1c Blue, Type Ib (5A). Position 5R1E--the fifth stamp in the top row of the right pane of Plate 1 Early, showing nearly full design elements at top and bottom--large top sheet margin and full margins on other three sides, showing all of the ornamentation that distinguishes this type from all others, beautiful bright early printing shade--known to collectors as Robin's Egg Blue--tied by single clear strike of grid cancel in dark red with matching "PAID" handstamp, "Boston Mas. Jul. 1" 1851 First Day of Issue circular datestamp struck in a much brighter and more vivid shade of red on blue folded circular with printed dateline "OFFICE OF PATHFINDER RAILWAY GUIDE, BOSTON, JUNE 30, 1851" from Snow & Wilder, publishers of the Pathfinder Railway Guide, a routine request for changes to advertisements for the recipient's railroad line, addressed to Silvanus Bourne, Superintendent of the Cape Cod Branch Railroad in Sandwich, Massachusetts, receipt docketing "June 30, 1851, Snow & Wilder"

EXTREMELY FINE. THIS IS THE FINER OF TWO ONE-CENT 1851 ISSUE FIRST DAY COVERS WITH A JULY 1 DATESTAMP. ADDING TO THE HISTORIC IMPORTANCE OF THIS FIRST DAY COVER IS THE USE OF A TYPE Ib, SCOTT 5A, A RARITY IN ITS OWN RIGHT.

Three new stamps--1c, 3c and 12c denominations-- were necessary after postage rates were revised by Congress during the Fillmore administration. Effective July 1, 1851, the basic rates became 1c for newspapers and circulars (with a distance escalation until 1852), 1c for drop letters and carrier fees, 3c for domestic letters sent up to 3,000 miles, and 6c for letters sent over 3,000 miles. Prepayment by stamps or stamped envelopes was not made compulsory until 1855, but for the first time there were higher rates for letters sent unpaid--5c instead of 3c, and 10c instead of 6c. The combination of convenience and the financial incentive to prepay postage led to a rapid increase in stamp use and popularity.

Under Postmaster General Nathan K. Hall, the contract to print the 1851 Issue was awarded to the Philadelphia firm of Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. (Casilear retired in October 1854, but his name was included in plate imprints as late as 1857). To start, only the 1c, 3c and 12c (and the General Issue Carrier stamps) were produced. A 10c stamp was added in 1855 to meet the new transcontinental rate, and a 5c stamp was added in 1856 for use on transatlantic mail. The firm’s original six-year contract was extended to 1861, during which time stamps were perforated and three new denominations were issued (24c, 30c and 90c), for a total of eight different stamps under Toppan Carpenter’s contract.

All three 1851 Issue stamps were supplied to certain post offices on or before July 1, 1851, the first day of the new rates. The census of 1851 First Day Covers published by Wilson Hulme in 2001 (The 1851 Issue of United States Stamps: A Sesquicentennial Retrospective, USPCS) tallied 45 covers from 23 cities in 11 states (one in the count was postmarked by the Louisville & Cincinnati Mail Line route agent). Only two of the 45 covers have 1c stamps--the Scott 5A cover from Boston offered here, and a cover with a strip of Scott 7 from New York City (ex Jefferys and Grunin). The other 43 have 3c stamps, and currently there are no 12c July 1 covers known.

This gem of United States classic philately was featured in the 1937 Kelleher sale of the Judge Robert S. Emerson collection. A note in Ashbrook’s personal copy of his book on the 1c 1851-57 Issue states that the cover later sold to Clara DeWindt, the wife of Heyliger DeWindt, a well-known collector and author. As far as we can determine, the cover was not offered publicly for the next 59 years, until Shreves Philatelic Galleries offered the Laurence S. Fisher collection of U.S. First Day Covers. William H. Gross made a rare personal appearance at the Shreves auction and purchased the cover.

Illustrated in Stanley B. Ashbrook, The United States One Cent Stamp of 1851-1857, Vol. I (p. 120) and Neinken revision (p. 78); Lester G. Brookman, United States Postage Stamps of the 19th Century, Vol. I (p. 116); W. Wilson Hulme II, "July lst 1851 Usages of the U.S. 1851 Issue,” The 1851 Issue of United States Stamps: A Sesquicentennial Retrospective (p. 119); and exhibited at World Stamp Show 2016 Court of Honor (Gross). Pencil note on back by Morris Fortgang, describing this as the only "recognized first day 1c 1851 in circulation," at a time when the one other recorded cover (New York July 1, 1851, with 1c Type II strip) was in the Jefferys collection at the Franklin Institute.

Ex Robert S. Emerson (with Emerson's pencil note "DFK Type I-B 5R1E" on back, which points to Daniel F. Kelleher as the source of the cover), Clara DeWindt (according to Ashbrook and Hulme), Lester Downing (according to Hulme), Morris Fortgang (his pencil note on back), additional pencil note on back "Sam Paige” possibly as a dealer source, Laurence S. Fisher and William H. Gross.

With 2021 P.F. certificate.

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