The William H. Gross Collection: United States Postal History continued...

1¢ Blue, Type I (18), Plate 12, remarkably choice centering with wide top and bottom margins, tied by blue "Clarksville Ten. Apr. 24, 1861" circular datestamp on 1¢ Blue on Buff Star Die entire (U19) to Henderson, Kentucky, fresh and beautiful

Extremely Fine and rare combination of the 1¢ 1857 Type I Franklin stamp and 1861 1¢ Franklin Star Die entire paying the circular rate, mailed 12 days before Tennessee's secession referendum.

Ex Henry C. Gibson, Sr., Louis Grunin, Robert Zoellner, Jonathan W. Rose and "Sevenoaks." (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type Ia (19), Position 94R4, extraordinarily well-centered with perforations just barely touching bottom plumes, bright shade and proof-like impression, tied by single clear strike of "New-York Aug. 1" circular datestamp on blue July 10, 1857 folded prices current from Chillington Iron Works, Liverpool, England, to Providence, Rhode Island, printed circular states "Per Steamer Asia" (sailed July 11, 1857) but probably carried under cover on the next Cunard sailing of the Europa, departing Liverpool on July 18, 1857, and arriving at Boston July 31

Extremely Fine Gem stamp on an immaculate cover. This beautiful Type Ia cover was featured prominently in the William West and Saul Newbury sales and is regarded by many as the finest single known on cover.

Type Ia stamps were produced from 18 of the 20 bottom-row positions on Plate 4. After perforations were introduced in mid-1857, sheets on hand printed from Plates 1 Late and 2 were fed through the new perforating machine, but the narrow spaces between stamps made perforating difficult to accomplish without cutting into the designs. Plate 4 was produced in early 1857 when the introduction of perforations was anticipated; thus, it was entered from a new six-relief transfer roll, and the spaces between stamps were enlarged to allow for perforations. Some Plate 4 sheets were issued in imperforate form (April to June 1857), while the greater portion was issued perforated beginning in July 1857, along with perforated sheets from Plates 1L and 2.

Plate 4's most distinctive feature is that the top row (Positions 1-10L and 1-10R) was entered with the designs complete at top (Type II) and the bottom row (Positions 91-100L and 91-100R) was entered with designs complete or nearly complete at bottom (Types Ia and Ic). Although the plate layout provided sufficient space for perforations, the height of the top-row and bottom-row designs was larger than others in the sheet, which resulted in perforations cutting into either the top or bottom rows, depending on which direction the sheet was fed into the perforator. Type Ia and Ic stamps from the bottom row are almost always cut into at bottom, an unfortunate situation for collectors because the bottom part of the design is what makes Type Ia and Ic stamps desirable.

The example offered here, showing the full type characteristics at bottom, is a true condition rarity. The stamp on this cover was considered by Ashbrook to be one of the finest examples of the perforated Type Ia in existence (the West catalogue states "Stanley Ashbrook stops for about an hour to gloat over this piece which he considers the finest 1¢ 1857 cover known to American Philately").

Ex William West, Saul Newbury, Louis Grunin and Robert Zoellner. Illustrated in Brookman, United States Postage Stamps of the 19th Century, Vol. I (p. 186). (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type II (20), Positions 9-10R4, horizontal pair from the top row of Plate 4, right stamp shows distinctive double transfer, extraordinary wide-spaced perforations, stamps centered to right, used with horizontal pair of 3¢ Dull Red, Type III (26) and cancelled by "New Haven Ct." circular datestamp on folded brown wrapper to New York City

Very Fine and almost certainly a unique use of the 1¢ perforated Type II from the top row of Plate 4 with wide-spaced perforations on a newspaper wrapper.

The wide-spacing perforations occurred infrequently during the perforating of Plate 4, either along the top row (Type II) or bottom row (Type Ia), depending on the direction of the printed sheet as it was run through the perforating machine. The Scott Catalogue footnote after No. 19 (Type Ia) describes this characteristic, but it is not noted after No. 20 from Plate 4.

Ex Louis Grunin and "Sevenoaks." (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type II (20), horizontal pair from the top row of Plate 4, choice centering with full design at top, dark shade, fine impression, tied by "New Orleans La." circular datestamp on (December?) 1858 blue folded cover to Genoa, Italy, manuscript "Open Circular" and "Per Steamer", manuscript "15" due marking, red "Genova" backstamp dated January 24, 1859, Extremely Fine pair of the 1857 Perforated Type II on a pristine circular-rate cover to Italy, multiples of top-row Plate 4 stamps, perforated or imperforate, are extremely rare, and this superb perforated pair on a circular-rate cover to Italy ranks among the very finest examples, ex "Sevenoaks", with 1998 P.F. certificate (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type III, IIIa (21, 22), three singles from Plate 4, left stamp Type III, other two Type IIIa, deep rich color, tied by "Milwaukee Wis. May 25" circular datestamps on orange-buff cover to Middlebury, Vermont, also bearing beautifully clear strike of "Middlebury R. & B. R. R., 1858, Jun. 4" oval datestamp, fresh and Very Fine cover with a combination of Types III and IIIa, the recipient was a postmaster and station agent for the railroad and probably applied the oval datestamp to record the date of arrival, ex Grunin and "Sevenoaks", with 1988 P.F. certificate (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type IIIa (22), Plate 4, horizontal strip of three, deep rich color, tied by neat "South Dedham Ms. Feb. 22" circular datestamp on yellow cover to New York City, small spindle hole at bottom, fresh and Very Fine strip of the 1¢ Type IIIa on cover, ex Caspary and "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type IV (23), Plate 1L, recut once at top and bottom, rich color nicely contrasted by vivid red "Providence R.I. Feb. 3, 1858" circular datestamp on diminutive cover to local addressee, fresh and Very Fine, a beautiful and colorful use of the perforated 1¢ 1857 from Plate 1 Late, with 1991 P.F. certificate (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type V (24), three singles affixed slightly overlapping, cancelled by bold red grids, matching "Vernon Vt. Oct. 31" circular datestamp on illustrated Fremont 1860 campaign cover to Amherst Massachusetts, J.E. Tilton imprint, some trivial edgewear, Very Fine and rare Fremont campaign design, showing a cavalry charge against Indians, ex "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type V (24), three singles, bright shade, each has straight edge at right, tied by two clear strikes of "Saint Louis Mo. Apr. 21, 1860" circular datestamps on orange-buff cover with Coach Body Polishing illustrated corner card to New York City, design depicts a wooden barrel, right stamp minor corner wrinkles at top left, fresh and Very Fine use of three 1¢ Type V stamps on an illustrated cover, ex Jacobs and "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type V (24), two horizontal strips of three arranged as a strip of six, tied by three strikes of "San Francisco Cal. Apr. 20, 1859" circular datestamp on light yellow cover to Santa Cruz, California, fresh and Very Fine, an unusual double-rate intra-West Coast use of the 1¢ Type V, ex Newbury and "Sevenoaks" (Image)

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1¢ Blue, Type V (24), vertical block of eight, near perfect centering, tied by "Harrington N.C. Aug. 1" circular datestamps on 3¢ Red on Buff Nesbitt entire (U10) to New York City, Extremely Fine, a remarkably fresh and sound large multiple of the 1¢ Type V on cover, ex "Sevenoaks", with 1991 P.F. certificate (Image)

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