Lot
982 
Magic Letter Express, 1865, 5¢ black on brown. Ample to large margins, manuscript "Richmond July 29" postmark, tied by bold "Richmond, Va., Jul 30" cds on cover addressed to "Mr. Ro. King, near Gordonsville Va."; a 1861, 3¢ rose (65) that was affixed over local and tied by the Richmond duplex postmark, is now missing, otherwise Very Fine, the long lost on cover discovery example of the 5¢ Magic Letter Express, one of three recorded examples of this short-lived issue with this being one of only two on cover examples known. Scott No. 101L3 Estimate $3,000 - 4,000.
This Civil War reconstruction era issue was used for approximately two months shortly after the end of the Civil War. It was discovered by a G.M. Bastable and written up in the June 1887 edition of The Quaker City Philatelist (see inset, not included in lot) under the heading "Confederate Locals". it was reported to be found among a large correspondence from Richmond, Va. dating from 1840 to the 1870's.
Realized: $21,000