#274

First, let us examine the cover, figure 12, reported as figure 200 in Ashbrook's Special Services. This is a Kennedy cover from the Commercial Bank of Montreal of March 5, 1850. There is a manuscript ˜paid to lines 251" as well as a red paid 4½ for the correct Canadian rate to the border. There is a Montreal red tombstone cancel which is overstruck by a red encircled 10 of New York. The stamp is pen cancelled with a black pen, which barely ties it at the bottom. Now , not only does this ˜paid to the lines" cover lack the blue pen cancel, which was almost invariably used at New York in the period, it also has a U.S. rate, the encircled 10, on the face. It is unlikely that many serious specialists would concede that this stamp originated on this cover. Please note that this is the same handwriting correspondence and charge box account as the square grid pair of 1847s example cited earlier as illustrated in the Boyd Dale/Lichtenstein sale and shown here as figure 8

C. Hahn (http://www.nystamp.org/1847CrossBorderCoversPart3.html)

Alexander listed as 3/5/50

Ashbrook Special Services cover 200

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. sale 111 lot 19

Robert A Siegel sale 9001 (6/2024) lot 10042 realized 250 (color front and reverse images)

Endorsed S. Ross, Montreal, 5 March /50

Stanley Ashbrook wrote “There is no positive evidence that this 10c stamp was originally on this cover. The cover is sold as is (3/30/1955).