The New Helvetia Collection of Western Expresses continued...

EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. FEWER THAN SIX USED EXAMPLES OF THE $4.00 GREEN HORSE & RIDER FIRST ISSUE HAVE BEEN REPORTED. THIS IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE FINEST USED COPY EXTANT.

The $4.00 Green was used briefly during Rate Period 3 to pay the double $2.00 per half-ounce rate. Only one cover is recorded (FKW Census No. E105), and we have seen four genuinely cancelled stamps off cover.

Ex Twigg-Smith. With 2009 P.F. certificate. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN OUTSTANDING PONY EXPRESS USE WITH THE OLD FREEMAN & COMPANY FRANK OVERPRINTED WITH WELLS, FARGO & COMPANY’S FRANK. ONLY EIGHT PONY COVERS WITH THE FREEMAN & CO. FRANK ARE RECORDED. THIS WAS CARRIED ON THE SECOND TRIP UNDER THE NEW $1.00 GOVERNMENT CONTRACT RATE.

Commencing July 1, 1861, the Pony Express was authorized by Congress to carry mail at the rate of $1.00 per half ounce. An additional fee was charged by Wells, Fargo & Co. to carry mail from San Francisco to the western terminus at Placerville, which is represented by their printed frank on this entire. The contract also stipulated the mandatory U.S. postage charge of 10c per half ounce. This cover beautifully combines all three postage elements and was carried on the second eastbound Pony Express trip after the new rates and stamps were introduced. Although the Scott Catalogue lists the July 1861 issue Pony Express stamps (143L3-143L6) with other private post issues, we wish to emphasize that these stamps were issued under the terms of a government mail contract; therefore, they have semi-official status.

John Freeman was an agent for Adams & Co. at the time of the firm’s spectacular Lehman-like collapse in February 1855. He ran the Freeman & Co. Express until November 1859, then sold out to Wells Fargo & Co. The supply of 10c embossed envelopes bearing Freeman & Co.’s bright green frank was overprinted with the Wells Fargo & Co. red frank in two directions. Some of these were used to send letters by Pony Express. To date there are eight examples recorded in the FKW census, evenly divided between $2.00 and $1.00 Horse-and-Rider stamp frankings; the FKW numbers are E97, E104, E106, E107, E111, E116, E121 and E124.

FKW Census E111. Ex Dale-Lichtenstein (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL PONY EXPRESS COVER WITH THE $1.00 RED STAMP ISSUED BY WELLS, FARGO & COMPANY FOR THE OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACT PERIOD BEGINNING IN JULY 1861.

Commencing July 1, 1861, the Pony Express was authorized by Congress to carry mail at the rate of $1.00 per half ounce. An additional fee was charged by Wells, Fargo & Co. to carry mail from San Francisco to the western terminus at Placerville, which is represented by the printed frank on this entire. The contract also stipulated the mandatory U.S. postage charge of 10c per half ounce. This cover beautifully combines all three postage elements and was carried on the fourth eastbound Pony Express trip after the new rates and stamps were introduced. Although the Scott Catalogue lists the July 1861 issue Pony Express stamps (143L3-143L6) with other private post issues, we wish to emphasize that these stamps were issued under the terms of a government mail contract; therefore, they have semi-official status.

The addressee, Robert E. Dietz, manufactured lanterns and related products. His firm, Dietz & Co., supplied mining camps in California. The following information and image shown at right are reproduced from The Kerosene Lantern website ( http://www.classiclantern.com ):

Robert Edwin Dietz was born on January 5, 1818, in New York City. In 1840 Dietz used his savings to purchase a small oil lamp business in Brooklyn. The R. E. Dietz Company sold sperm oil, whale oil, camphene (distilled turpentine), glass lamps, candle sticks, and a few dead flame lanterns. Coal oil (kerosene) was first distilled in quantity from coal in 1856 and Robert Dietz had a ready market for a cheap, bright burning fuel. Dietz was awarded a patent for a burner specially designed to burn the new oil. After Edwin Drake produced the first commercially successful oil well in 1859, the stage was set for an even cheaper source of kerosene.

During the 1860s, Civil War contracts, Robert’s hard work, growth of railroads, and westward expansion made the lamp business a huge success. After the war ended, the cost of kerosene came down to a level where Dietz could sell lamps and lanterns to people who were still using candles.

In 1868, Robert Dietz began to produce and sell a new tubular lantern patented by John Irwin. The lantern business continued to be good and, in 1887, a new factory was built on the corner of Greenwich and Laight streets in New York. In 1894, Dietz retired and left his sons Frederick and John in charge. Robert E. Dietz passed away on September 19, 1897, at the age of 79.”

FKW Census E123. With 1980 P.F. certificate (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE AND CHOICE. FEWER THAN TEN USED EXAMPLES OF THE $2.00 HORSE & RIDER SECOND ISSUE ARE REPORTED.

The $2.00 Green Second Issue is extremely scarce in used condition. Only two covers are recorded, and we have seen approximately eight genuinely cancelled stamps off cover.

Ex Twigg-Smith. With 1996 P.F. certificate. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF FIVE RECORDED USED EXAMPLES OF THE $4.00 BLACK PONY EXPRESS STAMP.

Only two covers with the $4.00 Black (Second Issue) are recorded, each worth in the mid six figures.

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

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE. ONE OF 21 RECORDED TYPE II EAST-TO-WEST PONY EXPRESS ENTIRES AND ONE OF THE LAST TRIPS BEFORE THE END OF THE PONY EXPRESS ERA.

In Rate Period 3, Wells Fargo & Co. introduced a special franked envelope for westbound mail, but its use was extremely limited. On July 1, 1861, the new contract rate went into effect. On August 12, 1861, Wells Fargo & Co. announced in the New York papers that Pony Express Envelopes” were Now ready and for sale at our office.” Although this announcement refers only to envelopes,” in fact both the franked entires and $1.00 adhesive stamps were put on sale in August 1861. The 1861 10c Pumpkin” entire with the Type II printed frank was ordered from George F. Nesbitt & Co. (New York) by the Overland Mail Company after they obtained approval for the design and imprint from the Postmaster General’s office. The earliest recorded Type II envelope is dated August 14, 1861, according to the FKW census.

Based on a newspaper article in the San Francisco Bulletin (September 13, 1861, at http://www.siegelauctions.com/2013/1038/20_SFB.jpg ), the Type II franked envelopes were problematic, because eastern post offices were sending them in the through” mail to San Francisco, instead of directing them to St. Joseph for the Pony Express. As a result, they would arrive by regular mail ten days after the Pony Express for which they were intended. This might explain why some examples of the Type II franks are found without a St. Joseph Pony Express handstamp. The presence of the St. Joseph datestamp and receipt docketing confirm that this was carried by Pony Express riders.

This October 12, 1861, cover was sent from New York City just as Civil War demonetization of the old stamp issue began and the new 1861 Issue was released. It entered the post office and was treated as regular mail until it reached the Wells, Fargo & Co. agent at St. Joseph. From there it made the October 17 westbound Pony trip to California. At Placerville, it was carried by Wells Fargo & Co. to San Francisco on September 29.

The addressee, Samuel Howard Gerrish, came from a prominent family in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He worked as a machinist before leaving for California. According to http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gerrish-76 : "In 1860 he came to California with George A. Stoddard, leaving New York June 5, coming by the Panama route and arriving in San Francisco on the 28th. He began working for E. T. Steen and continued with him for a year and a half. For the next four years he was engineer on the United States dry dock in the Mare Island Navy Yard. Then he came to Sacramento and was employed by Goss & Lambard, proprietors of the Sacramento Iron Works. In May 1866, he was employed for the railroad company and ran the first engine for the Central Pacific shops, where he worked and made the first tools used."

The updated FKW census lists 21 examples of the Type II $1.00 frank, including some that have stamps added or have been extensively repaired.

FKW Census W65 (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE. ONE OF 21 RECORDED TYPE II EAST-TO-WEST PONY EXPRESS ENTIRES AND ONE OF THE LAST TRIPS BEFORE THE END OF THE PONY EXPRESS ERA.

In Rate Period 3, Wells Fargo & Co. introduced a special franked envelope for westbound mail, but its use was extremely limited. On July 1, 1861, the new contract rate went into effect. On August 12, 1861, Wells Fargo & Co. announced in the New York papers that Pony Express Envelopes” were Now ready and for sale at our office.” Although this announcement refers only to envelopes,” in fact both the franked entires and $1.00 adhesive stamps were put on sale in August 1861. The 1861 10c Pumpkin” entire with the Type II printed frank was ordered from George F. Nesbitt & Co. (New York) by the Overland Mail Company after they obtained approval for the design and imprint from the Postmaster General’s office. The earliest recorded Type II envelope is dated August 14, 1861, according to the FKW census.

Based on a newspaper article in the San Francisco Bulletin (September 13, 1861, at http://www.siegelauctions.com/2013/1038/20_SFB.jpg ), the Type II franked envelopes were problematic, because eastern post offices were sending them in the through” mail to San Francisco, instead of directing them to St. Joseph for the Pony Express. As a result, they would arrive by regular mail ten days after the Pony Express for which they were intended. This might explain why some examples of the Type II franks are found without a St. Joseph Pony Express handstamp. The presence of the St. Joseph datestamp and receipt docketing confirm that this was carried by Pony Express riders.

This October 8, 1861, cover was sent from Boston just as Civil War demonetization of the old stamp issue began and the new 1861 Issue was released. It entered the post office and was treated as regular mail until it reached the Wells, Fargo & Co. agent at St. Joseph. From there it made the October 13 westbound Pony trip to California. At Placerville, it was carried by Wells Fargo & Co. to San Francisco on October 25.

The updated FKW census lists 21 examples of the Type II $1.00 frank, including some that have stamps added or have been extensively repaired. The census lists four Pony Express covers from Massachusetts: one from Cambridge (W54), this single-rate from Boston (W63), a double-rate cover from Boston with the Garter stamp (W68) and the quadruple-rate cover from Boston (no datestamp) with a strip of four Garter stamps (W64). For all practical purposes, this is the only representative example of a basic Pony Express cover from Boston.

FKW Census W63 (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com