The Peter Sharrer Collection of Confederate Postmasters' Provisionals continued...

EXTREMELY FINE GEM. THE FINEST OF THE SIX RECORDED COVERS BEARING THE BATON ROUGE 2-CENT PROVISIONAL STAMP. AN OUTSTANDING 2-CENT CONFEDERATE PROVISIONAL RARITY AND ONE OF THE GEMS OF THE SHARRER COLLECTION.

Of Scott No. 11X1 we record three unused, five used off cover or on piece, and five used on covers, for a total of 13 stamps. Of Scott No. 11X1a (McCcrmick” error) we record three examples, including one unused stamp, one used off cover, and one used on cover. The cover offered here was described in the 1956 Caspary sale catalogue as undoubtedly the finest in existence,” an opinion still supported by the record.

This particular 2c stamp is one of two known Baton Rouge provisionals (any denomination) with the Maltese Cross border showing a wider gap between the fifth and sixth ornaments at bottom (Calhoun Type D), every other recorded stamp shows the enlarged gap between the sixth and seventh ornaments at bottom. This stamp’s distinctive ornament arrangement is found at the top of Position 5 of the 5c setting and at the top of two examples of the 2c stamp. Most likely, the setting was altered between printings, and the top and bottom rows of ornaments were transposed.

Accompanied by a March 23, 1895, notarized statement from J. P. Behrnes (the addressee) attesting to the source and genuineness of the cover. Ex Caspary, Lightner, Lilly, Kilbourne and Gross. With 2009 P.F. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE BATON ROUGE 2-CENT McCCRMICK” ERROR, OF WHICH THIS STAMP IS THE ONLY ONE CANCELLED OFF COVER. A MAJOR RARITY OF CONFEDERATE POSTMASTERS’ PROVISIONALS.

Our records contain three examples of the 2c McCcrmick” error:

1) Unused, ex Worthington, Col. Green and D.K. collection

2) Manuscript X” cancel, ex Ferrary and Hessel, the stamp offered here

3) Tied by Nov. 30, 1861 datestamp on cover to New Orleans, ex Caspary, Lilly, Graves and D.K. collection

Ex Ferrary and Hessel. With 1976 P.F. certificate (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB CORNER-MARGIN EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT BATON ROUGE PROVISIONAL WITH MALTESE CROSS BORDER.

Ex Corwin (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE AND RARE SOUND FOUR-MARGIN EXAMPLE OF THE BATON ROUGE 5-CENT CRISS-CROSS BORDER STAMP.

Richard L. Calhoun believes that the Criss-Cross border setting was the first one used to print stamps, based on type characteristics of the four different settings. However, dated examples suggest that the 5c Criss-Cross border stamps came from a second printing circa November 1861.

Ex Hill. With 2005 P.F. certificate (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. ONE OF SIX RECORDED BATON ROUGE PROVISIONAL COVERS WITH THE PRINTED RETURN CARD OF GEORGE A.PIKE.

A biography of George A. Pike is available at the Library of Congress Chronicling America” website (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88083120):

In December 1856, George A. Pike’s Morning Comet and George C. McWhorter’s Baton Rouge Daily Gazette were consolidated to form the Daily Gazette and Comet, which Pike edited with Rev. William H. Crenshaw. The brother of prominent Baton Rouge landowner and businessman William S. Pike, George Pike had been an outspoken member of the anti-Catholic, nativist Know-Nothing Party, which he promoted as editor of the Morning Comet and its predecessor the Daily Comet. By 1856 the party had split over the issue of slavery, whereupon Pike, now editor of the Daily Gazette and Comet, shifted his focus to the growing sectional crisis between North and South.

Pike opposed southern secession and called for compromise on the issue of slavery. In the presidential election of 1860, he supported Constitutional Union Party candidate John Bell of Tennessee and his running mate Edward Everett of Massachusetts. However, he also spoke favorably of pro-Union Democrat Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. Louisiana secessionists whom Pike criticized included Senator John Slidell and Governor Thomas Overton Moore. In the months leading up to the election, the Daily Gazette and Comet reported on the activities of Unionists in and around Baton Rouge and on meetings of Bell and Douglas clubs. (The city ultimately cast the majority of its votes for Bell.) After the election, the paper reported local and regional responses to Lincoln’s victory. Pike himself disagreed with Republican ideology in regard to slavery but considered Lincoln to have been fairly elected and encouraged southerners to adopt a "wait and see" attitude.

Published Tuesday through Saturday in four pages, the Daily Gazette and Comet consisted primarily of advertisements and thus helps document Baton Rouge’s commercial life on the eve of the Civil War. Although the city’s population was then only about 5,500, it was one of the most important shipping centers on the lower Mississippi River and had served as Louisiana’s capital for eleven years. In addition to business news, Pike reported on sessions of the state legislature. Also of interest is news related to other local institutions, including the Louisiana Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind and the newly founded Louisiana Historical Society, which Pike served as secretary.

Publication of the Daily Gazette and Comet was suspended for about two months during the Civil War and appears to have ceased entirely by war’s end in favor of a weekly edition with which it had been published concurrently since 1856.”

Illustrated in Crown book (page 44). Ex Caspary, Dr. Graves and D.K. collection (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM EXAMPLE OF THE 5-CENT BATON ROUGE PROVISIONAL WITH MALTESE CROSS BORDER, TIED ON A PRISTINE COVER.

The addressee, Judge R. K. Howell, presided over the convention of Radical Republicans in 1866, in which they attempted to take control of the state government. The event incited the New Orleans Race Riot on July 30, 1866, which resulted in 38 deaths and nearly 50 wounded.

Ex Caspary and Kilbourne. With 2003 P.F. certificate (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF ONLY THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE 10-CENT BATON ROUGE PROVISIONAL. AN INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE MAJOR PHILATELIC RARITY.

The three recorded 10c Baton Rouge stamps -- one on cover and two used off cover -- are as follows:

1) Tied by Dec. 7, 1861 datestamp on General Land Office cover to Lake Charles La., ex Ridpath, Caspary, Lightner, Freeland, Dr. Graves, Weill Brothers’ Stock.

2) Oct. 3, 1861 datestamp, Dark Blue shade, four margins, small sealed tear and thin spot, ex Ferrary, Hind, Caspary, Dr. Graves, Weill Brothers’ Stock, Dr. Maffeo, the stamp offered here

3) Oct. 1861 datestamp, margins at sides, slightly in at top and bottom, natural wrinkle, ex Dr. Graves, Weill Brothers’ Stock

Illustrated in 1929 Dietz book. Ex Ferrary, Hind, Caspary, Dr. Graves, Weill Brothers’ Stock and Dr. Maffeo. With 1990 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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