U311 1890 UPSS Die 88, maybe De Graff, OH, ellipse with star center, EFO, crease

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

36x45mm. (Measured at narrowest horizontal dimension and left side.) This cut square is Scott U311 green indicium on laid white paper. The United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) identifies this indicium as Die 88. This copy has a portion of UPSS watermark 8. The obliterator design is a seven-bar ellipse with a star in the center. There is a sharp crease at the extreme bottom edge and orange staining that may have been foxing at the top 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 across 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. The James M. Cole book, “Cancellations and Killers of the Banknote Era,” on page 322 identifies De Graff, Ohio, as one village that used this design. There may have been others.

De Graff is located in west central Ohio, 48 air miles east-northeast of Union City. If this cut square did travel from De Graff, it probably arrived in Union City via the C. C. C. & St. L. (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis), or Big Four, Railroad. According to a 1906 railway guide, De Graff wasn’t a stop on the line between Indianapolis, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio. The nearest stop was a few miles east of De Graff at Bellefontaine.

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. This cut square has two of these characteristics. The notch in the outer frame line below the right side of the shield at the bottom of the design is clearly a die issue. Other similar notches have been documented as well. The small nub, or spur, on the inner ribbon line above the “N” of CENTS is probably a die issue as well. The Union City hoard contains at least 27 Die 88 cut squares with this characteristic. Of those 27 examples, only this copy and one other also contain the notch below the shield. However, at least two other examples with both characteristics have been documented elsewhere.

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Seller Information

Seller

keesindy (4648)

Registered Since

04/11/2016

Feedback

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Store

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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.