90¢ Rose Carmine (166), used with 10¢ Brown (161) and 5¢ Blue (185), well-tied by double-struck "Tarrytown N.Y Jan. 15, 1891" duplex datestamp and oval grid cancel on registered cover to Prof. Charles Becker at 168 East 82nd Street in New York City, purple "17382" registry handstamp, bold purple "S" backstamp and sender's notation "Please register the letter"

Very Fine; 5¢ with slightly rounded corner at top left, 10¢ with bit of gum residue at left.

An outstanding example of the 90¢ 1873 Continental Bank Note Company Issue used with two other Continental and American Bank Note Company stamps on a small cover. This is a unique three-color combination of Scott 166, and the cover is easily the finest among the few known examples of the 90¢ Continental used on cover. Another cover to this addressee with the 90¢ 1888 Issue is offered in lot 543.

The population of 90¢ National and Continental Bank Note Company covers is quite small. For the 90¢ ungrilled National Issue (Scott 155) there are only three recorded covers--one is the famous "Consolidated Coal" Co. cover to Rio de Janeiro, and the other two are large-size courthouse covers mailed domestically. There are no recorded examples of the grilled issue (Scott 144) on cover. For the 90¢ Continental (Scott 166), there are probably fewer than 10 covers extant (Linn's U.S. Stamp Facts states fewer than 20, but based on our auction records of the past 30 years we believe the population is much smaller). Most are either large-format envelopes or wrappers and/or have significant faults. This three-color franking on a small cover is by far the finest we have encountered.

Ex William O. Bilden and from our 1996 Rarities sale.

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