2c Black (73). Centered to bottom left, tied by press-printed "Cumberland Me. Mar. 2" circular datestamp with "2" day in manuscript on 1864 "Horace I. Gray Card & Job Printer" corner card cover to the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Brooklyn Me., some stray printer's ink soiling in address panel

VERY FINE. A SPECTACULARLY RARE EXAMPLE OF THE CUMBERLAND, MAINE, PRESS-PRINTED CIRCULAR DATESTAMP TYING A 2-CENT 1863 BLACK JACK ON COVER. THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN TRUE PRE-CANCELLATION USE OF THIS DATESTAMP, AS IT WAS PRINTED AFTER THE STAMP WAS APPLIED TO THE COVER.

The Cumberland press-printed postmarks are discussed by Sterling T. Dow in Maine Postal History and Postmarks and by James W. Milgram in an article in the Chronicle (May 2005, pp. 90-95). There are five types. This type (Dow Ty. 5), and perhaps all of the others, were printed by Horace I. Gray. Examples of this type are known on 1c, 2c and 3c 1861-63 Issue covers where the stamp is not tied and is separately cancelled (or perhaps precancelled) by manuscript. See the following lot for an example of a manuscript cancellation. Milgram stated that the Ty. 5 datestamp was printed prior to the stamps being applied and Dow believed that only the first four Cumberland types were always precancels. However, this cover is conclusive evidence that at least some of the run for the Ty. 5 cancel was printed after the stamps were applied, which would qualify this datestamp as a precancel, similar to the earlier Cumberland straightline precancels (Types 1-2) first popularized by Ashbrook in his 1c 1851 study. Three examples of the earlier straightline precancels on 1c 1857 Issue covers have realized between $22,000 and $26,000 in Siegel sales over the last seven years.

Discussed in Dow (p. 79) and illustrated in Chronicle No. 206 (p. 94). With 2009 P.F. certificate

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