Coast as both they and the Americans awaited news of the peace negotiations taking place in Paris as a result of Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781 (Image)

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"Free Eben Hazard" [1784],, free frank from Ebenezer Hazard on folded letter to Norwich, Connecticut, some light wear and toning, very fine signature, sent while Hazard was Postmaster General of the Confederation CongressEbenezer Hazard was appointed the Postmaster for New York City in 1775. He left that post to become the Surveyor of the Posts in 1776. In 1782, the Confederation Congress appointed him Postmaster General. George Washington, who had several disputes with Hazard concerning the use of stages to carry the mail and the carriage of newspapers in the mail, refused to appoint Hazard as the first postmaster general under the Constitution when Washington became president in 1789. (Image)

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"Free Eben Hazard" [1787],, free frank from Ebenezer Hazard on folded lettersheet to Philadelphia, small pieces out including top right corner and above address, very fine signature, addressed to Matthew Carey, a printer working in Philadelphia, written while Hazard was serving as Postmaster General under the Confederation Congress (Image)

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Dudley Woodbridge, Postmaster of Norwich [1787],, three incoming folded letters to "Dudley Woodbridge, Esq., Merchant", Norwich's first postmaster from 1782 to 1789, postmasters had the authority to send and receive free mail so long as the letters involved postal business, these concern the sale of wine and an overdue debt with no mention of postal business in any of the three letters, first with "Boston" straightline and "21/MA" Franklin mark and improperly handstamped "Free"; second originally rated "1.8" [dwt] in Boston but improperly crossed out in either Boston or Norwich and allowed to pass free; third correctly rated "2" [dwt] by Providence post office due to the personal nature of the letter, light wear, very fine and interesting group demonstrating confusion over what mail qualified for franking privilege

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"State of Georgia, Columbia County, March the 28th, 1791",, dateline on folded letter addressed to "Mecklenburg County, Virginia, near Delony's Tavern", carried privately out-of-the-mails, some splitting along the folds, very fine (Image)

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[Fort Vincennes],, folded lettersheet addressed to "Major Hamtramck, Commaning Officer, Fort Vincennes", endorsed "Express" and carried outside of the mails, aged at right and trivial ink erosion, very fine early use, Jean François Hamtramck was the commanding officer at Fort Vincennes from 1787 to 1792, military express mail was fairly common during the Revolutionary War and again during the War of 1812 but is rare during peacetime (Image)

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"Parsonsfield April the 2d 1792",, dateline on folded letter to Boston, manuscript "2" [dwt] rate for a distance of 101-200 miles, very fine, until 1798 when a United States post office opened there Parsonsfield operated as a private subscription post office serviced by post riders paid for by its patrons (Image)

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"Baltimore October 26 1782",, two-line black handstamp on reverse of folded letter to Philadelphia, rated "2.16" [dwt], fine, although a faint strike this is an important marking as it is the first American handstamp with an integral year date, recorded in both black and red (Image)

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Baltimore Port of Entry [1786],, incoming folded letter datelined "Surinam 24 Juin 1786", addressed to Philadelphia, manuscript "2.16" [dwt] rate for 2dwt postage and 16gr ship fee, very fine and scarce early cover from the Dutch colony of Suriname, it is not known why the Baltimore post office did not place any postal markings on this cover, although based on the 2dwt rate both New York and Boston are excluded as possible ports of entry (Image)

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"Baltimore, Oct. 4" [1787],, small straightline postmark on partial folded lettersheet to Providence, Rhode Island, manuscript "4.16" [dwt] rate, very fine strike and cover (Image)

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"Baltimore, Nov 25" [1787],, small straightline postmark on folded letter to Philadelphia, matching "Paid:" handstamp with manuscript "8" [d] rate paying the postage and standard carrier fee, very fine strike and cover (Image)

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"Balt. August 27" [1789],, straightline postmark (Kendall Type 10) on folded letter to New York City, manuscript "2.16" [dwt] rating and converted into local currency at receiving post office with manuscript "1/4" (1sh 4d), very fine strike and cover (Image)

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"Baltimore • dec 10" [1789],, straightline postmark on folded letter to Philadelphia, manuscript "4" [dwt] rating at origin, local currency in Philadelphia expressed as "1/10" (1sh 10d, with postage adjusted per the inflation table plus the standard 2d carrier fee), very fine strike and cover (Image)

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"Baltimore.March.29." [1790],, straightline postmark on folded letter to Port Tobacco, Maryland, manuscript "1" [dwt] rate converted to specie with additional manuscript "15", light file folds, extremely fine strike (Image)

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"Baltimore April 23" [1790],, straightline postmark on folded letter to Philadelphia originating in Lisbon, Portugal, endorsed "p the Asia", turned over to the Baltimore postmaster upon arrival in the US, marked "Sh" to indicate ship carriage and rated "2.16" (2dwt postage for 100-200 miles plus 16gr ship fee), local currency equivalent of "1/4" (1sh 4d) applied in Philadelphia, very fine, the expected port of arrival for this letter should have been Philadelphia, transient ship letters through Baltimore are scarce (Image)

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"Baltimore,March.3" [1791],, straightline postmark on folded letter to Philadelphia, manuscript "2" [dwt] rate, upon arrival in Philadelphia converted to local currency (10d) plus the standard 2d carrier fee for a total of "1/" (1sh), very fine strike and cover (Image)

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"Balt. April 18" [1791],, straightline postmark (Kendall Type 14) on folded letter to New York City, manuscript "5.8" [dwt] for double rate letter, converted into local currency with "2/8" (2sh 8d), very fine strike and cover (Image)

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"Frederik Town Oct 5" [ca. 1788],, straightline handstamp on partial folded letter to Chester Town, Maryland, matching "Paid" handstamp and manuscript "6" [d] rate reflecting the 2dwt rate converted to British pounds sterling, cover light wear and toning, very fine strike, according to Siskin one of four recorded uses of this postmark in private hands, the 2dwt rate reflects the 25% reduction in rates in April 1788 (ASCC $2,000) (Image)

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"April 21 George Town Marland Potomack" [1788],, dateline on folded letter to Philadelphia, manuscript "Post Paid 2.16" [dwt] reflecting the old, higher rate prior to the rate reduction of April 5, 1788, the Philadelphia postmaster crossed out the ".16" in a different ink leaving the correct rate of 2dwt, some light staining, otherwise fine (Image)

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