Sale 1188 — United States Stamp Treasures: The William H. Gross Collection
Sale Date — Wednesday, 3 October, 2018
Category — 1c 1851-56 Issue, including Rare Types and Complete Pane
This is one of only two 1¢ 1851 First Day Covers with a July 1 datestamp--adding to the importance of this historic usage is the Type Ib design of the 1¢ Franklin, Scott 5A, which is a rare stamp in any formDESCRIPTION
1¢ Blue, Type Ib (5A), Position 5R1E--the fifth stamp in the top row of the right pane of Plate 1 Early, showing nearly full design elements at top and bottom--large top sheet margin and full margins on other three sides, showing all of the ornamentation that distinguishes this type from all others, beautiful bright early printing shade--known to collectors as Robin’s Egg Blue--tied by single clear strike of grid cancel in dark red with matching “PAID” handstamp, “Boston Mas. Jul. 1” 1851 First Day of Issue circular datestamp struck in a much brighter and more vivid shade of red on blue folded circular with printed dateline “OFFICE OF PATHFINDER RAILWAY GUIDE } BOSTON, JUNE 30, 1851” from Snow & Wilder, publishers of the Pathfinder Railway Guide, a routine request for changes to advertisements for the recipient’s railroad line, addressed to Silvanus Bourne, Superintendent of the Cape Cod Branch Railroad in Sandwich, Massachusetts, receipt docketing “June 30, 1851, Snow & Wilder”
PROVENANCE
* Robert S. Emerson, Daniel F. Kelleher, 10/19/1937, Sale 394, lot 42 with Emerson’s pencil note “DFK Type I-B 5R1E” on back, which points to Daniel F. Kelleher as the source of the cover
* Clara DeWindt (according to Ashbrook and Hulme)
* Lester Downing (according to Hulme)
* Morris Fortgang (his pencil note on back); additional pencil note on back “Sam Paige” possibly as a dealer source
* Laurence S. Fisher, Shreves Philatelic Galleries sale, 5/30/1996, lot 11, to William H. Gross
CENSUS, LITERATURE AND EXHIBITION REFERENCES
* Stanley B. Ashbrook, The United States One Cent Stamp of 1851-1857, 1938 edition, Vol. 1, fig. 15-U, p. 120
* Lester G. Brookman, United States Postage Stamps of the 19th Century, Vol. I, fig 161, p. 116
* W. Wilson Hulme, II “July lst 1851 Usages of the U.S. 1851 Issue,” The 1851 Issue of United States Stamps: A Sesquicentennial Retrospective, p. 119
* Mortimer L. Neinken, The United States One Cent Stamp of 1851 to 1861, fig. 10-U, p. 78
* World Stamp Show 2016 Court of Honor (Gross)
CONDITION NOTES
* Extremely Fine stamp and folded circular with vertical file fold
* Pencil note on back by Morris Fortgang, describing this as the only “recognized first day 1¢ 1851 in circulation,” at a time when the one other recorded cover (New York July 1, 1851, with 1¢ Type II strip) was in the Jefferys collection at the Franklin Institute
VIEW PDF OF HISTORY AND COMMENTARY at https://siegelauctions.com/2018/1188/29.pdf
