Mail Route, arced handstamp of Providence, Rhode Island, mostly albino but a trace of ink, on folded letter from New Orleans dated December 1, 1827, endorsed "Brig William", manuscript "12½" rate for 100 miles from New Orleans to Balize plus 19 miles from Wickford to Providence, very fine, just 10 examples of this handstamp recorded (Image)

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Mail Route, red arced handstamp of New York on 1827 partial folded letter from New Orleans to Providence, Rhode Island, endorsed "p Douglas", no New York datestamp, rated "18¾" (150 to 400 miles) for distance from New Orleans to Balize plus New York to Providence, very fine and attractive, one of just 11 examples of this handstamp, ex-Koppersmith (Image)

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Mail Route, red arced handstamp of New York on folded letter datelined "New Orleans 29 April 1827", endorsed "Ship Francis", May 16 New York datestamp then to Boston, rated "18¾" (150 to 400 miles) for distance from New Orleans to Balize plus New York to Boston, very fine and attractive, one of just 11 examples of this handstamp, ex-Koppersmith (Image)

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Mail Route, red arced handstamp of New York on folded lettersheet from New Orleans dated May 31, 1827, endorsed "Ship Tennessee", July 5 New York datestamp then to Boston, rated "56¼" triple rate (150 to 400 miles) for distance from New Orleans to Balize plus New York to Boston, very fine and attractive, one of just 11 examples of this handstamp, ex-Koppersmith (Image)

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Mail Route, red arced handstamp of New York on folded letter datelined "New Orleans, June 19, 1829", carried by the Brig Horace arriving July 8, endorsed "consignee" and with manuscript "F" (free) as authorized for a letter regarding the cargo, very fine, the latest known of just 11 examples of this handstamp, ex-Skinner and Koppersmith (Image)

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San Francisco Cal. Nov 29, black datestamp with matching boxed "40" rate handstamp on 1849 cover to Warren, Rhode Island, torn backflap, very fine appearance, boxed handstamps were only used in San Francisco from October 1849 to February 1850 (Image)

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San Francisco 40 15 Jan, red integral rate handstamp on 1851 folded letter to Capt. Henry W. Fletcher in South Boston, Massachusetts, very fine, letter with interesting contents from a new arrival to California, begins "Sir, have been here 3 or 4 days but made no sales, and coal is not worth anything, and everything else is full do not know hardly what to do if I stay stay here more than 15 days", mentions the arrival of the Oak Leaf which was lost at sea off Cabo San Lucas October 28, 1851 (Image)

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San Francisco Cal. 18 Aug, red datestamp with black "Ship 6" in shell handstamp on incoming folded letter datelined "Sydney, 31st March, 1851", endorsed "Robert Bowne" which according to newspaper records traveled via Honolulu and arrived August 17, very fine, one of two recorded covers with a red datestamp and black "Ship 6", ex-SalzerThis cover was described and illustrated in a Western Express article by Dr. W. Scott Polland in July of 1968 (the cover was owned by Oscar Salzer at the time). Polland had previously written a more detailed article in the same publication about this fancy "Ship 6" cancellation (January 1968), which at the time was known as the "Clipper Ship cancellation". It was struck in red from about June 1850 to July 1851, after which point it is recorded in black until the last known use in July 1860. (Image)

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San Francisco Cal 16 Apr, red datestamp with matching straightline "Paid" and "6" rate on 1852 folded letter to New York City, very fine, this marking is scarcer in red (Image)

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San Francisco Cal May 20, black datestamp with matching straightline "Paid" and separate "3" rate on ca. 1852 folded lettersheet to Captain John Walsh in Benicia, California, very fine,
Captain John Walsh was born on Prince Edward Island in 1797. He commanded the John Gilpin, which sailed regular packet service between Valparaiso, Chile and Canton, China before retiring to Benicia in 1849. His residence, which currently serves as a bed and breakfast, was one of three identical prefabricated homes shipped around Cape Horn from Boston. (Image)

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San Francisco Cal. 1 Mar, black datestamp with matching separate straightline "Paid" and "26" handstamps on 1853 folded letter to Cognac, France, endorsed "By Steamer, via Panama", carried on PMSS's Oregon to Panama, red "New York Am. Packet Apr 2" exchange datestamp and carried on Collins Line Baltic to Liverpool arriving April 14 (British backstamp), Calais entry the next day and matching "8" decimes due, backstamped Paris and Cognac, very fine, 26c paid the treaty rate via England plus 5c West Coast surcharge (Image)

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San Francisco Cal. 16 Apr, black datestamps tie 1851 1c Blue, Type IV (9, position 26L1L) and pair of 1851 3c Dull red, Type II (11A, positions 22-23L1L) to 3c Red Nesbitt entire addressed to Lee, New Hampshire, small backflap faults, fine and attractive franking (Image)

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San Francisco Cal Paid 6 16 Feb, red datestamp on ca. 1854 cover to George T. Allen in Oyster Bay, New York, very fine, Allen's brother William moved to San Francisco in 1849 and is presumably the sender of this cover (Image)

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San Francisco Cal 16 Nov, black datestamp with matching boxed "30" handstamp on 1854 folded letter to William George Stewart in New York City, indicating triple the 10c unpaid cross-country rate, very fine, the latest known use of this handstamp, ex-JessupThis cover is accompanied by an article written by Harry M. Konwiser in Stamps magazine (1941) illustrating and describing the unusual use of this handstamp at such a late date. Typically the boxed "30" of San Francisco was used on incoming steamship mail through 1851 to pay the Panama rate to California. Additionally the article describes this cover's origin from the "Stewart Find", which consisted of hundreds of stampless covers from the 1840s and 1850s to and from William George Stewart, who served as the Mexican Vice-Consul in New York from 1848 to 1852. (Image)

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San Francisco Cal Jan 5 1860, black datestamps tie 1857 1c Blue, Type V (24, natural straightedge at top and left) and strip of three 1851 3c Dull red, Type I (11)  to cover to Augustus S. Farwell in Wells River, Vermont, cover small nick at bottom, very fine appearance, an attractive and rare mixed-issue franking, Farwell served as Wells River's postmaster in the late 1850s (Image)

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San Francisco Cal May 4 1862, black double circle datestamp and arced "Ship 5" due handstamp on incoming cover from Hong Kong, endorsed "per Victor", very fine, the port of entry fee in San Francisco was reduced from 6c to 5c in early 1852When the Victor arrived in San Francisco on May 5 after 58 days at sea, it carried 240 passengers from China in addition to 11 shipwrecked Japanese passengers rescued at sea. (Image)

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San Francisco Cal Dec 6 1865, double circle datestamp on folded letter to Chiavari, Italy, franked with 1861 3c Rose and four 10c Green (65, 68) with black cogwheels, red "New York Paid 24 Jan 6" exchange datestamp, January 20 Calais entry and boxed "PD", backstamped Genoa and Chiavari, light wear, very fine and scarce cover, 43c postage overpays by 1c double the 21c French Mail rate (Image)

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San Francisco Cal Oct 10, black double circle datestamps and matching cogwheels tie three 1861 3c Rose (65) to ca. 1866 cover to Townsend, Massachusetts, blue italic "Steamer" handstamp, cover light edge wear, fine and attractive, a scarce triple rate cover, Walter Fessenden was a cooper by trade who served as Townsend's postmaster from 1846 to 1849 and a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1861 (Image)

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San Francisco Cal Feb 18, double circle datestamp with matching cogwheels tying pair of 1863 2c Black (73) to cover to Chesterfield, Massachusetts, cornercard for Dr. J.P. Bryant with partial enclosure on matching letterhead, slightly reduced at left, very fine, a 1c overpayment, Dr. Bryant was a Spiritualist and, according to one contemporary, a "renowned healer by the imposition of hands" (Image)

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"On His Majesty's Service" [1717], manuscript endorsement on folded letter datelined "Hartford August 2 1717", addressed to New London, Connecticut, very fine, one of the earliest letters from Hartford in private hands, the sender, Captain William Pitkin III, would later become Deputy Governor (1754-1766) and Governor (1766-1769) of Connecticut, mail marked "On His Majesty's Service" were either handled by military courier or sent by the post and reimbursed by the government (Image)

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Hartford [1776], manuscript postmark on folded letter to Jeremiah Wadsworth in New York City, datelined Hartford August 18, 1776, originally rated "2.16" (2dwt 16gr) in Hartford but rerated "5.8" double weight in New York and marked "2/6" local currency equivalent, very fine early Congress Post letter (Image)

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"Hartford 16th Aug't 1777", manuscript notation on pay order signed by Ezekiel Williams and Oliver Ellsworth, ordering 9sh payment to John Lawrence, both Ellsworth and Williams served on Connecticut's Committee of the Pay-Table during the Revolutionary War, very fine, Ellsworth would go on to serve as a senator and the third chief justice of the United States (Image)

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Hartford Sept 28 [1782], manuscript postmark with matching "2.16" rate (2dwt, 16gr) alongside on folded letter to Colonel Samuel Ward in East Greenwich, Connecticut, light toning along filefolds, very fine Continental Congress Post letter, Samuel Ward, Jr. participated in Benedict Arnold's attack on Quebec and later saw action at the Battles of Red Bank and Rhode Island, in 1781 he retired and later served as a delegate to the Hartford Convention in 1814 (Image)

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Hartford Sept.9 [1787], black straightline postmark on large part folded lettersheet to New Haven, red straightline "Paid." and manuscript "2.16" rate, small repair at top center, very fine strike, the only recorded example of this postmark according to the Duffney census, one of the key items for an early Connecticut collection (Image)

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pd. Hartford Nov. 11. paid 12½ [1792], manuscript postmark on folded letter to New York City, very fine, letter from Thomas Seymour who served as the first mayor of Hartford from 1774 until 1812 (Image)

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