Lot 50013 – 1851–57 Multi-Value Cover from Barrie to LondonCover

1851–57 Multi-Value Cover from Barrie to London

Cover bearing two 3d red on thin, soft, horizontally ribbed paper, together with a horizontal pair of 1852–57 7½d deep yellow-green, tied by “1” numeral and BARRIE, 9 APR 1858 circular datestamp. Carried via New York on Cunard “Persia,” 14 April, arriving Liverpool 24 April, with London arrival marked on front.

Of particular philatelic interest: the printer Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson of New York cut the 3d and 6d sheets of 1857 into two single plates of 100, with imprints added in the margins, two at each side. On this cover, the left 3d shows an upside-down imprint at bottom (positions 92/94 & 97/99). The 7½d pair shows positions 118/119 with a re-entered imprint, originally set slightly too high, touching the bottom frame.

Franking represents the 20d rate for a double letter, valid 23 March 1854 – 30 June 1859, slightly overpaid by 1d. Other covers from the Brooksband correspondence also show overfranking, as Barrie apparently had no 10d stamps. Notably, this is the most expensive Canadian cover recorded in Lichtenstein, only surpassed by the bisected 3d and 12d covers.

Illustrated in Boggs.

Provenance: Lichtenstein; Nickle; Kung; Wilkinson.