The David Golden Collection of Hawaiian Stamps and Postal History continued...

EXTREMELY FINE APPEARING EXAMPLE OF THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL ISSUE CANCELLED BY RED HONOLULU DATESTAMP.

Examples of the 2c Blue Numeral with handstamped cancellations are considerably more desirable than pen-cancelled copies. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

EXTREMELY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL ISSUE. ONLY FOUR EXAMPLES OF THE COMMA AFTER "CENTS" VARIETY ARE BELIEVED TO EXIST.

The four 2c Blue Numeral stamps with the Comma after "Cents" variety known to us are: 1) Plate 1-A, Ty. X (Westerberg Position 2), tear at right, two holes repaired, ex Honolulu Advertiser, realized $2,100 hammer in 1995, 2) Plate 1-A, Type X (Westerberg Position 2), on cover from Hilo to Honolulu, ex Honolulu Advertiser, realized $40,000 hammer in 1995, 3) Plate 1-A, Type X (Westerberg Postion 2), off cover, pen cancel, ex Crocker, Pietsch, and 4) Plate 3-A, Type I (Westerberg Position 3), the example offered here.

We should note that examples of this position on Plate 3-A usually come with a fully formed period after "Cents". It is possible that the period became deformed at a certain point or was not fully printed on this example. The Comma after "Cents" on Plate 1-A shows consistently on Type X, Position 2.

Ex Ishikawa where the variety was not described. With 2011 P.F. certificate. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. A SCARCE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL.

Ex Ishikawa. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

EXTREMELY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL ISSUE TIED ON PIECE BY THE HILO COLLECTOR'S OFFICE OVAL HANDSTAMP.

The Collector's Office oval is much rarer on the Blue Numeral issue than the subsequent Black Numeral Issue.

Ex Middendorf (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE APPEARING USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL ISSUE WITH THE HONOLULU "POSTAGE PAID" OVAL HANDSTAMP.

Examples of the 2c Blue Numeral with handstamped cancellations are considerably more desirable than pen-cancelled copies.

Ex Burrus. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

EXTREMELY FINE APPEARING EXAMPLE OF THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL ISSUE.

Examples of the 2c Blue Numeral with handstamped cancellations are considerably more desirable than pen-cancelled copies.

Ex Caspary and Ishikawa. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

VERY FINE. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED COVER BEARING MORE THAN ONE COPY OF THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE NUMERAL ISSUE. THE TWO STAMPS IN CONTRASTING LIGHT AND DARK SHADES BOTH COME FROM PLATE 3-A AND PAY THE DOUBLE 2-CENT INTER-ISLAND RATE FROM HONOLULU TO KAILUA. ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING ITEMS OF THE NUMERAL ISSUE AND IN ALL OF HAWAIIAN PHILATELY.

Before August 1859, Hawaiian inter-island mail was carried free of charge by schooners, and there was no charge for letters delivered locally. With the rise in inter-island correspondence came a greater need for collecting postage. In 1859 the postal laws were amended to include a 2c per half-ounce postage rate for inter-island letters (and 1c for printed matter), effective August 1. Drop letters left at and picked up at the same post office were not subject to postage, nor were consignee letters handled by ship captains, as long as they did not go through the post office.

The stamps available in 1859 were 5c and 13c denominations that were unsuitable for inter-island mail. In July 1859 the 1c and 2c Numeral stamps were put on sale through post offices. The stamps were printed from newspaper type on a small hand-operated Ruggles card press. The early printings were made at the offices of Henry M. Whitney's newspaper, the Pacific Commercial Advertiser. Later printings were made by another private printer and at the Government Printing Office. The different settings of type are called "Plates" by collectors, but the correct printer's terminology would be typeset "forms."

The 1859 Numerals were printed in blue ink on bluish white paper. The 2c Blue was printed from Plate 1-A (and possibly two variations, 1-B and 1-C), Plate 3-A and 3-B. Each plate (or setting) comprised ten subjects, forming a complete pane. It is known that some, and possibly all, of the different Numeral stamps were issued in sheets of 50 (five impressions of the setting of ten).

The 1859 Blue Numeral Issue is quite rare on cover. No example of the 1c Blue has been found on cover, and it has been reported that approximately 15 covers exist with the 2c Blue (excluding fronts from the Catholic Mission correspondence). Double-rate inter-island covers with any of the 2c Numerals are extremely rare (off-cover used pairs of 2c Numeral stamps are also very rare). This extraordinary cover is the only double-rate franking with the 1859 2c Blue Numeral Issue.

The addressee, Mrs. Persis Goodale Thurston Taylor (1821-1906), was a painter and sketch artist who was born in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on September 28, 1821. Her parents, Reverend Asa Thurston and Lucy Goodale Thurston, were in the first company of missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands (and the great-great-grandparents of collector Thurston Twigg-Smith). In 1847 she married Rev. Townsend Elijah Taylor of LaGrange, New York, who was serving as the seaman's chaplain for the Port of Lahaina. As an artist, Taylor is best known for her landscapes and silhouettes of both missionaries and Hawaiian royalty. The writing on this cover closely resembles that of Lucy Goodale Thurston. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

FRESH AND FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE COVER BEARING THE 1859 2-CENT BLUE HAWAIIAN NUMERAL TIED BY THE LAHAINA CUSTOMS HOUSE SEAL. BELIEVED TO BE THE ONLY FULL COVER KNOWN WITH THE LAHAINA SEAL USED TO CANCEL A BLUE NUMERAL STAMP.

This marking was used by Cornelius S. Bartow, the Lahaina postmaster, before he received cancelling devices ordered through the Honolulu post office. In a letter to the postmaster-general, he refers to this provisional cancellation: "Did you order a stamp for the department of this place? It seems to me to be very necessary, as I am now compelled to use the Custom House seal."

It has been reported that approximately 15 covers are known with the 2c Blue Numeral Issue (the 1c Blue is not recorded on cover). Our search of past auction catalogues did not produce another 2c Blue Numeral cover with the Lahaina seal.

The addressee, Ellen Rebecca (Whitmore) Goodale, was married to Warren Goodale. She was a teacher at a Cherokee school in Oklahoma when she married. Her journal ican be read at http://www.coretexts.org/cherokeelessons/unit6/downloads/Ellen%20Whitmore%20Journal.pdf). She died at age 33 on February 22, 1861, about one year after receiving this letter. The writing on this cover is believed to be in the hand of Lucy Goodale Thurston.

Ex Tows, Adm. Harris, Krug and Van Dyke. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com