Sale 316

The Aristocrat Collection
of First Day Covers and Earliest Documented Usages


1895 Watermarked Issue
 
 
Lot Photo Description
Lot 129

1895, 1¢ blue (264), horizontal pair, tied by "Detroit, Mich. May 16 1895" machine cancellation on cover to Northville Mich., reverse with partial "Northville Mich. Rec'd 1895 May 17" arrival c.d.s., printed commission merchants corner card; stamps lifted to verify watermark, Very Fine.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 1¢ WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 1998 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 130

1895, 2¢ carmine, type I (265), tied by "New York. N.Y. May 2 1895" machine cancellation on locally addressed cover, printed insurance company return address; stamp lifted to verify watermark (slight damage to cover), otherwise Very Fine.
Estimate 3,000 - 4,000

THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE USAGE OF A WATERMARKED STAMP AND CONSIDERED A FIRST DAY USAGE, A HIGHLY IMPORTANT BUREAU ISSUE USAGE.

Expertization: 1979 P.F. and 2005 A.P.S. Certificates.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing switched to the use of watermarked paper in 1895. A postal document specified that May 2, 1895 was the date the new watermarked stamps were released to the public.

Another purported example of #265 used on May 2, 1895 was offered in McCusker sale 87, lot 5 and a latter Matthew Bennett auction. This cover has been authenticated by the A.P.S. as bearing an unwatermarked #250, as detailed in the Berkun article.

Illustrated in Alan Berkun, "Recent Discoveries of Earliest Known Usages and First Days of Issue", The United States Specialist, Vol. 70 No. 8, Aug. 1999, pp. 356-358. Fig. 2.

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Lot 131

1895, 2¢ carmine, types II & III (266-267), se-tenant pair, tied by "Pittsburg,Pa. Feb 6 '96" machine cancellation on locally addressed cover, Extremely Fine and exceptionally clean.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USE OF AN 1895 2¢ TYPES II & III SE-TENANT PAIR.

Expertization: 2001 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 132

1895, 2¢ carmine, type III (267), tied by "Fitchburg, Mass. May 28 1895" wavy machine cancellation on cover to local Historical Society, pencil receipt docketing; stamp hinged in place, light soiling, Fine.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 2¢ CARMINE TYPE III WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2005 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 133

1895, 2¢ pink, type III (267a), tied by "Brooklyn, N.Y. Sta. E Dec 8 '97" duplex handstamp on cover to local New York City address, reverse with "P.O.N.Y. 12-8-97" c.d.s., large printed real estate agent return address; stamp glued to cover, edge wear and aging, opened at top, Fine.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 2¢ PINK TYPE III WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2001 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 134

1895, 4¢ dark brown (269), just tied by cork cancellation duplexed with "Milbury Mass. Jul 22 1895" c.d.s. on 1¢ blue entire to London, England, reverse with bright red London (7.31.1895) arrival d.s., blue handstamped return address; stamp hinged in place, cover tears, Fine.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 4¢ WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2003 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 135

1895, 4¢ dark brown, imperf (269Pa), formerly 269a, horizontal pair, used with 4¢ dark brown (269), tied by cork cancellations on registered cover to New York Stamp and Coin Co. in New York N.Y., purple "Registered, Sep 2 1898, Lancaster Pa." three-line postmark, reverse with purple Sep. 3 registry and station D arrivals; small stamp and cover flaws, Fine. Only 300 issued.
Estimate 1,500 - 2,000

EXCEPTIONALLY RARE USAGE OF THE 4¢ DARK BROWN IMPERFORATE, THE EARLIEST OF LESS THAN THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES ON COVER.

Expertization: 1975 and 2003 A.P.S. Certificates.
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Lot 136

1895, 5¢ chocolate (270), tied by "Washington D.C. Sep 12 '95" duplex datestamp on P.O. Dept. dead letter office penalty envelope to Bath, England, reverse with New York (9.13) machine and Bath (9.21) arrival datestamps; some perf staining, cover faults, Fine.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 5¢ WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2003 A.P.S. Certificate.

Illustrated in Linn's Stamp News article, July 23, 2003, p. 13.

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Lot 137

1895, 8¢ violet brown (272), vertical pair, used with 3¢ purple (253) tied by "New York P" station registry ovals on registered 4¢ entire to Germany, magenta "Registered, Sep 11 1895, Station P, New York P.O." framed postmark, New York city registry label affixed, reverse with New York ovals and German (9.21) arrival, flap with Brooklyn return address; 8¢ lifted and hinged in place, Very Fine.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 8¢ WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2004 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 138

1895, 10¢ dark green (273), tied by "Boston Mass" registry oval cancellation on cover to Buffalo N.Y., purple "Registered, Boston Mass., Jul 25 1895" framed datestamp, control numbers, reverse with Buffalo (7.26) registry arrivals, flap with Boston return address; stamp lifted and hinged in place, Very Fine and clean.
Estimate 500 - 750

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 10¢ WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2000 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 139

1895, 15¢ dark blue (274), single, used with 50¢ orange (260) and 5¢ chocolate (270), tied by "New York Feb 21 '96" duplexes on large blue cover with printed address to Paris, France, endorsed per "SS Etruria", sharp Paris (3.1.1896) arrival datestamp; 15¢ and 50¢ lifted for identification, small stamp and cover flaws (refolded); Fine.
Estimate 1,000 - 1,500

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 15¢ WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2006 A.P.S. Certificate.

This is the new EDU date for the 15¢ supplanting the current Scott listing of May 5, 1896.

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Lot 140

1895, 50¢ orange (275), single, used with 2¢ carmine single and 15¢ dark blue horizontal pair, tied by four-ring cancellations on registered parcel tag to New York N.Y., "Yellow Jacket Idaho May 6 1896" origin c.d.s., purple New York (6.14.96) arrival datestamp; 50¢ lifted and hinged in place, Very Fine.
Estimate 750 - 1,000

THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 50¢ WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2005 A.P.S. Certificate.
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Lot 141

1895, $1 black, type I (276), single, used with 2¢ carmine, type III (267), 8¢ violet brown (272) horizontal pair and $2 bright blue (277), all tied by "Brooklyn N.Y." registry ovals on large registered package wrapper to Brussels, Belgium, purple "Apr 9 1897, Brooklyn N.Y." registry postmark, New York exchange label, printed manufacturer corner card, Brooklyn and New York backstamps, Bruxelles (4.1.1897) arrival backstamp; Very Fine, a scarce high-value franking paying the registered third-class foreign mail rate.
Estimate 4,000 - 5,000

A FABULOUS HIGH VALUE FRANKING PAYING A RARE THIRD CLASS REGISTRY RATE ABROAD, AND THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USAGE OF THE 1895 $1 TYPE I WATERMARKED.

Expertization: 2006 A.P.S. Certificate.
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