Mason's New Orleans City Express, New Orleans La., -1/2c Black on Blue, Value Changed to 1c (102L1). Ample margins to just touching, ms. "1" thru "-1/2 Cent." value, tiny ms. "1851" year dates written at top corners, red grid cancel, thins

FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE MASON'S NEW ORLEANS CITY EXPRESS ONE-CENT STAMP, WHICH EXISTS ONLY AS A MANUSCRIPT OVERPRINT ON THE HALF-CENT VALUE. AN EXTRAORDINARY AND UNUSUAL LOCAL.

Mason's New Orleans City Express, located at 23 Royal Street, is consistently reported to have operated from 1850 through 1857 (Huber and Wagner, Skinner, Perry, et al), yet all of the seven recorded Mason's stamp usages (and three stampless covers) fall into a much narrower timeframe, from July 5, 1850, to August 9, 1851 (a list of 102L2 covers is provided in lot 292). The latter date coincides with the inauguration of New Orleans postmaster Michel Musson's carrier service. Despite the obvious implications of this date sequence -- that Mason became an official U.S. carrier -- researchers have been frustrated in their attempts to locate any official documentation that Mason or his letter carriers joined the New Orleans carrier department in or after August 1851. The two-part Elliott Perry article edited by Robert B. Meyersburg (Chronicle 126 and 127) provides much of the information that has been uncovered so far, including the official carrier appointments from 1851 through 1860, to the extent they were published in city directories. There is still the possibility that further research will yield evidence to link Mason's with the New Orleans carrier department, which of course would change the status of Mason usages (after the appointment date) to a semi-official carrier status.

Only two examples of the blue stamp are recorded. Both have -1/2 cent printed denominations changed in manuscript to "1" cent. The other example is tied on a cover locally addressed to Leads Foundry in New Orleans, with a clear strike of the "N-Orls. City Express Post La. Feb. 6" circular datestamp (1851), ex Caspary and Boker. The Caspary cover was described in the 1956 sale as having had the stamp lifted and moved with some thinnings. The -1/2c stamp was probably printed for a special newspaper rate and overprinted with the one-cent rate as needed or after a change in the city-delivery rate. There has also been speculation that the stamp actually has a dual-rate denomination, which was fixed when sold. The point is somewhat moot, because there are only two known examples, and both show the "1" overprint.

This stamp is illustrated in the Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue. Ex Burrus and Golden. From the Estate of Dr. Hubert C. Skinner. With 1999 P.F. certificate

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