I recently acquired an interesting piece of history at work. A 3 Cent encased postage stamp. Not something you see often. Actually my boss has been in business 45 years now and has owned 1 or 2. Imagine his surprise when we bought an estate stamp collection and there were FIVE pieces in the lot. I HAD to have one. To me it crosses paper money, stamps and exonumia. Paper money because it was the precursor of fractionals, stamps because it involves a stamp and exonumia due to the the store card aspect. As I mentioned these are seldom seen. It was certainly not in my budget but I had to act fast. Hopefully the first and last time I drop a few hundred bucks on a stamp as I am not a stamp collecor. Here's the item in question. http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x275/clembo1872/cointalk/forums/encasedo.jpg http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x275/clembo1872/cointalk/forums/encasedr.jpg Here's more information on ecased stamps. http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2036357 If anyone else has one or more I'd love to see them.
very nice pick up. I've only seen a few of these and this one is in much nicer condition than the ones I've seen. Is the mica really that clear? I can't see it in the pics. Richard
Stamp does not seem to have a grill so it appears to be Scott# 65. #65 stamp was issued in 1861-1862. These tend to be higher value if the stamp is rare, #65 is the least rare of that civil war bunch.
Ayers is one of the more common varieties, but it is still in nice condition and a great addition to your collection! Congrats!
I regret selling mine. If anyone knows of someone selling a common encased please PM me as I am interested.
The July 11th issue of Coin World has a blurb about these collectibles in their "Are You Aware?" feature. It says that legislation was passed on July 17, 1862 making postage stamps legal tender for government debts under $5. Hmmm...I wonder if that law is still on the books? I would love to send $5 worth of stamps in with my income tax return.
