Lot
78 
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal. /Aug. 6/2. Red drop rate cds on 1850 folded cover carried by an Argonaut to California & put in the mails at San Francisco, the letter is datelined, "Springfield May 11, 1850" and reads, A young fellow by the name of Davis who is going to start for Cal. on Monday offered to take a letter for me - and this Saturday goes to New York and takes passage on Monday in the "Georgia". Last Tuesday 3 Steamers arrived in New York from the Isthmus - The amount of Gold that came this time was about 2 and ½ million dollars., unable to find the addressee (a miner) in San Francisco, the letter was evidently turned over to an Express Company for delivery to the gold fields, the cover bears manuscript Express charge of ($) 1.25 reduced to 1.00, some edge splitting & small tear at bottom, Very Fine, an unusual early cover. Estimate $300 - 400.
Realized: $675
Lot
79
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal. Cds tying 1851 12¢ Black, Diagonal Bisect on cover to New York, cover edge wear, small cover mount stuck on top left corner, F.-V.F. Scott No. 17a Estimate $500 - 750.
Realized: $850
Lot
80
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal., Jul 16. Cds on cover to Philadelphia, Pa., with matching "Pd 12" rate handstamp, endorsed "per J.L. Stephens, Feby 16" at top, F.-V.F., a scarce rate marking. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $110
Lot
81
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal. scarce blue cds tying 1851 12¢ black (slightly cut in with hint of toning) on double rate cover to Ohio, manuscript endorsement "Per Golden Gate", flap torn, F.-V.F., a scarce 12¢ usage on cover, ex-Salzer. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $100
Lot
82
(San Francisco) Incoming Circular Rate Cover. 1851 1¢ blue, type II, single (cut in to very large margins at right and bottom) tied by "New-York, Apr 26" cds on unsealed circular rate cover to San Francisco, Post Office Box "1394" pencil notation for delivery, Very Fine, a rare example of a 1¢ circular rate across the continent. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $170
Lot
83
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal., Aug 5, 1857. Cds ties 1851 10¢ green (cut in, trivial adherence) on printed "San Francisco News Letter" with illustrated address panel showing Spread Eagle, Steamship & Train at bottom, News Letter is "Number 27" to be sent "Per Steamer Golden Age" departing August 5, 1857, and includes articles about the mails and Wells Fargo, also includes advertisements for Freeman and Wells Fargo (the News Letter was "sold by all Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Agents throughout the State of California"), hint of corner wear, Very Fine, one of the truly spectacular items from the West. Estimate $3,000 - 4,000.
Realized: $5,000
Lot
84
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal., Sep (21). Cds on printed San Francisco News Letter with illustrated address panel, franked with uncancelled 1851 1¢ blue added to replace the original franking, News Letter is "Number 29" to be sent "Per Steamer J. L. Stephens" departing September 21, 1857, and includes articles about the mails and Wells Fargo, also includes advertisements for Freeman and Wells Fargo (the News Letter was "sold by all Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Agents throughout the State of California"), some splitting at the folds with stamp hinge mends, Fine appearance. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $1,100
Lot
85
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal., May 1 1859. Clear cds ties 1857, 10¢ green, type III on cover to Mass., endorsed "By the Overland Mail", stamp has rich color, Very Fine and attractive. Scott No. 33 Estimate $150 - 200.
Realized: $90
Lot
86
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal, Feb 13, 1864. Double circle postmark with duplexed circled grid ties 1861 1¢ blue pair and single on folded letter to Overland Mail Company Agent Hiram S. Rumfield in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, excellent letter from the Bremen Consul in San Francisco reads "I am obliged to Messrs. Wells Fargo + Co. here for your address. Mr. William Gildemeister, German by birth, about 30 years of age, left New York about the middle of September apparently in order to travel across the country to this place, and has never been heard of since. At first I thought he had taken company with one of the many [wagon] trains coming over, but have ascertained since that they always start during the months of April, May and June and therefore [I] have come to the conclusion that Mr. Gildemeister must have taken the Overland Mail Route…. Mr. Gildemeister is of a highly respectable family, which is very anxious to hear from him, as I received a telegraphic dispatch this morning from New York in regard to him…. [I] would feel much obliged to you if you would make some inquiries about the said Mr. Gildemeister in order to find out… where he is and what has become of him.", Very Fine. Estimate $200 - 300.
At the time this letter was written, the Overland Mail Company was the stage company responsible for carrying passengers and mail on the western half of the Central Overland Route. The Holladay Overland Mail and Express Company, as subcontractor to the Overland Mail Company, was responsible for the eastern half of the route. Salt Lake City was the division point. The Overland Mail Company was controlled by Wells Fargo.
Realized: $375
Lot
87
(San Francisco) San Francisco, Cal, Apr 8, 1865. Double circle postmark and "10" handstamped rate marking on incoming Pacific Steam Navigation Company folded cover to Germany with "Steam, Panama" oval handstamp struck partly off and "Purser" straight line handstamp and erroneous "30" handstamped rate marking overstruck by target cancel, endorsed "pr Hamburg Steamer", treated in New York as ordinary unpaid Hamburg direct mail with an indistinct exchange cds showing a 3¢ debit for U.S. domestic postage, orange "9" and blue "4½" schillings due markings, Hamburg May 20 receiving postmark on the back, docket at upper left, Very Fine, likely not recognized in New York as a ship letter because the "Purser" handstamp was nonstandard and the erroneous "10" rate marking happened to correspond to the 10¢ rate for Hamburg direct mail. Estimate $200 - 300.
As with most non-contract ship letters received by the San Francisco Post Office in the period, this cover was incorrectly rated and improperly marked. It should have been rated 6¢ collect (double the 3¢ domestic postage rate) and marked as a "ship" letter. The San Francisco Post Office was instead rating ship letters 10¢ collect and using "Purser" and "Foreign" handstamps or no marking on most Pacific Steam Navigation Company letters with "Steam" handstamps, which were applied by the British company and also unclear as to meaning (non-contract "steamboat" and "steamship" were the same as non-contract "ship" but not the same as contract "steamship").
Realized: $450