Lot 515
1855 (Aug. 4) cover from Buffalo to Leominster, Mass., showing "Buffalo N.Y. 3 Paid/Aug. 1" c.d.s. and matching "Paid" handstamp Aug. bearing Leominster Postage Due Label, rhomboid-shaped label in bluish green stamped "Forwarded, 1855./Due 3 Cents.", "Leominster/Ms." c.d.s. (Aug. 7) at left and label partly pasted over both, then readdressed to Boston, pencil "due 3" at top right; with original enclosure which begins, "I know not where to direct my letters, but that is of course no excuse for neglecting to write." Very Fine, an outstanding and extremely rare usage.
Estimate 1,000 - 1,500
From the mid-1850s to the early 1860s, this Massachusetts postmaster utilized a number of labels with instuctional marks, based entirely on personal whim rather than any post office regulation, though today postal historians recognize these provisional labels as important and unique forerunners of the practice of postage due labels.
The example offered here is considered the first type Leominster label and is the earliest of the two recorded labels.
|
| |
| Realized $1,150 |
