5¢ Red Brown (1), large margins, tied by red square grid cancel with matching "New-York Jun. 10" (1851) circular datestamp, used with Adams City Express Post, New York, N.Y., 2¢ Black on Buff (2L2), uncancelled as usual on June 9, 1851, blue folded letter to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sender's instructions "Immediately"

Very Fine; local stamp with small scissors-cut in top margin, 5¢ stamp with a minor vertical crease, cover with some staining along bottom and small bleaching spots.

This is an extremely rare combination of the 5¢ 1847 Issue and the Adams City Express Post 2¢ on Buff local stamp. The USPCS census lists only four 1847 Issue and 2L2 combination covers, all with the 5¢ stamp, none of which has a cancelled local stamp (one has a P.F. "decline opinion").

In 2014 Thomas C. Mazza uncovered contemporary news articles reporting that the Adams City Express Post operation and its successor, the City Express Post, were run by two brothers and former letter carriers, Henry and Ferdinand Fuller, to defraud the public. The news reports allege that the brothers collected letters in letter boxes, for which 2¢ apiece had been paid, but instead of delivering the letters to the post office, the brothers opened them and kept any valuable contents, such as money. A delay in bringing formal charges resulted in the brothers being released on a writ of habeus corpus. The cover offered here, dated June 10, 1851, fits in the timeline of the Fuller brothers' operation (Collectors Club Philatelist, September-October 2014).

Ex George H. Worthington (source notation on back indicates bought from Warren H. Colson 3/2/1908), Alfred H. Caspary, Ambassador J. William Middendorf II and John R. Boker, Jr.

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