St. Louis Mo., 10c Black on Greenish (11X2). Type II, Position 4, full to large margins, strong impression in dark shade on fresh bright paper, tied by two neat penstrokes on light blue folded letter to Charnley & Whelen in Philadelphia, datelined "Banking House of W. Nisbet & Co., Saint Louis, Nov. 12, 1845", clear strike of red "St. Louis Mo. Nov. 13" (1845) circular datestamp and matching "Paid" handstamp, manuscript "10" rate, stamp has short pre-use wrinkle at left (not noted on accompanying certificate and mentioned here only as a formality)

EXTREMELY FINE. THIS NOVEMBER 13, 1845, POSTMARK DATE REPRESENTS THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USE OF ANY ST. LOUIS POSTMASTER'S PROVISIONAL STAMP, IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE POSTMASTER'S ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE NEW ISSUE. THE COVER OFFERED HERE IS THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE NOVEMBER 13 DATE, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER ST. LOUIS "BEARS" DISCOVERY PUSHING THIS DATE ANY EARLIER IS EXTREMELY REMOTE.

The St. Louis "Bears" were issued by Postmaster John M. Wimer from November 1845 until the first United States General Issue became available in July 1847. The stamps were issued in three denominations -- 5c and 10c at first and a 20c denomination later -- and were sold at a premium over face value to pay the cost of printing. The first announcement of the new stamps was made in the Wednesday, November 5, 1845, weekly edition of the Missouri Republican: "LETTER STAMPS. Mr. Wimer, the postmaster, has prepared a set of letter stamps, or rather marks, to be put upon letters, indicating that the postage has been paid. In this he has copied after the plan adopted by the postmaster of New York and other cities. These stamps are engraved to represent the Missouri Coat of Arms, and are five and ten cents. They are so prepared that they may be stuck upon a letter like a wafer and will prove a great convenience to merchants and all those having many letters to send post paid, as it saves all trouble of paying at the post-office. They will be sold as they are sold in the East, viz.: Sixteen five-cent stamps and eight ten-cent stamps for a dollar. We would recommend merchants and others to give them a trial." One week later, in the Missouri Republican of Wednesday, November 12, 1845, a second announcement appeared: "POST-OFFICE STAMPS. Mr. Wimer, the postmaster, requests us to say that he will furnish nine ten-cent stamps and eighteen five-cent stamps for one dollar, the difference being required to pay for the printing of the stamps." It seems likely that the second, more abbreviated announcement was published to amend the number of stamps sold for a dollar from "sixteen" to "eighteen" for the 5c and "eight" to "nine" for the 10c, which corresponds to 90 cents in stamps for one dollar in money. The earlier 80 cents for a dollar exchange rate might have been too high for the public to bear. The ambiguous wording of the announcements does not tell us if the stamps were available when the first announcement was made (November 5) or at the time of the second announcement (November 12). However, the earliest documented use of any St. Louis "Bears" stamp is the cover offered here, postmarked November 13 (1845) on a letter dated November 12.

Five large groups of St. Louis "Bears" have been discovered during the past 165 years. In 1869 J. W. Scott acquired a correspondence bearing 50 of the 5c, 100 of the 10c and three 20c stamps, probably all of which have been removed from their original covers. In 1880 the Riggs correspondence produced 20 examples of the 5c and 10c. In 1889 the J. & J. Stuart correspondence provided 25 examples of the 5c and 10c, most on Pelure paper. The huge "Louisville" find in 1895, salvaged by a janitor who was burning papers, yielded 75 of the 5c, 46 of the 10c and 16 of the 20c, including se-tenant multiples that revealed the plate layout and proved the authenticity of the 20c stamps, which had been in question since 1869. All of the stamps in the Louisville find were found on covers addressed to Tyler & Rutherford, a banking firm in Louisville, but many of the stamps were later removed. Additional material from the Tyler & Rutherford correspondence surfaced around 1902 and was acquired by C. H. Mekeel. In 1912 the first portion of the Charnley & Whelen correspondence reached philatelists, which provided another six of the 5c, 61 of the 10c and 16 of the 20c. Additional Charnley & Whelen covers were sold over the next three decades. The cover offered here comes from the December 1948 H. R. Harmer sale of the Charnley & Whelen correspondence.

Illustrated and described in Opinions IV, "An Important Change in Philatelic Foundation Policy: Certification of Earliest Known Date of Use", Jerome S. Wagshal (pages 42-60). Ex "Charnley & Whelen Find" (H. R. Harmer sale, Dec. 13, 1948, lot 12) and John D. Pope III (John A. Fox sale, Dec. 1, 1984, lot 52). With 1985 P.F. certificate stating "It is genuine. The earliest recorded usage of any St. Louis Bear stamp known to us as of this date."

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