Dr. Charles J. DiComo, President of the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County and the Empire State Postal History Society, shares a story on “The Providence, R.I. Pre-Mailing Control Marking on the U.S. 3 Cent 1851-1857 Stamp. The re-discovery nearly 20+ years ago of a number of covers and postage stamps led to a reexamination of what had previously been termed
a “silent precancel” on the U.S. 3¢ stamp, 1851-57 Issue.
The stamps have either a single horizontal and/or vertical ruled line (or both) in black pencil and/or red pencil (or both) spanning the stamp from edge-to-edge. An examination of over 700 Providence covers (and many more thousands of stamps) from 1851 through 1860 and the discovery of thirteen year-dated covers confirmed the period of use as ~April/May 1855 to October/November 1857. These control-marked 3¢ stamps were post-cancelled with the Providence, Rhode Island circular date stamp (CDS) and accepted for postage at the Providence Post Office (PO).
Brown University appears to be a main “account” holder, with other prominent businesses and families partaking, e.g.: Corliss Steam Engine Co.; H.F. Walling (Map) Publishers; Comstock Shippers and Merchants.
This original research by Dr. DiComo and remarkable story of ingenuity at the Providence, RI Post Office and Postmaster Welcome B. Sayles can now be shared.
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