Sale 1211 — The William H. Gross Collection: United States Postal History
Sale Date — Tuesday-Wednesday, 29-30 October, 2019
Category — 1856 5¢ Red Brown
An extraordinary eight-times 3¢ domestic rate cover with a unique mixed-issue franking of four 5¢ 1856 Imperforate stamps and the 1857 Perforated Issue5¢ Red Brown (12), vertical pair and two singles, full to large margins except one single slightly in at top, used with 1¢ Blue, Type V (24), centerline margin at right, and 3¢ Dull Red, Type III (26), cancelled and tied together by matching grids, "Philadelphia Pa. Mar. 25" circular datestamp on normal-size envelope to Amanda K. Miller at 20 West 16th Street in New York City
Very Fine appearance with minor edge improvements and repaired cover tear through 1¢; two 5¢ stamps at right have tiny corner creases and one with small tear.
This cover was prepaid 24¢ for the eight-times 3¢ per half ounce domestic rate, thus weighing between 3.5 and 4 ounces. Since it is a small envelope, the enclosure must have been something other than paper, possibly a photographic tintype or daguerreotype. Section 15 of the September 1854 instructions issued by Postmaster General James Campbell (Appendix, page 161) states, "Daguerreotypes when sent in the mail should be rated and charged with letter postage by weight." Amanda K. Miller, who died in 1895, was a Quaker and had been married to Dr. Charles Miller. The address on this cover, 20 West 16th Street, is a landmarked building known as the Emma Stebbins House.
Ex Henry W. Hill, Paul C. Rohloff, Ryohei Ishikawa, Frederick R. Mayer and Joseph Hackmey. Signed by Stanley B. Ashbrook and illustrated in his Special Service, #73, p. 592, photo 292, and Frajola-Mayer, The United States Five Cent Stamp of 1856 (p. 37). With 1993 P.F. certificate.
