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| Scott Number | 09X1 |
|---|---|
| Date | May 18, 1846 |
| From City | Sing Sing |
| From State | NY |
| To City | New York |
| To State | NY |
| Addressee | Mr. Woodruff |
| Cert Author | |
| Cert # | |
| Fake | |
| No. of Stamps | 1 |
| Plate Position | 7 |
| Initials | ACM |
| Others |
Notes
Lot 594 5c Black (9X1), three ample margins, in at bottom, tear at bottom right, tied by red Sing sin NY May 18 datestamp and red PAID arc cancels on 1846 folded letter to New York City, a fine cover, the only recorded use from Sing Sing, illustrated in Ahsbrook Special Service and Chronicle (Feb 1979)
Christie's Oct 12, 1989 Weill Brothers sale
H R. Harmer sale 967 Nov 15, 1955 (Alfred H. Caspary) lot 101
Listed as position 7 in Piller, Stanley M., The New York Postmasters' Provisional, Cosmos Press, 1991, p82
H R Harmer sale 2555 June 4 1980 lot 72 realized 4250
Ashbrook Special Services Cover 108
Photograph #108 illustrates a use of the 5c New York from Sing Sing, NY to New York City on May 18th, 1846. I am reliably informed that this cover is unique, that is, the only known use of this stamp from that: post office, and the cover from which the listing was made in the "S.U.S." [Scott US Specialized] This is a blue folded letter dated inside, "Sine Sing, 15th of May 1846." The stamp (plate position #7) is tied by a red Sine Sing, N.Y. postmark and is canceled by the familiar red curved "PAID" of the New York P.O., another strike of which appears to the left of: the stamp. When this letter was mailed at Sing S1ng it should have been rated with .5c due at New York, that is, as an unpaid letter. When it reached New York it was, handstamped as "PAID" and delivered as such. One wonders why the writer used this stamp on this letter? We assume that he did not wish to burden the addressee with the postage, but he could have accomplished the same purpose by pre-paying in cash or having he postage charged by marking it PAID. Perhaps he had considerable correspondence with clients in the big City and provided himself with the Morris adhesive stamp to save the trouble of paying in cash or charging. After all, the law stated that the 1847 stamps were to be issued for the purpose of facilitating the transportation of letters in the mail. I feel confident that the officials of the Post Office Department greatly desired that all postages be prepaid at origin; the saving the annoyance of accounting and collecting the postage on each letter delivered. I think that to accustom the public to prepaying postage was the real purpose behind the issuance of our first postage stamps in 1847, and led eventually to the law of March 3rd, 1855, requiring the prepayment of postage on domestic mail, and later to the ruling by the PMG requiring payment by postage stamps or stamped envelopes.
pp 215-216 Issue 30 Sept 1, 1953
[Another possibility is that the letter was sent from a prison inmate to his attorney. Mr. Levi Woodruff, the recipient, was an attorney in NYC and there are many other covers known bearing NY Provisionals and US 1847 issue stamps that were sent to him.]
Christie's Oct 12, 1989 Weill Brothers sale
H R. Harmer sale 967 Nov 15, 1955 (Alfred H. Caspary) lot 101
Listed as position 7 in Piller, Stanley M., The New York Postmasters' Provisional, Cosmos Press, 1991, p82
H R Harmer sale 2555 June 4 1980 lot 72 realized 4250
Ashbrook Special Services Cover 108
Photograph #108 illustrates a use of the 5c New York from Sing Sing, NY to New York City on May 18th, 1846. I am reliably informed that this cover is unique, that is, the only known use of this stamp from that: post office, and the cover from which the listing was made in the "S.U.S." [Scott US Specialized] This is a blue folded letter dated inside, "Sine Sing, 15th of May 1846." The stamp (plate position #7) is tied by a red Sine Sing, N.Y. postmark and is canceled by the familiar red curved "PAID" of the New York P.O., another strike of which appears to the left of: the stamp. When this letter was mailed at Sing S1ng it should have been rated with .5c due at New York, that is, as an unpaid letter. When it reached New York it was, handstamped as "PAID" and delivered as such. One wonders why the writer used this stamp on this letter? We assume that he did not wish to burden the addressee with the postage, but he could have accomplished the same purpose by pre-paying in cash or having he postage charged by marking it PAID. Perhaps he had considerable correspondence with clients in the big City and provided himself with the Morris adhesive stamp to save the trouble of paying in cash or charging. After all, the law stated that the 1847 stamps were to be issued for the purpose of facilitating the transportation of letters in the mail. I feel confident that the officials of the Post Office Department greatly desired that all postages be prepaid at origin; the saving the annoyance of accounting and collecting the postage on each letter delivered. I think that to accustom the public to prepaying postage was the real purpose behind the issuance of our first postage stamps in 1847, and led eventually to the law of March 3rd, 1855, requiring the prepayment of postage on domestic mail, and later to the ruling by the PMG requiring payment by postage stamps or stamped envelopes.
pp 215-216 Issue 30 Sept 1, 1953
[Another possibility is that the letter was sent from a prison inmate to his attorney. Mr. Levi Woodruff, the recipient, was an attorney in NYC and there are many other covers known bearing NY Provisionals and US 1847 issue stamps that were sent to him.]
