Sale 1211 — The William H. Gross Collection: United States Postal History
Sale Date — Tuesday-Wednesday, 29-30 October, 2019
Category — 1851 3¢ Orange Brown and Red Shades
3¢ 1851 Issue used from Canada--one stamp bisected before use but put back before sending3¢ Rose Red, Type II (11A), vertical and horizontal pairs, margins to in, tied together by two strikes of "London U.C. Oc 31, 1856" circular datestamp on buff cover from Canada to oil merchant F. S. Pease in Buffalo, New York, and accepted as fully paid; the bottom right stamp was originally bisected to more properly pay the 10¢ rate, but the sender apparently had second thoughts as the right half was put back before being postmarked; stamps creased before use, minor repaired flap and edges strengthened, still Fine, a fascinating and probably unique use, examples of the 3¢ 1851 Issue from Canada are far rarer than the 1847 Issue similarly used and the example offered here with stamps paying all postage is truly amazing, ex Bilden, Dr. Robertson and Hackmey, illustrated in Boggs, The Postage Stamps and Postal History of Canada (p. 85)
