The Classic Cancel

Item #	Description	Price
9255	Hawaii #80, #81x2, F-VF sound copies, tied by 2 strikes of HONOLULU JUL 14 1899 ellipse postmarks on VF cover to San Francisco with preprinted paper dealer address, JUL 21 machine cancel receiver on back. Cover is unreduced with small portion of back flap missing.	$85
9256	Hawaii #80, #81x2, F-VF sound copies, tied by 2 strikes of HONOLULU JUL 14 1899 ellipse postmarks on VF cover to San Francisco with preprinted paper dealer address, JUL 21 machine cancel receiver on back. Cover is unreduced with small portion of back flap missing.	$60
9373	Hawaii #U2 intact entire, canceled by a purple triple ring HAMAKUAPOKU, MAUI postmark (type 281.011, 9 scarcity), to Honolulu, FEB 25 1894 receiver on reverse.	~~$50~~ $45
8899	Philippines US overprints #213 SE, #214 pair, sound, canceled by MANILA, P.I. FEB 16 01 postmark and ellipse killer paying UPU rate on intact cover to Kinsale, Balmain, Sydney N.S.W. (Australia). Back receiver. Scarce destination.	SOLD
8737	Hawaii #81, tied on CASTLE & COOKE, Ltd. corner envelope by fine MAHUKONA, HAWAII OCT (ca. 1898) postmark (M&H 281.01, 6 scarcity). Cover intact, opened at right, small tear, edge wear, minor edge faults to stamp.	~~$75~~ $65
8602	Hawaii #31, F-VF, sound, tied by VF strike of 3 ring target killer with central penetrating pin (Davey #133), HONOLULU HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AUG 24 postmark, cover opened on 3 sides, edge faults, unobtrusive tear through postmark. Attractive.	SOLD
8604	Hawaii #43a dull red pair, left stamp with corner fault, tied by purple HILO, HAWAII AUG 8 postmark and target killer on VF cover to Honolulu, opened with small repair at right, AUG 10, 1889 Honolulu numeral 1 ellipse receiver on back. Scarce stamp on cover.	SOLD
8325	Hawaii #U3, XF intact 4¢ red entire, canceled by VF strike of HONOLULU, H.I. SEP 3 1891 postmark with numeral 1 ellipse killer, locally addressed "City" and overpaying the local drop rate. Scarce used entire, catalog $150.	$95
8377	Philippine Island #242 4c definitive with ultramarine "O.B." official business overprint on VF intact Bureau of Internal Revenue cover, MANILLA, P.I. JUN 3 1908 postmark, Doremus machine cancel, to Balanga, Bataan (receiver).	~~$50~~ $45
7971	Post Office Department, New York, intact penalty cover, mailed from Havana, Cuba to Germany. Not having separate penalty envelopes for the U.S. Cuban postal administration, the cover had its "New York" address scratched out and "Havana - Cuba Register" penned in its place. The cover bears a purple 3-line "HAVANA, CUBA / APR 2 1899 / REGISTERED No. ___ [187]" hand stamp, and two strikes of 2-line "CHAS. F. W. NEELY / Chief, Bureau of Finance" identifying the sender. The cover bears 22 centavo postage composed of four different U.S. provisional surcharged stamps (Scott Cuba: #221, #223Ax2, #224x2, #225x2, all with faults) canceled by four strikes of purple "HAVANA, CUBA" in oval postmarks. (As of the date of mailing, assuming a matching of U.S. 5¢ per ounce UPU rate and 8¢ registry rate for postage to Germany with the 22 c. Cuban postage on this cover, the postage either represents a double weight cover overpaid by 4 c. or a triple rate cover underpaid by 1 c.) The cover is addressed to Mr. M. O. Borrmann, P.O, Aue, Saxony, Germany (23 4 99 AUE back stamp). I note by examination under bright light that the address under the label and the address on the label are, unexplainedly, the same. I suspect that the addressee was a stamp dealer and that this cover contained samples of the U.S. surcharged postage stamps. I base this solely upon a single 1912 German registered cover bearing the addressee's corner name and address that I located on eBay. If the above was all there was to this item, it would by itself be an exceptional penalty usage. But the story behind Charles F. W. Neely and his Cuban postal administration cohorts makes it much more interesting. The department of post of Cuba was reorganized under the authority of Estes G. Rathbone, appointed director of posts on December 21, 1898, by the Postmaster-General of the U.S. On January 7, 1899, Rathbone created the bureau of finance. Charles F. W. Neely was appointed as bureau chief. He was charged with the custody of the stamps, stamped paper, stamped envelopes, postal cards, and newspaper wrappers, and also issuing the same to postmasters. These responsibilities additionally would have included servicing requests from stamp collectors and dealers, both domestic and foreign. In late August or early September 1899, the surcharged U.S. stamps were replaced by newly designed Cuban stamps. On September 11, 1899, the remainder of the surcharged stamps (net of a sufficient number to satisfy requests from stamp collectors) were ordered destroyed. The burning of original sealed packages of these stamps was reported executed on September 13. The amount of postage destroyed was fraudulently misreported allowing the involved parties to embezzle post office funds through the sale of the retained portion of the the reportedly destroyed stamps. The embezzlement was subsequently discovered by audit. See a highly readable recent journalistic account of these events. See also a Congressional document detailing events.	SOLD
7880	#264, VF, #271 vertical pair, fine, all sound, on cover to Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii, paying the UPU 5¢ plus 8¢ registry on registered cover bearing scarce San Francisco registry exchange label FX-SF1a tied by Honolulu OCT 9, 1897. Cover mailed to a member of the well known Blackstad family. Cover bears a 3-line purple San Francisco, Cal., Oct 2 1897, Registry Div. hand stamp and is reduced 7mm at left.	SOLD
7741	Cuba #E1, fine, U.S. special delivery stamp #E5 overprinted in red CUBA 10 c. de PESO, used, small corner crease at upper left, canceled by HAVANA, CUBA postmark and ellipse killer. Scott catalog, $100.	$40
7400	Philippines #218, 15¢ olive overprint, F-VF+, sound, lightly disturbed o.g.	$20
7401	Hawaii #61, VF and sound 10¢ black with red Provisional Govt. 1893 overprint, o.g. NH. Pretty stamp.	$30
6973	Hawaii #75, F-VF, canceled by a VF-XF strike of KEALIA, KAUAI, AUG 17, 1895 purple double ring postmark (Meyer and Harris 282.011). Stamp with 4mm tear at UR.	$10

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