Lot
1813 
Official Seal, 1877, brown, tied on reverse by blue "Post Office, Boston Mass., Apr 17, 1879" cds repairing damage on cover with preprinted address to Boston Mass. bearing 6¢ pink (186) tied by partial "Chicago Ill. Apr 1" duplex, bold purple "Received in this Condition." straightline and matching "B.D., Boston, Apr 16" carrier datestamp, Fine and rare cds tied use, ex-Gottlieb. Scott Nos. OX1 $1,000.
THE EARLIEST OF ABOUT A DOZEN RECORDED 1877 POST OFFICE SEAL USES, ONLY THREE ARE TIED BY POSTAL MARKING.
Lot
1814
Official Seal, 1877, brown, used to seal top edge of officially-opened unpaid cover, "Milwaukee Wis. Feb 27" cds on cover to Kewaskum Wis., second "Milwaukee Wis. Feb. 28" circular datestamp on back, clear strike of "Held for Postage" handstamp, blue crayon "3c" and matching "2706"; opened a bit roughly at right, back toning, Very Fine and rare use at the Dead Letter Office, ex-Richardson; with 1991 P.F. certificate. Scott Nos. OX1 $1,000.
While this cover lacks a Dead Letter Office handstamp, the presence of the Milwaukee cds on the back and the crayon markings on the front indicate handling likely by the Dead Letter Office. Despite its official designation as a seal for use by the Dead Letter Office, only a handful of the "Post Obitum" seals are known used there, with the remainder used by postmasters.
Reference: Illustrated and Discussed by Kotanchik in his book on p. 83.
Lot
1815
Official Seal, 1877, brown, used to seal top edge of officially-opened unpaid cover bearing illegal 3¢ green stationery cut-out to Littleby Mo., cut-out has been partially pealed off, framed "Held for Postage" handstamp, "Alton, Ill. Apr 30" origin cds, blue crayon "3c" and matching "3883" file number, accompanied by Postal Service blue D.L.O. (UO16) penalty entire canceled by indigo "Washington D.C. May 21" 1879 cds sending letter to addressee, toned and opened roughly at right, F.-V.F. and unique pair demonstrating the Dead Letter Office use. Scott Nos. OX1 $1,000.
Additional postage was apparently not supplied and the letter was sent onward to the addressee. This lot proves the Kotanchik theory of DLO office handling characteristics. This cover can be dated to 1879 by indication of the Washington D.C. cds struck in indigo ink, which was introduced in 1879, and the lack of a year slug, which was added to the device by July 1879.
Lot
1816
Official Seal, 1877, brown, used to seal left edge of cover tied on reverse by cork cancel duplexed with "Providence, R.I. Apr 30" cds, bearing 3¢ green (184) tied by "7" barred oval duplexed with "Philadelphia Pa. Apr 17" cds to Providence R.I., "Carrier, Apr 18" backstamp and pencil "Try 45 Westminster", underneath label "Opened by C.F. Wilcox, 45 Westminster" at left, "Advertised, May 10" cds, blue crayon "10", Very Fine, One of Only Three Recorded Covers with the Seal tied by a postal marking.. Scott Nos. OX1 $1,000.
Another principal use for the seals was to document that a letter had been opened by mistake, either by someone not the intended recipient or, less likely, by a postal employee. After Mr. C.f. Wilcox opened the letter and determined he was not the intended Chas Wilcox Esq., the Providence post office then applied the seal to indicate the letter had been officially resealed, although not before someone noted the sender was D.C. Haldeman.
Lot
1817
Official Seal, 1877, brown, used to seal top edge of officially-opened partly-paid cover bearing 2¢ vermilion (183) tied by "New York, G, Apr 26, 79" duplex to Englewood N.J., "Held for Postage, G" circular handstamp with blue crayon "1c" and matching "2373" file number, additional oval "Held for Postage" at bottom right, "New York, D.L.O., Apr 29, 79" backstamp; seal with small nick on reverse, small edge tear at bottom, Very Fine and rare use handled in the Dead Letter Office. Scott Nos. OX1 $1,000.
The "Post Obitum" official seal was originally designed for the Washington D.C. Dead Letter Office, supported by an article in the New York Times March 1877. There has been some question as to whether the seal was ever applied to covers there, and if so, how can these covers be identified. According to Jim Kotanchik the characteristics are: 1. they were held for postage, 2. they have similar blue crayon markings, 3. they have origin office markings on reverse as required for transmittal to the D.L.O. In this case, the additional postage was apparently not collected and the cover was returned in a D.L.O. penalty envelope.
Realized: $250
Lot
1818
Official Seal, 1879, brown, two singles, affixed to 5¢ Garfield (U223) entire to Austria also bearing 6¢ lake (282) tied by Philadelphia Jan. 20 1895 duplex, returned to sender after failed delivery via the Dead Letter Office due to lack of return address, Philadelphia added the 1888 chocolate (OX5) seal; faulty, Fine, an unusual use with both engraved and typographed seals. Scott Nos. OX2a Estimate $150 - 200.
Lot
1819
Official Seal, 1889, bister brown, used to seal left edge tied by "Received in Bad Condition" purple handstamp on reverse of registered 2¢ green entire bearing Confederacy, 1863, 10¢ blue (11) attempted 1891 late use to prepay the 10¢ registry fee to New York N.Y., each canceled by three-ring targets and matching "Stubb Tex. Aug 10" cds adjacent, New York (8.25) arrival backstamp, pink "Request Examination on Delivery" label affixed below stamps, Very Fine and unusual late use; with 2016 P.F. certificate. Scott Nos. OX7 Estimate $400 - 600.
Realized: $270
Lot
1820
Official Seal, 1892, light brown, rouletted 5½ three tied on reverse by purple "Received at New York P.O./(Reg. Div.) in Bad Condition" two-line handstamp, additional strike on face of cover bearing 1¢ blue (219) pair and 10¢ green (226), tied by cork cancels duplexed with "Villisca, Iowa. Jul 30, 1892" cds registered to New York City, pink "Request Examination on Delivery" label affixed; some light stain spots, a Very Fine and scarce seal use, ex-Gerlach. Scott Nos. OX8 $750 on cover.
Lot
1821
Official Seal, 1895, gray brown, hyphen-hole perf 7, affixed over right edge and tied by "New York, Apr 7, 97" duplex on reverse of 1¢ blue entire with 1¢ blue tied by partial West Virginia town cancel to New York N.Y., reverse with "Cairo, W. Va., Apr 6, 1897" transit and manuscript "Opened by mistake, J. Lynn & Co., 48 Bond St, New York"; light edge toning, F.-V.F. and scarce. Scott Nos. OX9 $500 on cover.
Realized: $190
Lot
1822
Official Seal, 1898, brown, affixed over right edge to seal rough opening on incoming 1900 cover from Canada to West Carrollton Ark., bearing Canada 2¢ carmine tied by "Paris Ont MR 9 00" duplex, manuscript "Opened by Mistake by Rev. A. T. Tibbets" endorsement at left and additional "Advertised, April-1-1900" & "Unclaimed", sent to dead letter office with magenta "Dead Letter Office, Received in Bad Condition, May 8, 1900, Foreign Division" postmark, Fine and scarce, ex-Kotanchik. Scott Nos. OX10; $250 on cover Estimate $150 - 200.