Lot 211 United States, A Very Good Used Cover, Shortpaid Special Delivery Cover, Almost Mistakenly Treated As Regular Mail By The PO Clerk

A very good used cover of the from the, shortpaid special delivery cover, almost mistakenly treated as regular mail by the po clerk.

A roughly opened and slightly soiled cover, sent special delivery from Chelsea, Mass to Saint John, NB and franked with a #554 and an E12 to pay the postage card special delivery fee. But the postal clerk who initially handled this disregared the E12 and stamped it 'not in special delivery mail'. Realizing their mistake, the crossed out 'not in'. The letter then crossed the border, upon crossing the border the Canadian Authorities charged a 10c penalty fee to bring the special delivery charges up to the 20c required for Candaa, or more likely the foreign special delivery fee was 15c and not 10c, andso in Canada double the deficiency is 10c. The fee as accounted for by affixing a strip of 5 thin paper 2c first postage due issue stamps (3 are damaged). If this cover was in VF condition it would be worth about $150-$250.

Scott values this at $150-$250, so we estimate it at $25. The cover offered here grade between 60 and as follows:

Centering/Margins: 20/60

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10

Cancellation: 10/10