1877, "Post Obitum" Official Seal, Brown (OX1). Used to seal top edge of officially opened unpaid cover, "Milwaukee Wis. Feb. 27" circular datestamp on cover to Kewaskum Wis., second "Milwaukee Wis. Feb. 28" circular datestamp on back, clear strike of "Held for Postage" handstamp, blue crayon ms. "3c" and matching "2706", opened a bit roughly at right, as discussed by Kotanchik (p. 83), while this cover lacks a Dead Letter Office handstamp, the presence of the Milwaukee circular datestamp on the back and the crayon ms. markings on the front indicate very likely handling by the Dead Letter Office, despite its official designation as a seal for use by the Dead Letter Office, only a handful of the "Post Obitum" seals are known used there -- with the remainder used by postmasters -- very rare, illustrated in Kotanchik, (p. 83), with 1991 P.F. certificate

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