Kingman's City Post, Charleston S.C., 2c Black on Bluish (4LB15). Vertical strip of three, Positions 5/7/9 according to our plating analysis, bottom stamp shows missing pearl at right and small "A" in "Kingman's", ample margins almost all around, just touched at bottom right, uncancelled, paying 6c carrier fee on 8 x 10 in. embossed Valentine cover to local street address, one backflap removed, scattered toned spots and very faint gum toning on strip, small tear at top left of cover

VERY FINE. ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ALL CARRIER COVERS, BEARING THE LARGEST KNOWN MULTIPLE OF KINGMAN'S FOUR-LINE STAMP.

Eliab J. Kingman was Dr. John H. Honour's brother-in-law and served as the first assistant in Honour's Penny Post from its inception in 1849. It is reported that sometime in 1851, Kingman received his own appointment as a government carrier and divided the city's routes with Dr. Honour. According to the Faber account (Pat Paragraphs, 1981 Reprint, pp. 247-248), Kingman retired in March 1858 and was replaced by Joseph G. Martin, a relative to the Honour family through marriage.

The Scott listings for the two Kingman's stamps are out of chronological sequence. The four-line type, 4LB15, preceded the three-line type, 4LB14, by at least three or four years. The four-line stamp is also considerably rarer, with a total of just 15 recorded stamps. Because the basic form used for Honour's 4LB8 was used to print Kingman's 4LB15 stamp, it is possible to reconstruct the Kingman's setting. When the name "Kingman's" was inserted, some border pearls were repositioned, but there are still enough unique features belonging to the different positions to enable us to assign the 15 recorded stamps to 8 of the 10 positions in the Kingman's setting.

The fifteen 4LB15 stamps (including erased "Kingman's" variety) contained in our census are listed here (positions identified according to our plating analysis): 1-3) vertical strip of three [Pos. 5/7/9] on Valentine cover (no date), ex Caspary, Boker, Golden (realized $20,000), D.K. Collection, the cover offered here; 4-5) vertical pair [Pos. 6/8], uncancelled on cover front, ex Chapman, Caspary, Boker; 6) pen-cancelled [Pos. 3], tied by Dec. 11 circular datestamp on cover to Spartanburg, ex Boker; 7) uncancelled on piece or cover [Pos. 5], Costales photo file; 8) "Kingman's" scratched out [Pos. 1], corner margins, tied by ms. on inbound cover from Raleigh N.C., Jul. (or Jun.) 22, 1857, ex Hessel, Golden (realized $3,000); 9) pen-cancelled [Pos. 8] on piece, ex Caspary, Hall; 10) pen-cancelled [Pos. 9, missing pearl at right] on piece, ex Caspary, Richardson, Sheriff; 11) pencil cancel [Pos. 4] on piece, ex Middendorf; 12) uncancelled [Pos. 9, missing pearl at right], ex Ferrary, Caspary, Hall; 13) uncancelled [Pos. 3], Costales photo file; and 14-15) horizontal pair [Pos. 3-4], ex Hall (realized $6,000).

From the census it can be determined that there are only three confirmed 4LB15 covers (excluding the erased-name variety): one is this Valentine with the unique strip of three (Nos. 1-3 on census list); the second is the single tied by a Charleston Dec. 11 circular datestamp (No. 6 on list); and the third is the pair on the Valentine cover (Nos. 14-15 on list). The pair on a cover front (or piece, Nos. 4-5 on list) is the only other known multiple.

There is no question that this strip of the Kingman four-line stamp, used on a Valentine, is the most important of all Kingman's carrier items, and, in our opinion, it ranks very close to the unique Beckman's City Post cover in significance among Charleston carrier issues.

Ex Caspary, Golden and D.K. Collection. Note on back "9/28/14 St. Louis St. & C. Co. DNN". With 2000 P.F. certificate. Scott Retail for the strip off-cover is $25,000.00.

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