Martin's City Post, Charleston S.C., 2c Black on Bluish (4LB16). Type D, unused (no gum), huge margins all around, fresh and completely sound

EXTREMELY FINE. THE FINEST OF THE FOUR RECORDED EXAMPLES OF MARTIN'S CARRIER STAMP.

According to Faber's account (Pat Paragraphs, 1981 Reprint, pp. 247-248), Joseph G. Martin took over from E. J. Kingman after Kingman retired in March 1858. Martin served until retirement in 1861, but the extreme rarity of the stamps bearing his name suggests that they were not widely used. They were probably printed in 1858. We record just four stamps, all unused, listed as follows (different types are identified with letters): 1) Type A, tiny thin, ex Caspary, Lilly, Boker, Golden; 2) Type B, slight thins, ex Ferrary, Caspary, Hall (realized $7,500); 3) Type C, margins cut in, slight faults, ex Caspary, Middendorf; and 4) Type D, sound, ex Hessel, Golden (realized $7,000), D.K. the stamp offered here. Based only on soundness, this stamp is the finest extant.

Ex Hessel, Golden and D.K. Collection. With 1975 and 2000 P.F. certificates.

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