U311 1890 cut square UPSS Die 88 fancy cancel pumpkin face uneven eyes, EFOs

Item Specifics

Country

United States

Catalog Number

U311

Stamp Type

Postal Stationery

Condition

Used

Stamp Format

Error

Topic

People - Politicians

Year of Issue

1890

Item Description

33x43mm. This cut square is Scott U311 with green indicium on laid white paper. The United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) identifies this as Die 88. This copy includes no watermark. The obliterator is a small 15mm diameter pumpkin face design with eyes of unequal size. Some of the obliterations with this general design were probably created from rubber bottle stoppers.

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 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.

A few dozen cut squares and stamps in the hoard have this basic pumpkin face design, but overall sizes vary as do the size, positioning, spacing and shape of the eyes. The frequent absence circular date stamps (CDSs) make origins difficult to determine, but a few clearly display an Indiana origin and an incomplete city name of “___ESTER.” “___HESTER” or even “___CHESTER.” The full name could have been Rochester or Winchester, etc. The CDS lettering on several of these matches a Winchester CDS from this same period; none matches an available Rochester CDS. Winchester is only nine miles west of Union City. One of three railroads serving Union City was an east-west line of the C. C. C. & St. L. (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis) Railroad, or Big Four, that also served Winchester.

The numerous glass factories operating in Winchester and other nearby cities might explain why rubber bottle stoppers could have been in use by post offices in the region. By 1899, Indiana had 110 operating glass factories and was the second largest producer of glass in the country. Although obliterator designs similar to this one appear to have been in use at the Winchester Post Office, I cannot confirm the post office of origin for this item.

The Die 88 stamped envelopes were printed in huge quantities. They display a wide variety of inking problems and die varieties, many of which fall under the EFO (errors, freaks and oddities) umbrella. Except for a few newly identified items that are not yet confirmed, these variations are found on multiple copies and have been documented; some display progressive characteristics. The primary variety on this cut square is the serif on the lower bar of each letter “E” in the UNITED STATES POSTAGE text. Serifs are usually absent, but I have identified 153 Die 88 cut squares in the hoard with the serifs. When they do exist, the serifs vary in size from one cut square to the next. The serifs in this cut square are relatively small and more common than the larger serifs. Separately, an inking problem has dimmed part of the “T” in TWO and the left ornament. As a result, the center of that ornament appears to be missing.

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Seller Information

Seller

keesindy (4649)

Registered Since

04/11/2016

Feedback

100%

Store

Stamps from Keesindy

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Item Location

Indiana, United States

Ships To

United States

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.