Lot 50093 – 1851 6d Brown-Purple on Laid Paper – Cross-Border Use from Ogdensburg

1851 6d Brown-Purple on Laid Paper – Cross-Border Use from Ogdensburg

6d brown-purple on laid paper, clear to good margins, tied to envelope from Ogdensburg, 13 April 1852, bearing a scrolled “U. STATES” handstamp and taxed “10” (cents) in the United States with handstamp obliterated Canada. Carried across Lake Ontario, the stamp cancelled by concentric circles, with a red PRESCOTT AP 13 1852 circular datestamp, via Kingston and Cobourg to Peterborough.

A remarkable cross-border usage — the earliest and only recorded cover with Canadian franking originating in the United States, with the Canadian Post Office accepting the stamp for postage.

Note: Illustrated in Arfken.

Provenance: Lea, Robertson, Wilkinson, Hackmey.