3c Claret, Type I, Bergen N.Y. Sawtooth Perforations (11 var). Position 91L7, sawtooth perforations on all sides which gauge approximately 9-10, tied by bold "Bergen N.Y. Apr. 30" circular datestamp on buff cover to Andover Conn., missing backflap

VERY FINE. A CHOICE AND RARE EXAMPLE OF THE BERGEN, NEW YORK, SAWTOOTH PERFORATION ON COVER. ONLY NINE EXAMPLES ARE RECORDED IN THE HULME CENSUS, OF WHICH FIVE ARE ON COVER.

In the 1851 Sesquicentennial book, Wilson Hulme opines that these were created in either 1856 or 1857, and he reproduces an account from a later postmaster of Bergen, who had noted "About 1856, a shoemaker was postmaster of Bergen. Sheets of stamps then were not perforated and had to be cut apart with shears. He took the little wheel with a handle that cobblers and dressmakers used to make patterns, placed a stick across a sheet of stamps and drew his tool across, thus providing the first perforated stamp sheets." Five are recorded on cover in the Hulme census.

With 2013 P.F. certificate

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