CONFEDERATE STATES STAMPS AND COVERS continued...

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A SCARCE PLATE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE 5-CENT NEW ORLEANS POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL ISSUE.

Ex Hill. Scott Retail as singles. (Image)

VERY FINE STRIKE OF THE RED DOUBLE-CIRCLE DATESTAMP AND THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF RIDDELL'S MANUSCRIPT 15-CENT PROVISIONAL, USED PRIOR TO THE JUNE 12TH ISSUE DATE OF THE ADHESIVE PROVISIONALS.

With the commencement of the Confederate postal system on June 6, 1861, Postmaster Riddell found himself without stamps or a sufficient supply of small coins to make change for cash payments at the post office. On June 6, Riddell contacted John V. Childs, a local printer and engraver, and ordered stamps for immediate delivery. The stamps were delivered and placed on sale on June 12 (a first day cover is recorded). Between June 1 and 12, there are very few covers to show how Riddell handled mail. This remarkable cover, with the red double-circle datestamp (three reported covers --all handled personally by Riddell in early June) and the 15c provisional applied and initialed by Riddell (unique), is evidence of the temporary measures to which Riddell resorted until his provisional stamps were printed.

Illustrated in Huber and Wagner's The Great Mail (p. 152). Ex Freeland and Skinner. (Image)

VERY FINE AND CHOICE STRIKE OF THIS RARE PROVISIONAL ENTIRE.

Ex Grant and Skinner. (Image)

VERY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED COMBINATION OF THE NEW ORLEANS PROVISIONAL HANDSTAMP AND BOTH TYPES OF NEW ORLEANS DATESTAMPS.

As noted in the description of the unique 10c entire (lot 948), all provisional markings on that entire, including the datestamp, are impressed through the back of the envelope, indicating that they were applied before the letter (weighing over one-half ounce) was inserted. Therefore, in our opinion, the December 3 (1861) double-circle datestamp on this entire was applied when it was sold, and the March 14 (1862) circular datestamp was applied at the main post office when it was mailed three months later. Dr. Skinner's analysis differs from ours -- he believes that the entire was mailed on December 3 and returned to the main office on March 14, but we see no evidence of non-delivery. In our opinion, some of the New Orleans entires were sold in advance and postmarked with the double-circle on the day of sale, in this instance, the delayed mailing resulted in a second postmark.

Ex Knapp, Brown and Skinner. (Image)

EXTREMELY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE NEW ORLEANS 10-CENT POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL AND ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING CONFEDERATE COVERS IN EXISTENCE.

An interesting and previously unmentioned feature of this unique 10c entire is that the back of the envelope shows impressions from each of the three separate markings, indicating that they were applied before the enclosure was inserted -- they could not possibly pass through a letter, especially one heavy enough to require the double rate. Therefore, the provisional entire was prepared and sold with a datestamp applied.

From a group of four entires (including three 5c) discovered by H. C. Beck of Washington D.C. (see Crown book, p. 278). Ex Heathcote, Freeland, Graves and Skinner. (Image)

VERY FINE. ONE OF ONLY SIX RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THIS POSTMASTER PROVISIONAL, WHICH WAS ISSUED IN 1863 AFTER THE BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO.

This cover was pictured in an article by Dr. Thomas L. Ray in the Nov. 1960 Confederate Philatelist, in which Dr. Ray surmised that the late use of a provisional was necessitated by demand from troops entering Tullahoma after the Battle of Murfreesboro. The examples we record are dated Mar. 13, Mar. 28, Mar. 31, Apr. 1 (or 11), Apr. 5 and Apr. 7, all in 1863.

With 2004 P.F. certificate (Image)