Sale 1139 — U.S. Treasures of Philately from The Irwin Weinberg Inventory
Sale Date — Wednesday, 9 November, 2016
Category — Wreck Covers
Lot
Symbol
Photo/Description
Cat./Est. Value
Realized
12
R.M.S. Titanic, U.S. Mail Facing Slip. Clear strike of "O.S. WOODY/TITANIC" two-line handstamp on U.S. Post Office form reading "Sealed Distributions Customs/ Second Div. N.Y.P.O./ From Sea Post 9 Letters", "9" in blue crayon, with "Transatlantic Post Office 7 Ap. 10 '12" circular datestamp, faint staining at top from contact with sea waterVERY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING POSTAL HISTORY ARTIFACT FROM THE FAMED R.M.S. TITANIC.
Oscar Scott Woody, along with each of the other four postal clerks aboard the Titanic, perished at sea the night of the sinking on April 14-15, 1912. Among the personal effects recovered with Woody's body were U.S. postal facing slips, used on top of mail bundles to indicate their destination. Woody struck the April 10, 1912 circular datestamp (the date of sailing from Southampton), the ship name and his name on each slip, to indicate who had handled each specific bundle. No actual mail from the 3,423 sacks aboard the ship was recovered. For an exhibition related to the Titanic mail clerks, see http://postalmuseum.si.edu/fireandice/titanicsmailclerks.html
E. 5,000-7,500
8,500