New Brunswick #2b 6d Olive Yellow Crown & Heraldic Flowers, 1851-1860 Pence Issue, A Very Good Cover Franked With Bisected Single, Tied By Grid Cancel, Care Of Charles Connell, Signed George Sloane, 1995 David Brandon Certificate
A Very good cover of the 6d olive yellow Crown & Heraldic Flowers from the 1851-1860 Pence Issue franked with bisected single, tied by grid cancel, care of Charles Connell, signed george sloane, 1995 David Brandon certificate. This cover is a mourning cover that was sent to Mrs. Henry Fisher in care of the famous Charles Connell at Woodstock. It was sent from Fredericton on April 21, 1860, just a few weeks before the issuance of the scandallous Connell stamp that would end his career as postmaster for the colony. The cancellation is said by the consignor to be a faint strike of the #13 grid, through the numbers are not visible. The stamp has good margins, but a defective corner, and the cover is missing the backflap, and a small piece of the back that has been excised, so it can really only be regarded as a VG cover. However, it is a fantastic conversation piece for the story of the famous NB resident. Unitrade values this at $5,000, for a fine cover. Our estimate of the value for the condition offered is $2,500. The pence issues are notorious for condition problems. First of all the paper used was very soft and fragile: it tears very easily, creases easily and thins very, very easily. As a result, very few stamps have survived without at least one of these three faults. Many have been repaired or rebacked to conceal these faults. The genuine paper should have a somewhat rough surface under magnification, and will often show very fine mesh. If it is smooth, lacks any bluish undertone and shows no mesh at all, even when held to backlight, it very likely has been rebacked. The second major condition issue with these is small to no margins. This is because the printing plates for these were laid down by hand, by just 2 or three individuals. Spacing between the impressions was often no more than 1 mm, to even less, and occasionally slightly more, so that margins are rarely more than 1/2 mm wide. So, quite often a stamp will appear to have fewer than 4 margins, even when it does. Full margins on all sides is XF to superb. VF stamps will have 4 margins of 1/2 mm width. This is a consignment lot. Accordingly, a 15% buyer's premium will be added to the hammer price.