Bronson & Forbes' City Express Post, Chicago, Illinois, (unstated value) Black on Green (27L1), margins rectangular but slightly into oval, lightened manuscript cancel, used with 3¢ Dull Red, Type I (11), mostly large margins, slightly in at top, both stamps tied by "Chicago Ill. May 3" circular datestamp on small cover to Iowa City, Iowa

Very Fine. The Bronson & Forbes’ local stamp is extremely rare on cover. This is one of two recorded intact covers with the stamp tied by a postmark, and it is the only tied example with a 3¢ 1851. An outstanding and very underrated rarity.

W. H. Bronson and G. F. Forbes operated their local post in Chicago from mid-1856 through early 1857, based on the most reliable evidence. A March 1855 cover is recorded, but its early date and the absence of dated examples from the following fourteen months make it doubtful that the stamp originated or that the date was reported accurately. The post probably closed in 1857. The Chicago city directories support this date span.

Fewer than a dozen Bronson & Forbes’ covers are known, and all but three have uncancelled stamps. Of the three tied examples, this is the only cover with a 3¢ 1851. The other intact cover has a 3¢ 1857 (Scott 25). The ex-Middendorf cover has a blank space where the 3¢ stamp was originally affixed but later removed; the local is still tied in its place. A piece is recorded with the stamp tied in combination with a 3¢ 1851 (ex Caspary).

Ex Dr. Clarence B. Hennan (purchased from Elliott Perry in 1930), David Golden, Edgar Kuphal and Joseph Hackmey. With 2007 P.F. certificate

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