Sale 1211 — The William H. Gross Collection: United States Postal History
Sale Date — Tuesday-Wednesday, 29-30 October, 2019
Category — 1847 Issue to Continental Europe
One of four confirmed 10¢ 1847 Issue covers to Germany--and, of the three 1847 covers to Germany with the "COLONIES/&c ART. 13" handstamp, only this one has a 10¢ stamp10¢ Black (2), Position 82R (plate notation on back of cover), ample to large margins, tied by bold manuscript cross-hatch cancel on dull green folded tissue-paper letter to Stuttgart, Germany, manuscript "Naples Ill./24 Sept." (1849) postmark above stamp where it entered the mails, dateline inside letter (which is written in German) indicates letter was begun in Quincy, Illinois, on September 21, 1849, and continued in Naples on September 23, sender's routing directive "p. British Mail Steamer via New York & Liverp.", no New York foreign-mail office markings--carried on the Cunarder Cambria, departing New York on October 3, 1849, and arriving at Liverpool October 18--red London transit backstamp (October 18), mostly readable strike of red "COLONIES/&c ART. 13" Anglo-French accountancy handstamp, Calais arrival datestamp (October 19), red crayon "42" kreuzers due, small blue German "D1 22/10" in circle receiving backstamp (October 22), receipt docketing notation to the right of stamp
Very Fine; stamp with negligible small corner crease at top right, minor ink erosion in docketing at bottom. This cover is one of four verified 10¢ 1847 covers to Germany (of the five in the USPCS census), and it is one of three with either denomination bearing the "COLONIES/&c ART. 13" marking.
The 10¢ stamp was clearly intended to pay the over-300 miles rate from Naples, Illinois, to New York City for the next available Cunard sailing. However, unbeknownst to the sender and possibly the postmaster of this small midwestern town, the 1848 U.S.-Great Britain postal treaty required only 5¢ internal U.S. postage on covers sent by Open Mail to or through Great Britain; therefore, since all other markings indicate this was a single-rate letter, the 10¢ stamp overpaid the 5¢ shore-to-ship rate.
Ex Edward S. Knapp, Philip G. Rust, Henry Stollnitz, "Sevenoaks" collection, Guido Craveri and Joseph Hackmey. Illustrated in The United States 1847 Issue: A Cover Census (in color section and also on p. 932) and in Burkhard Krumm's article, "1847 Covers to the German States" (Chronicle 256). With 1999 P.F. certificate.
