ID: 35912518
Scott U164 cut square UPSS Die 57 pale amber ? paper, 1882 postmark, faults, EFO
$3.50
Seller:
keesindy (4601)
29x36mm. This cut square was among thousands of stamps and cut squares collected from businesses at Union City, Indiana. Most of the readable postmarks in this hoard are from 1891 to 1893 and most of the 11-12,000 c ... Read More
Item Specifics
- Country
- United States
- Catalog Number
- U164
- Stamp Type
- Postal Stationery
- Condition
- Used
- Stamp Format
- Single
- Topic
- People - Politicians
- Year of Issue
- 1874
Item Description
29x36mm. This cut square was among thousands of stamps and cut squares collected from businesses at Union City, Indiana. Most of the readable postmarks in this hoard are from 1891 to 1893 and most of the 11-12,000 cut squares have the two-cent green Washington indicium that the United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) identifies as Die 88. However, the hoard contained a few hundred other (mostly earlier) cut squares. This copy is identified by the United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) as Die 57. It is laid paper and includes a portion of UPSS watermark 2. The indicium impression is very clean except the mouth, the nose and the eye have been inked and might qualify this copy for EFO (errors, freaks and oddities) status.There is a brown surface stain below the indicium. The black circular dot at the bottom edge of the indicium is glossy and does not appear to be stray cancellation ink.
In the Union City hoard, I have found only five Die 57 cut squares with this paper color. The color is neither white (Scott U163) nor amber (Scott U164). It also differs from the numerous creamy white paper Die 88 examples in the hoard. If it is a listed color, it must be the cream paper (Scott U165). The other distinct possibility is that these five copies represent an unlisted pale amber color variant of U164. The UPSS 2012 and 2019 catalogs list a “pale amber” paper variety for the similar Die 56 design, but the die 57 listing does not include a “pale amber” paper color. The catalogs include an introduction where a section titled “Amber Paper (1863 to 1944)” mentions slightly yellow paper shades, but does not specifically mention Die 56 or 57 amber shades. I have included a separate scan of the backs of three of these cut squares along with amber and white paper examples for comparative purposes. None of these other cut squares is included in this sale.
The stamps in the hoard had been soaked from the envelopes around the time of their collection. The stamps and cut squares were then sorted and tied tightly with string and sewing thread into bundles of 100 each. That process protected most of the items from damage and aging for over a century. I inherited and began unpacking the bundles in 2000. None of these sale items from the hoard has ever been in a collection.
Mail was arriving at Union City from all over the country via three railroads, but much of the mail was from small cities and towns in Indiana and Ohio and to a lesser degree from smaller communities in other nearby states. This and two other copies with this paper color have partial circular date stamps and killers. All three are dated 1882 and probably originated in Chicago. Chicago and other large U.S. cities were a significant source of mail at Union City. Chicago mail probably arrived at Union City via the P. C. C. & St. L. (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis) Railway. Travel distance between Chicago and Union City was 211 miles according to a 1910 railways guide.
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Seller Information
- Seller
- keesindy (4601)
- Registered Since
- 04/11/2016
- Feedback
- 100%
- Store
- Stamps from Keesindy
Sales History
The listing has not been sold.
- Item Location
- Indiana, United States
- Ships To
- United States
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- Shipping Instructions
- About 3½ years ago, I stopped selling and shipping outside the US due to new postal rules and rapidly rising costs. The USPS is raising postal rates again in January 2019. Today, December 25, 2018, due to the continuing rise in the cost of postage and associated fees, I am reluctantly raising my general shipping fee for the first time in many years. My sales here at HipStamp involve no additional charge for the purchase of multiple stamps. Shipping is via USPS unless otherwise specified. Be sure to contact me before making your purchases if you have questions.
- Returns Accepted
- Yes
- Returns Policy
- All items may be returned unless otherwise stated in the listing. Of course, I cannot be responsible if uninsured items are damaged during shipping. If you are dissatisfied with a purchase, contact me within 7 days of your receipt of the item to make arrangements for returning it. If I have made an error in my listing or the item is not as described, you will receive a full reimbursement plus the pre-agreed-upon cost to return the item.
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