HAWAII, 1851, 13c Blue, “Hawaiian Postage” (3). Crocker Type I -- the lefthand position in the setting of two -- huge margins at top and bottom, touching at sides but framelines intact, small skillful repair at bottom right corner with minor paper addition and small bit of frameline touched up, beautiful deep shade and impression on fresh paper, cancelled by blue “PAID” in italicized caps, impression of letters ties stamp to the envelope, addressed to Miss Gertrude Van Ingen, in care of Mrs. D. Crosby, East Hartford, Connecticut, sender’s notation “Paid through”, no Honolulu circular datestamp (the devices ordered by Postmaster Whitney did not arrive until early 1852), faint red San Francisco datestamp and matching “6” rate handstamp with bluish-black “PAID” handstamp, prepaid 8c U.S. but the ship fee is not reflected in the rate marking (consistent with San Francisco’s practice from July 1, 1851, to May 1, 1852), cover creased but not affecting stamp, faint waterstain at top right just touches corner of stamp

VERY FINE. ONE OF NINE RECORDED 13-CENT “HAWAIIAN POSTAGE” MISSIONARY COVERS, SEVEN OF WHICH ARE AVAILABLE TO COLLECTORS. THIS IS THE EARLIEST RECORDED HAWAIIAN MISSIONARY COVER WITH AN INTACT STAMP OF ANY DENOMINATION OR TYPE. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY COVER WITH THE BLUE ITALIC “PAID” HANDSTAMP -- ONE OTHER EXAMPLE IS RECORDED ON AN OFF-COVER 13-CENT “HAWAIIAN POSTAGE” MISSIONARY.

There are nine recorded genuine covers with full 13c “Hawaiian Postage” Missionary stamps, of which this is the earliest. Not counted in the total of nine is a January 3, 1852, folded letter with a fragment of a 13c “Hawaiian Postage” Missionary. It is illustrated in the Gregory book (page 274) and described as “the first recorded cover franked with a Missionary stamp,” but despite its significance as a dated item, the missing three-quarters of the Missionary stamp limits its collector value. The strip of three on cover acquired by the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in our 1995 Honolulu Advertiser sale is also a very early use (February 20, 1852), but the cover offered here predates it, as we shall explain.

This cover is addressed to Miss Gertrude Van Ingen. There is no content or docketing to indicate the sender’s name, location or mailing date, but it is very likely that it was addressed by J. S. Van Ingen, a well-known merchant on the islands. His name is listed in advertisements for C. F. Hussey & Company, located at Kahului.

The dark brown paper makes it difficult to see the markings on this cover, but with simple digital enhancement, the red San Francisco circular datestamp and red “6” rate handstamp (to the right of the “Paid”) are visible. San Francisco marked prepaid covers from Hawaii with the “6” cent rate marking from July 1, 1851, to May 1, 1852. Starting then, the “8” cent marking, which reflected the 2c ship captain’s fee, was used on prepaid letters from Hawaii. Unfortunately, the date of the San Francisco marking is not readable on this cover. However, the digital enhancement shows that there are no other markings on the cover, a significant fact that allows us to date its origin to sometime prior to February 10, 1852. Postmaster Whitney ordered datestamps from the mainland in May 1851, but the devices were not received in Honolulu until several months later. The first recorded example is dated February 10, 1852. Whitney might have started using them even earlier.

The letter with the fragment might help narrow the date range. That letter was mailed at Kahului and carried overland to Lahaina, where the Lahaina postmaster, George Gower (Collector of Customs and the postmaster 1851-54) affixed the stamp to show that postage was fully prepaid (it is cancelled with pen marks). The Lahaina post office probably applied the distinctive “Paid” cancel in bold italicized capital letters. Lahaina had a tradition of using blue ink for postal markings, and loose type was readily available to create a temporary “Paid” handstamp. One other example of this cancellation is recorded, also struck on a 13c “Hawaiian Postage” Missionary (3-I-CAN-99).

The January 3, 1852, letter with the fragment has the same San Francisco markings -- red datestamp and “6” and bluish-black “Paid” -- and the San Francisco date is February 18 (1852). The Gregory book (page 274) provides sailing vessels and dates for the mail containing the January 3 letter. The combination of red and black ink for the markings applied at San Francisco is very unusual. It is possible that the cover offered here, with the same red and black combination, was in the Hawaiian mail that was postmarked at San Francisco on February 18. Based on the Van Ingen connection, there is also a strong possibility that this cover, like the other, originated in Kahului.

Ex Admiral Harris, Ishikawa, Golden and Gross. Siegel census no. 3-I-COV-136. Illustrated in Gregory book (page 397). With 1994 and 2016 P.F. certificates. Scott value $75,000.00 on cover

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