Sale 1211 — The William H. Gross Collection: United States Postal History
Sale Date — Tuesday-Wednesday, 29-30 October, 2019
Category — 1856 5¢ Red Brown
`The finest of the three recorded covers with six 5¢ 1856 Issue stamps, the largest number recorded on a single cover
DESCRIPTION
5¢ Red Brown (12), two horizontal strips of three, ample to large margins, tied by three strikes of "New Orleans La. Aug. 12" (1857) circular datestamp on blue folded cover to Port Vendres, France, red "New York Paid 24 Aug. 19" 24¢ double-rate credit datestamp for British Packet service--carried on the Cunarder Persia, departing New York on August 19, 1857, and arriving at Liverpool August 29--red "Et. Unis Serv. Br. A.C. 31 Aout 57" arrival datestamp (August 31), French transit and Port Vendres receiving datestamps on back (September 3)
PROVENANCE
Paris auction ca. 1950 (Ashbrook notes)
Cherrystone sale, 7/19/1989, lot 2433, to Dr. Kapiloff
Dr. Leonard Kapiloff, Siegel Auction Galleries, 10/3/1992, Sale 744, lot 47, to Mayer
Frederick R. Mayer, Bennett sale, 10/21/2005, lot 249, to Hackmey
Joseph Hackmey (collection sold privately to William H. Gross, 2010)
CENSUS, LITERATURE AND EXHIBITION REFERENCES
Richard C. Frajola and Frederick R. Mayer, The United States Five Cent Stamp of 1856, fig. 6-21, p. 73
ANPHILEX 1996 Invited Exhibits (Mayer)
CERTIFICATION
The Philatelic Foundation (2005)
CONDITION NOTES
Extremely Fine; one 5¢ stamp with small tear at top right and another with small corner crease at top right; cover has reinforced fold at top
HISTORY AND COMMENTARY
Jefferson--A Most Appropriate Choice for Mail to France
From 1847 to 1855, postage stamps depicted George Washington and Benjamin Franklin exclusively. In 1855 postal officials decided to make a change by placing Thomas Jefferson's portrait on the new 5¢ issue, which joined the four other circulating denominations. No records exist to explain the motivation for choosing Jefferson or even for issuing a 5¢ stamp, which did not fit any domestic prepaid rates. However, the stamp ended up being frequently used to pay the shore-to-ship rate on letters to France, so the choice of the former minister to France and a well-known Francophile, whether intentional or not, was an appropriate tribute. Comparing the right-facing engraving with portraits of the era, one reaches the inescapable conclusion that the model for the stamp was Gilbert Stuart's famous left-facing portrait of this Founding Father, the Sage of Monticello.
The majority of 5¢ 1856 covers to France have a single stamp paying the shore-to-ship postage for British Open Mail service to France via Great Britain. After the U.S.-France postal treaty took effect on April 1, 1857, the 5¢ stamp could be used to pay the new 15¢ per half-ounce rate, either in combination with a 10¢ or in multiples of three. Very few treaty rate covers are known that required 30¢ or 45¢ for the double or triple weight classes. This cover with two strips of three is perhaps the most outstanding of its kind, since there are only three recorded covers with six 5¢ stamps, and this one is in the finest condition.
Stanley B. Ashbrook's notes at The Philatelic Foundation indicate this cover first appeared in a Paris auction in the 1950s. It has no auction record until 1989, when it was sold in a Cherrystone sale to Dr. Leonard Kapiloff (1915-1993), a close friend of Robert Siegel's since the 1930s. "Doc" Kapiloff was a dentist by training, but earned his livelihood from real estate. The only dentistry he practiced was volunteering at a free clinic. With his financial success, Dr. Kapiloff was able to enjoy philately by acquiring items that appealed to him, especially classic United States issues.
When the Siegel firm sold the Kapiloff collection in 1992, the double-rate cover to France with two strips sold to Frederick R. Mayer, a wealthy Denver businessman, philanthropist and patron of the arts, who specialized in the 5¢ 1856 Issue. When the Mayer collection was sold at auction through Bennett in 2005, the Israeli insurance magnate, Joseph Hackmey, acquired the cover. Finally, Mr. Gross bought the entire Hackmey collection privately in 2010, and the cover joined other important classic rarities.
