Volume: 58 Number: 4 Year: 2006 Chronicle: 212 Article: Two Unusual Black Jack Covers Author(s): James W. Milgram M.D. Table Of Contents items marked with * cannot be viewed as an individual PDF document Click here to view the entire Volume: 58 No: 4 Chronicle: 212 Starting Page Front Cover (1 page) Front Cover Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Jack E. Molesworth, Inc. Inside Front Cover Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Shreves Philatelic Galleries, Inc. 241 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Spink 242 Masthead (1 page) 243 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Matthew Bennett Inc. 244 Table of Contents (1 page) 245 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions 246 The Editor's Page In This Issue (1 page) 247 Michael Laurence Prestamp and Stampless Period Forwarded Covers in the Stampless Era (4 pages) 248 James W. Milgram M.D. Carriers and Independent Mails Striding into History (6 pages) 252 Gordon Stimmell 1847 Period Determining the Position of the "T" Crack on the Five Cent 1847 Stamp (4 pages) 258 Wade E. Saadi 1851-61 Period Bucksport, Maine: an Unusual Integral Postmark/Cancellation (3 pages) 262 Hubert C. Skinner Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Leonard H. Hartmann 264 1861-1869 Period "Unpaid and Not Franked" (2 pages) 265 Richard B. Graham Two Unusual Black Jack Covers (3 pages) 266 James W. Milgram M.D. Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Kristal Kare, Inc. 268 1869 Period Matching 2¢ 1869 Bisects (5 pages) 269 Scott R. Trepel Bank Note Period Postmaster 's Name Becomes Logogram Cancel (2 pages) 274 Joe H. Crosby Display Advertisement (2 pages) Advertiser: Nutmeg Stamp Sales, Inc. 276 Officials The 1873 Official Stamps: Roll - to - Plate Transfer Defects from Foreign Fibers (10 pages) 278 George G. Sayers Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. 288 The Western Mails Postal Rates on Mail from British Columbia and Vancouver Island, 1858 - 1870 (9 pages) 289 Steven C. Walske Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Stephen T. Taylor 297 Foreign Mails The Emergence of the Philadelphia Octagonal 5¢ Rate Handstamp (7 pages) 298 Van Koppersmith A Cover from Peru to Wash ington, D.C., via the French Post Office at Panama (3 pages) 304 Percy Bargholtz, Theron J. Wierenga Guest Privilege Classic United States Postal Stationery (4 pages) 307 Ken Lawrence Book Review Recent Books of Interest to Society Members (3 pages) 311 Michael Laurence The Cover Corner Answer to Problem Cover in Chronicle 211 (1 page) 314 Greg Sutherland Problem Cover for This Issue (2 pages) 314 Greg Sutherland Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: United States Stamp Society 315 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Philatelic Foundation 316 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: U.S. Philatelic Classics Society 317 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Charles G. Firby 318 Index to Advertisers (1 page) 319 Classified (1 page) 319 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: H.R. Harmer, Inc. 320 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: James E. Lee Inside Back Cover Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. Back Cover a frankin g signature along with his rank or official title. This portion ofthe act was revoked after some months, as the requirement to frank with a signature was largely ignored on let­ ters to the departments. Since the envelopes in which letters to the departments were sent were normally dis­ carded, few covers illustrating this franking are known, at least to me. The cover shown in Figure I turned up a few years ago. It bears a pale red circular handstamp , appli ed at the New York post office, reading "UNPAID/AND/NOT FRANK­ ED." The cover also bears a black New York postmark dated Dec. 15, 1863 and a matching black "Held For Postage." A similar New York postmark on the back is dated the next day. The cover is addressed to Major General Halleck, then commander in chief of the Union Armi es at Washington, and marked as being for Gen. (George W) Cullum, who was Halleck's chiefofstaff. Across the top, the cover is endorsed as being sent "On public busi­ ness-Free." But no franking signature was provided by the sender, who is not identified. Back in Febru ary, 1988, I wro te an article on this subject (Chronicle 137), with sev­ eral illustrations, including cove rs with imprints intended to comply with the new 1863 laws. That article, as I recall, elicited little or no response. Thu s, it' s gratifying to have a cover show up, after 18 years, with a marking created express ly to indicate non-compl iance with the letter ofthe law. For further detail , please consult Chronicle 137, pages 39-44.• TWO UNUSUAL BLACK JACK COVERS JAMES W. MILGRAM, M.D. A couple of Black Jack cove rs came to my attention which illustrate very unusual uses ofthese stamps, uses not mentioned in the major Black Jack references. This is a stamp that was printed becau se the postal rates for circulars and drop let­ ters was changed to two cents on July I, 1863. The cover in Figure I is an example of the drop letter rate from Philadelph ia, but it bears two stamps. The earlier postmark is the "PHILADA. PA. POST OFFICE JUN 24 3RD '65" in the upper right. The cover is ad­ dressed to a person with a street address but no given town. This is a fairly common version ofa drop letter address. The unusual aspect of the cover is that it was forwarded as a drop letter to a different address but still within Philadelphia. And a duplex postmark "STATION PHILADA JUN 26 1ST ' 65" ties a second copy of the stamp to the new address. Presum­ ably the original addressee added the stamp and the new address. Both uses includ ed carrier delivery. Perhaps the carrier had stamps with him that he sold to people wishing to forward mail. In the Christies sale of the Joseph F. Rorke collection (March 16, 1988) there was a similar use of the Black Jack stamps, with one stamp no grill and the other an E Grill (lot 632). The first stamp is tied "PETERSBURG VA. NOV 25" and the other bears a similar postmark dated two days later. But the description does not describe any forwardin g and the cover is not fully illustrated, so the two stamps might have paid postage on an overweight letter. But it too might have been forwarded. A cover from New York, lot 132 in the John Kaufman sale of 1 December 1980, was definitel y forwarded. It has a Black Jack in both upper corners, each tied by attract ive blue cance ls. I wondered if such a forwarded drop letter usage existed durin g the one cent period 266 Chronicle 212 / November 2006 / Vol. 58, No.4 preceeding July I, 1863 so 1 referenced The United States 1¢ Franklin 1861-1867 by Don L. Evans (L inn 's Stamp News, Sidney, Ohio, 1997) .During this period either pickup by a carrier or delivery by a carrier was charged an additional 1¢, so drop covers with an extra Figure 1. A forwarded drop letter: 2¢ Black Jack tied by " PHILADA. PA. POST OFFICE JUN 24 3RD '65" on a drop letter which was forwarded to a second address in Philadelphia with another Black Jack, tied by " STATION PHILADA PA. JUN 26 1ST '65 ". Figure 2. Two cents Black Jack with E grill, tied by the killer portion of an at­ tractive red New York duplex marking, dated " NEW-YORK JUN 10" (1868) and sent to the New York location of the Hartung hair-goods company. stamp, two 1¢ stamps, are not too uncommon. Also, two 1¢ stamps can be foun d on drop covers after July I, 1863 paying a single drop rate of two cents. But 1 found no 1¢ covers forwarded with a second I¢ stamp within the same city Figure 2 shows the front of co ver bearing a Black Jack with "E " grill, Scott 87, tied by a red dup lex at New York and bearing what appears to be a Ju ne 10 postmark. This is verified by the receiver 's notation "Answered June 10/68". This cover is from the famous Chronicle 212 I Nove mber 2006 I Vol. 58, No. 4 267 Figure 3. Reverse of the Figure 2 cover, showing a large orange label of an ex­ press company with stations in several Massachusetts towns. Hartung hair goods correspondence. This is actually a bootlegged cover from anoth er city. A 3¢ stamp should have been app lied instead ofthe Black Jack. The reverse, shown in Figure 3, bears a large orange label with black lettering ofthe Davenport, Maso n & Co. Express, with points of contact, as the label indicates, at New Bed ford, Taunton, Mansfield, Norton, Nantucket and New York. Addresses of the New Bedford, Taunton and New York offices are detailed at the bottom ofthe label. It is not known where this cove r originated, but the comb ination of an express label used with a Black Jack stamp must be quite unusual.a For Philatelists , Numismatists, Ephemerists , A • Archivists , Collectors and Savers. IIy stable Protective Pouches " t di."enslona D or ng Iner , ,,* Type The clear, st.roDupont's "Mylar f"l'" we use IS . lent· Pouches for philatelic covers. I eqUlva. Pouches for page & document protection. • Pouches for exhibit pages. KRISTAL KARE, INC. • Folders & Pouches for document preservation . P.O. Box 396 kristalkar @aol.com Hicksville, NY 11802 'B' 516-822-2562 268 Chronicle 212 I ovember 2006 I Vol.