Sale 1139 — U.S. Treasures of Philately from The Irwin Weinberg Inventory
Sale Date — Wednesday, 9 November, 2016
Category — Carriers and Locals
Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony Express, $1.00 Blue, Garter (143L6). Position 18, huge margins including bottom sheet margin with full “G. F. Nesbitt & Co. N.Y.” imprint, manuscript cancel, small faint thinEXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. THE DISCOVERY EXAMPLE OF A NESBITT IMPRINT ON THE FAMOUS $1.00 PONY EXPRESS GARTER STAMP, THE PRODUCT OF GEORGE F. NESBITT & CO., THE PROMINENT NEW YORK PRINTER WHO PRODUCED THE NESBITT SERIES OF UNITED STATES POSTAL STATIONERY.
George F. Nesbitt & Company is best known for its extensive work in printing books, trade cards, advertising materials and the first U.S. government stamped envelopes. Although Nesbitt was identified as the maker of the franked envelopes and Garter issue in an 1867 article about the Pony Express stamps, subsequent writers mistakenly attributed the Garter printing to Britton & Rey, the San Francisco printers who produced the Horse & Rider issues. Around the year 2000 the Garter stamp offered here was found, bearing the imprint “G. F. Nesbitt & Co. N.Y.” and providing conclusive evidence of the printer.
Ex Gruys and Twigg-Smith
