New Earliest 10¢ Bisect

Volume: 30 Number: 3 Year: 1978 Chronicle: 99
Article: New Earliest 10¢ Bisect
Author(s): Creighton C. Hart Table Of Contents
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Front Cover (1 page)
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Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Robson Lowe Ltd
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Jack E. Molesworth, Inc.
Masthead (1 page)
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Table of Contents (1 page)
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Starting Page
Front Cover
Inside Front
Cover
149
150
151
152
153
154
The Editor's Page
Editorial (1 page)
155
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Joseph Rubinfine
155
Guest Privilege
Freight Money Covers, the Private Sailing Packet and Steamship Letter Charges and Markings of the
Late 1830's and Early 1840's (10 pages)
Charles Hahn
New York Postmaster's Provisionals Initialed "RHM" Used on Covers Addressed to New York City (6
pages)
Philip T. Wall
156
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Leonard H. Hartmann
171
165
Prestamp and Stampless Period
Handling the U.S. Military Mails During the War with Mexico: 1846 - 48 (4 pages)
Dale R. Pulver
172
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Alan T. Atkins
175
1847 Period
1847 N.Y. Covers Via R.R., Ship and Steamboat (3 pages)
Creighton C. Hart
Final Report pm New York Postmarks (1 page)
Creighton C. Hart
New Earliest 10¢ Bisect (3 pages)
Creighton C. Hart
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: George Alevizos
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: New England Stamp
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Jacques Schiff, Jr. Inc.
176
178
178
180
180
181
1851-61 Period
Postal Fraud (1 page)
David T. Beals III, Thomas J. Alexander
Mails Suspended in Missouri (2 pages)
Richard Krieger
Charles M. Willard: Handstamp Manufacturer (3 pages)
Thomas J. Alexander
182
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Andrew Levitt, Inc.
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Gary Hendershott
186
187
182
184
1861-1869 Period
1867 Grills - Experimentals, Sizes and Fakes (6 pages)
C.W. Bert Christian
Unpaid Letter to "Sec. Of War": an Interdepartmental Conflict (4 pages)
Kenneth A. Whittle
188
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Edelman's
Classified Advertisement (1 page)
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Henry M. Spelman III
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Henry M. Spelman III
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: McBride Stamp Auctions, Inc.
196
196
197
197
197
193
1869 Period
Odds and Ends (4 pages)
Michael Laurence
198
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Susan M. McDonald
201
Bank Note Period
The Continental Printings (2 pages)
Henry L. Hosmer
202
Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Al Zimmerman
203
Foreign Mails
An 1853 Retaliatory - Rated Cover from Belgium (3 pages)
Barbara J. Wallace
Postscript: Retaliatory - Rated Cover from France (1 page)
Charles J. Starnes
An Unusual Prussian Closed Mail Cover (3 pages)
George E. Hargest
Review: "North Atlantic Seaway, Volume I" (1 page)
N. R. P. Bonsor
French Convention Mail to Russia (1 page)
Charles J. Starnes
Hawaiian Steam Service Contract Sailings (6 pages)
Kenneth D. Gilbart
204
206
206
208
209
210
The Cover Corner
Answer to Problem Covers in Issue No. 98 (3 pages)
Scott Gallagher
216
Foreign Mails
Problem Covers for This Issue (2 pages)
Scott Gallagher
Review: "American Stampless Cover Catalog" (2 pages)
Scott Gallagher
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page) Advertiser: William A. Fox
page) Advertiser: J.M. Classics Co.
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page) Advertiser: Richard J Micchelli
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Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Raymond H. Weill Co
218
219
219
219
220
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Inside Back
Cover
Back Cover
Figure 2. Thll coyer w llh 30 , In pOllage w.. mail ed from Ihe Pacific side of Panam a. The rale from Ihe Atlenl ic
. ide was 20 ¢. The STEAM/SHIP in black wal sl ruck upon a"iyal al New York. The siampi had been pen .cancelled
in Panam a.
York, bein g used in place of th e regular townmark. Althou gh incorrectly used
on inland domesti c mail , thi s rar e usage is value d by spe cialists. As is to be
expected, ocean mail to Calif orni a via Pan ama did not become common until
afte r th e discover y of gold and until th e 1851 issue had su pe rsede d th e 1847
stam ps. Th is first typ e of ocea n postmark was followed by othe r typ es illustrated and discussed in W estern Expr ess" by Dr. Scott Poll and. All typ es of
ocean mail postmark s ap pe ar almost entirely on later issues.
,; . \\'. Scott Poll and . M.D .. " T he Nell' York O cean :\fail Postma rks Via I'an am a to Ca liforia a nd Orego n, " 11'''.11,·,." EX/JI'e .lS. J anu ary 1964.
FINAL REPORT ON NEW YORK POSTMARKS
Ezra Co le, who has a spe cial in terest in west ern N.Y. post offic es, reports
a Gain es and an East Clarkson pos tmark on covers with 1847 stamps. Three
Clarkson cov ers had been reported but thi s is th e only one from Ea st Clark son .
Also, Col e has a lO¢ cover from Jam estown which is in addition to 5¢ covers
known from there.
Thi s survey ha s had con sid erable read er response evide ncing th e great
inter est in postmarks from th e Empire State. In an ea rly issue th ere will be a
complet e list of all New York postmarks reported in this survey .
A NEW EARLIEST lO ¢ BISECT
CREIGHTON C. HART
.
It is not often that an earliest use can b e reported of an IS47 cover. In the
August 1969 Chronicle, Dave Baker , Susan McDon ald and I collaborate d in an
ar ticle listing 98 ten cent bisect s. The earliest ge nu ine cover in th at list was a
right ve rtical half from New York used May 14, 1848. W esley A. Cro zier has
recently found one used ea rlie r (F igure 1) and 1 am pri vileged to illustrate
it in the Chronicle for our members.
Here in Cr ozier's wo rds is a description of th e cover and th e thrill he had
upon findin g it :
I was p leased to receive your lct re r and glad th at Da n : J a rr ett ca lled my fin d to
yo ur a tten tio n. I ha ve bee n a wa re of the im port an ce of this d iscovery since a little research to ld m e th at th is is th e ea rliest kno wn lJ .S. h isect by a wid e ma rgin,
I encl ose a ph ot ogr aph of the cove r. . . . Y OII will obs erve tha t th e d at e is Jan . 24.
1848. It is a vertica l bi sect , lef t sid e. hu ge margins to p a nd bottom a nd ni ce margin
at left. Th e imp ression is ex tre mel y sha rp a nd the st a m p is fresh and clean. T he
Philada Pa , m arking, in th e typ ica l Phil. dark blue of the pe riod . ties th e stam p to the
cove r pe rfect ly a t numerou s poi n ts.
T h is item was di scovered in th e bottom of a steamer trunk fil led wit h old lett ers
178
Chron icle 99 / Augus t 1978 / Vol. 30. No.3
and papers . T h ere wer e num erou s envelopes and fold ed le tters from whi ch 1847's had
been cut or torn. Apparent ly th e b isect was p assed by as worthless, hein g cut in h a lf.
T hank God !
When I di scover ed th e cover 1 was sq ua tt ing o n th e floor--I a lmost fell over bac kwards l I n this case, indeed, tru th was stra nge r tha n fict io n. Th e u lti m a te dream of
ever y serio u s p h ila teli st come tru e l
rT1tw~
~Figu re 1. The earli est known use of an 1847 bisect . Postmarked from Philadelphil Jlnuary 24, 1848. This is the
second b isect to be discovered sin ce 1972 . No 5¢ bise ct has yet been found.
In addition to the Cro zier bisect , anothe r bisect was recently found and was
sold in a Robert A. Siegel auction in 1972. Elizabeth C. Pope's ar ticle in th e
November 1973 Chro nicle details the find that was made in an old house b eing
ra zed in Massac husetts.
Because of th ese two recen t "discover ies," , am reproducing a notice tha t
appeare d in the N ew Yor k E vening Post January 5, 1850 (F igure 2). This news
item was qu oted by Lester Brookm an in 1966 under th e heading "5 Cent 1847
Bisect?" The photograph illustrated here was supplied by the New York Public
Library and is reproduced in th e C hronicle for the first time in the philatelic
press.
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Figur e 2 . Not lc. in N.Y. newspaper, Jan. 5,
1850:
"STAMPS FOR NEWSPAPERS-At tho POlt
off ice in th is citr,' I hundred end fifty news·
papers not com nil from the oHice of the
paper which publIShed them , are daUr. reo
tecl ed beca ule tho postage is not pa d in
adv ance.
The Postm aste r, w e lear n, h.. jUlt de ·
termined '0 allow the fi ve cent letter s'lmps,
di vided in h.lves and quarters, to be used in
peyment of the po stage of newspapers. Hllf
of one of the.e stamps divided diagonally
Ind pasted on the envelope, will be recei ved
as equivalent to th e payment of two cents; a
quorter, by th. sam. mode of div isio n, is
equivalent to th e payment of one cont
postege.
This arra nge menl will obviate the necess ity
of a gre et dOlI of del ay el the post off ico
w Indows. In the paymenl of newsp"per
postage," (Photograph by th. Now York
Public Librery).
Robert Morris , the New York Postm aster, was a career pu blic servant and
is the man who is quoted. It can be assum ed th at b isects of both values were
alwa ys recognized at the New York pos t ' office and probably at others too
Ch ro ni cle 99 / Au gu st 1978 / Vol. 30, No. 3
179
because Morris is th e man whose advi ce oth er postm asters usually asked rather
than th at of th e Postmaster Gen eral in Wa shington whos e job was a political plum.
Can there still be oth er overlooked bisects including th e 5¢ valu e? Th e 5¢
stamp could hav e b een b isected to pay the 2¢ drop rate or the 12~¢ rate to
Cuba as well as for newspap ers. Two stamped covers to Cub a and six drop letters are known but non e ar e b isect ed . I Th e E oen ing Post news item states that
the divided stamps may be past ed on envelopes. En velopes were seldom used
in 1850 even for fir st class cor respond enc e and prob abl y less for newspapers.
The 5¢ bisects are mor e apt to be found on a wrapper such as was illustrated in
David Bear s article "Bisects of the Three Cent 1851 Issue" in th e November
1972 Chronicle . Such a wrapper or envelope may be among old newspapers
stored away long ago. If a 5¢ bisect turns up , be assur ed that it will b e scrutinized most carefully by 1847 specialists and expert committees b ecause the
temp tation to fake such a cover is probably irr esistibl e.
I. Creigh to n C. Hart, "T he 2¢ Drop Rate on 180/ 7 Cover s," Ch ron icle 75: 116-20.
POSTAL HISTORY MATERIAL
We specialize in cove rs of the world . We have a comp re he nsive stock of
Confederate covers. In United State s, w e stock Trans-Atlantic, Registered,
Speci a l Delivery and ot her speci al usages . We usually have a fe w Terrilorials and Wes ter ns, and we are strong in Hawaii.
NEW ENGLAND STAMP
Nlple. , Florida 33940
Tel. (8 13) 262-6226
643 Fifth Avenue South
We buy better covers of
United States Offices in China
and
19th Century Trans-Pacific Mail
Please phone or write:
George
AleVi!a-~-i-I~-ir-e-BI-V(-i
•
ISO
S-u-ile- 3-0-7- - - - - -
Sa nta Monic" .C , lifo rnic' 9 0 401
Tele pho ne IZ131 4 50 ·Z54 3
Chron icle 99 I Au gus t 1978 I Vol. 30, No .3