The Harvey Mirsky Collection of the United States 1847 Issue continued...

FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE COVER BEARING BOTH DENOMINATIONS OF THE 1847 ISSUE PAYING THE DOUBLE 10-CENT OVER-300 MILES RATE. ONLY THREE SUCH USES ARE RECORDED IN THE ALEXANDER CENSUS.

The Alexander census records only two other combination covers bearing two 5c and a single 10c used domestically. One is used from New York to Farmington Me., the other is used from Charleston S.C. to Philadelphia (stamps lifted and replaced).

With 1987 P.F. certificate. Offered to the market for the first time since our 1997 Rarities sale (Image)

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FINE. A RARE COVER FRANKED TO PAY THE TRIPLE 10-CENT OVER-300 MILES RATE FOR A LETTER WEIGHING BETWEEN ONE AND ONE-AND-A-HALF OUNCES.

The Post Office Reform Act of 1845 greatly simplified the rate structure for sending mail. It provided for a 5c rate per half ounce for distances under 300 miles, with an increase of 5c for each additional half ounce or portion thereof.

A clause included in the Act of March 3, 1849 (30th Congress, Session II, Ch. 104) modified the postage on a letter weighing more than one ounce to bring U.S. domestic rate progression in line with the 1848 U.S.-Great Britain postal treaty, which had gone into effect on February 15, 1849. The relevant clause reads:

"That the better to enable the postal treaty with Great Britain to go Into full effect with equal advantage to both countries, letters shall be mailed as composing one rate only where the letter does not exceed the weight of a half ounce avoirdupois, where it exceeds a half ounce, but does not exceed an ounce, as composing two rates, where it exceeds an ounce, but does not exceed two ounces, as composing four rates..."

This change eliminated the the triple 10c rate for a letter weighing between one and one-and-a-half ounces. Letters weighing between one and two ounces would be charged four-times the single rate (40c for distances over 300 miles). The elimination of the triple rate went into effect with the Postmaster General's notice on March 15, 1849. Therefore, the use of 1847 Issue stamps to prepay the 30c triple rate for a letter sent over 300 miles was allowed for approximately 20 months.

Very few covers are known with a strip of three or larger multiple of the 10c 1847. Much of the Ludlow Beebee correspondence was sold to Benjamin K. Miller for his complete plate reconstruction from stamps on covers.

Illustrated and described in Chronicle 108. Ex Garrett. (Image)

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THE ONLY RECORDED DOMESTIC COVER BEARING PAIRS OF THE 5-CENT AND 10-CENT 1847 ISSUE.

The elimination of the triple rate went into effect with the Postmaster General's notice on March 15, 1849. Therefore, the use of 1847 Issue stamps to prepay the 30c triple rate for a letter sent over 300 miles was allowed for approximately 20 months.

The large Ludlow Beebee correspondence furnished most of the known 1847 covers with 30c postage paid by three 10c stamps. This example, combining pairs of both first issues, is extremely unusual and, to our knowledge, is the only 1847 cover franked in this manner. It is the only such franking listed in the Alexander census.

With 1999 P.F. certificate (Image)

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