ID: 33919523
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U311 1890 cut square Die 88 fancy cancel geometric rectangle 5-bar vertical, EFO
$1.50
Seller:
keesindy (4566)
47x54mm. This large cut square is Scott U311 with green indicium on white paper. The United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) identifies this indicium as Die 88. This copy contains a very small part of a watermark and it appears to be UPSS #8. The oblitera ... Read More
Item Specifics
- Country
- United States
- Catalog Number
- U311
- Stamp Type
- Postal Stationery
- Condition
- Used
- Stamp Format
- Single
- Topic
- People - Politicians
- Year of Issue
- 1890
Item Description
47x54mm. This large cut square is Scott U311 with green indicium on white paper. The United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) identifies this indicium as Die 88. This copy contains a very small part of a watermark and it appears to be UPSS #8. The obliterator is a hand carved rectangular design with five vertical bars. There is some light staining along the edge of each side of the cut square and a light crease at the center of the right edge.This cut square was among thousands of stamps and cut squares collected from businesses at Union City, Indiana, in the early 1890s. Most of the readable postmarks in the hoard are from the period 1891 to 1893. The stamps had been soaked from the envelopes around the time of their collection. The stamps and cut squares were then sorted and tied tightly with string and sewing thread into bundles of 100 each. That process protected most of the items from damage and aging for over a century. I inherited and began unpacking the bundles in 2000. None of these sale items from the hoard has ever been in a collection.
Although three railroads were serving Union City and delivering mail from all over the country, much of that mail seemed to be coming from small cities and towns in Indiana and Ohio and to a lesser degree from smaller communities in other nearby states. In other words, most of the fancy and geometric cancels probably originated within 150 to 200 miles of Union City.
Some of the cut squares and very few of the stamps in the Union City hoard have partial circular date stamps (CDSs) that identify the post offices associated with the accompanying obliterator designs. Although the hoard includes dozens of similarly drawn obliterator designs, most are parallel lines in an overall round shape. The hoard contains four cut squares with surprisingly similar designs to this one. However, taking into account inking and other issues, none of the five matches any other and none offers any hint of the originating post office or offices.The closest match is probably a Portland, Indiana, design that was used in the early 1890s. Portland is located 18 miles north-northwest of Union City.
The Die 88 stamped envelope indicia were printed in huge quantities. They display a wide variety of inking problems (including setoffs) and die varieties that fall under the EFO (errors, freaks and oddities) umbrella. Except for a few newly identified items that are yet to be confirmed, these characteristics are repeating and documented; some display progressive characteristics. On this copy, the letter “E” of the words UNITED, STATES and POSTAGE has strongly serifed bottom arms. Serifs on these letters are not normal. When the serifs do appear, they are usually much smaller than those on this cut square. The other notable characteristic of this cut square is the fairly common inking around the president’s hair ribbon at the back of his neck and the green spot at the eye. However, the inking in this example is considerably more obvious than usual. There is also a possible notch in the outer frame line above the “TE” of UNITED. Although there is a larger documented notch very close to this location, a notch at this location is undocumented as far as I know.
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Seller Information
- Seller
- keesindy (4566)
- Registered Since
- 04/11/2016
- Feedback
- 100%
- Store
- Stamps from Keesindy
Sales History
The listing has not been sold.
- Item Location
- Indiana, United States
- Ships To
- United States
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- Shipping Instructions
- About 3½ years ago, I stopped selling and shipping outside the US due to new postal rules and rapidly rising costs. The USPS is raising postal rates again in January 2019. Today, December 25, 2018, due to the continuing rise in the cost of postage and associated fees, I am reluctantly raising my general shipping fee for the first time in many years. My sales here at HipStamp involve no additional charge for the purchase of multiple stamps. Shipping is via USPS unless otherwise specified. Be sure to contact me before making your purchases if you have questions.
- Returns Accepted
- Yes
- Returns Policy
- All items may be returned unless otherwise stated in the listing. Of course, I cannot be responsible if uninsured items are damaged during shipping. If you are dissatisfied with a purchase, contact me within 7 days of your receipt of the item to make arrangements for returning it. If I have made an error in my listing or the item is not as described, you will receive a full reimbursement plus the pre-agreed-upon cost to return the item.
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