A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Street Railways

The Union Street and Detroit and Wyadotte Street Railway cancels are somewhat mysterious.

What are they?  The two cent documentary battleship was primarily used for paying the two cent check tax, and examples can be found on railroad checks and drafts for settling charges between the railroads.  However, these Street Railway items are not so easily explained.  These two stamps, both without gum, appear to be the only examples ever found of street railway printed precancels, whether on or off document.  And street railways had no need to settle charges between themselves for car service or freight forwarding. as they provided local, primarily urban, passenger transport.  

While there are other rare, and currently one-off railroad precancels that are part of the 1898 documentary precancel oeuvre, including the Chicago, Fort Madison & Des Moines RR one cent stamp and the Tyler Southeastern Railway one cent stamp, both of these railroads were a part of larger railroad systems that made heavy use of precanceling.  In the case of the Detroit & Wyandotte, and the Union Street, there is no known association between the street railways and other companies that used precancels.  

The fundamental question is whether these cancels are legitimate.  These stamps found their way to my collection from Joyce's 1898 documentary precancel stockbook.  And they undoubtedly found their way into Fullerton's 1952 list through Mr. Joyce.  So Joyce preferred to think of them as legit.  But I think more is needed to believe that these cancels are more than a contrivance.   If you know of anything that could speak to the legitimacy of these stamps, please contact me at 1898revenues@gmail.com.

 

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: the Adams Express Company Mimeographed Cancels

Despite the fact that the big express companies likely used as many or more one cent battleship stamps as a function of their business as any company in the United States, railroads included, and they were the primary method of retail shipping in the country, only two companies, American Express and National Express, are known to have precanceled the one cent battleship.  

The express companies functioned as retail shipping agents for the railroads.  For while railroads provided retail service to passengers, they did not receive and forward retail packages.  That service was subbed out to the express companies, including the large and dominant companies like American Express, Wells Fargo, US Express, and Adams Express.  

Adams Express is known for many handstamp types on the one cent and other battleship values, but not for printed cancels.  The two cent stamp is another matter.  Yet for Adams Express these are rare and rather obscure.  Fullerton lists three dates for Adams Express mimeographed cancels: August 12 1899, October 25 1899, and November 19 1900.  Examples of the latter two are shown below.  I have never seen the August 12 cancels, which come in two types:  one using four lines of type and a second type that uses three.  Likely used on checks, I have yet to see a used example of one of these two cent stamps on document.

If anyone has examples of the August 12, 1899 cancels, please send scans to 1898revenues@gmail.com.

 

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: National Express Uses

The first item below is a simple used Type two 189_ roulette Nat. Ex Co. block of four with a manuscript cancel.  I'm including the block because NatEx multiples seem to be relatively scarce.

Like AMEX, the NatEx precanceled battleships were used almost exclusively on bills of lading and their duplicates.  Here are a couple of examples.  There are multiple examples of precancels used on a competitor's or other company's bill of lading.  Below is a NatEx type one on an Adams Express BOL.  

A standard NatEx bill of lading with a type two 189_ roulette cancel:

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: National Express Company Collectible Varieties

National Express produced only a few known varieties.  Only one major variety is known, the invert immediately below, though it was unlisted by Fullerton.  Fullerton listed a missing period after the Ex on the 1900 hyphen-hole.  I have not seen one, but have identified an unambiguously high period after the "Nat" on the type one.

Major Variety:

National Express Type two, 1900, invert.  Ex-Tolman, unlisted by Fullerton

Minor Variety:

National Express Type one, with high period after "Nat"; ex-Tolman, unlisted by Fullerton

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: the National Express Company's Collectible Types

National Express was effectively owned and controlled by American Express.  Frank Haigh Dixon in the July 1905 edition of The Atlantic Monthly wrote:

"The National Express Company is regarded as but an offshoot of the American, and an examination of the directorates of the two companies confirms the general impression.  President James C. Fargo of the American is a director of the National, while President Livingston and Vice-president Ledyard of the National are both directors of the American."

Dixon didn't get much deeper in spelling out the management connections between the two.  One simple demonstration of their connection is their precancels:  each National Express precancel has an American Express doppelganger.  The AMEX and NatEx type one and type twos are essentially the same, though the NatEx precancel has not yet been found with the 1901 year date.  

So as with the AMEX, there is a type one serifed cancel, and type twos that are smaller and non-serifed.

Nat. Ex. Type one 189_ precancel on one cent roulette.

Nat. Ex. Co. Type two 189_ precancel on one cent roulette.

Nat. Ex. Co. Type two 189_ precancel on one cent hyphen-hole.

Similar to the American Express 189_ hyphen-hole stamps, the National Express 189_ hyphen-hole stamps are the scarcest of all the National Express types.

 

Nat. Ex. Co. Type two 1900 precancel on one cent hyphen-hole.

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: the AMEX Type Two Henry Tolman Variety Typology

Very early in the publication of this blog, back in 2009, I ran a series of posts on the material below, which was in Henry Tolman's (ARA Member #25) 1898 precancel collection.  Rather than roll out these stamps one at a time like I did in 2009,  I'm simply posting all four pages of his subtypes of the type 2 AMEX precancels.  

The subtypes include everything from inking variations to alignment of the year date under "X" of the cancel.  There is a bit of fly-specking going on here, which I find much more interesting as long as I'm not the one identifying the idiosyncracies of these stamps.

Note that I've removed a couple of stamps from the pages to add to other portions of my collection.

The missing stamp at left in the middle is a Fullerton listed variety, "No period after "Ex".  I've posted that stamp in the varieties post.

The mising stamp above is the stamp with the "Wetherell's Express" handstamp, previously posted in the AMEX uses post.

 

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: American Express Printed Precancels with Precancel Handstamps

These cancels are somewhat unusual.  All the stamps below have the normal AMEX printed precancels.  But all of them also have handstamps intended to make the year date current.  It seems that one or more AMEX offices applied handstamp precancels, using a purplish magent ink to add a partial or full year date.  We don't know for sure, but I figure it likely that this process was applied across several AMEX offices while the "189_" year date was used in the printed cancel.  All the stamps below are of the "189_" variety save for the last stamp which has a printed cancel with a 1900, plus the 1900 handstamp.  

Richard Fullerton included most of these handstamps in his list of printed cancels; I'll indicate the non-Fullerton items below.  Fullerton was a precancel collector, was a member of the Precancel Stamp Society, and wrote an article on these revenue precancels for a special edition of Linn's Stamp News.  My guess is that Fullerton included these items in his list of printed cancels as the handstamps were also precancels, like the printed portion of the cancel.  Additionally, the most significant revenue collector of the era, and perhaps ever, Morton Dean Joyce, collected these handstamps.  They were well represented in his stockbook of the Fullerton listed items.

The stamp above is presented as an example that helps demonstrate that the handstamps were applied as precancels.  The stamp below is a Type 2 189_ hyphen-hole, which is a scarce stamp (the HH version of the 189_ cancel is somewhat rare).  But the stamp also has a 1900 handstamp immediately below the 189_ date, and the bottom of a 1900 handstamp at the top of the stamp that had been applied to the stamp above when the stamps were still part of an intact sheet or multiple.  

Below are nine collectible types of these handstamp cancels. Six were listed by Richard Fullerton.  The three unlisted items were in Joyce's collection of these items.  Several of these examples came from the Henry Tolman collection in the Siegel sale in 2007.
 

AMEX Type One, with 6mm high "8" handstamp.

Fullerton listed; ex-Tolman.

AMEX Type One, with 7mm high "8" handstamp.

Unlisted by Fullerton; ex-Joyce.

AMEX Type Two, roulette, 189_ date, with 10mm high "8" handstamp.

Fullerton listed; ex-Tolman.

AMEX Type Two, roulette, 189_ date, with 6.75mm high "8" handstamp.

Fullerton unlisted; ex-Joyce.

AMEX Type Two, roulette, 189_ date, wtih 10.5mm high "9" handstamp.

Fullerton listed, ex-Tolman.

AMEX Type Two, roulette, 189_ date, wtih 8mm high "9" handstamp.

Fullerton listed, ex-Tolman.

AMEX Type Two, hyphen-hole, 189_ date, wtih 6.25mm high "1900" handstamp.

Fullerton listed, ex-Joyce.

AMEX Type Two, hyphen-hole, 189_ date, wtih 4.0mm high "1900" handstamp.

Fullerton listed, ex-Tolman.

AMEX Type Two, hyphen-hole, 1900 date, wtih 4.0mm high "1900" handstamp.

Fullerton unlisted, ex-Tolman.

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: American Express Company Usage Examples

Most American Express precanceled stamps are found with manuscript or simple handstamp additions for the date.  Town locations are relatively scarce, but can be found.  American Express was clearly a prominent express company in the northeast and upper midwest based on the cancels and documents below.

American Express, Boston, Mass. handstamp 

American Express, Freeport, Maine handstamp

American Express, Racine, Wisconsin handstamp

Wetherell's Express handstamp; Wetherell's is something of a mystery as I've been unable to find anything online regarding this business.

Bill of lading register with examples of multiple cancels:

AMEX BOL register with Type two 189_ HH and 1900 HH printed precancels, and US Express manuscript and handstamp cancels.  Each duplicate of a bill of lading also required a tax stamp; railroad and express company registers can be found with dozens of canceled one cent battleship stamps with one stamp corresponding to a different shipment.  Research is needed to understand why USX and AMEX cancels would be included on one register.

International bill of lading with the required 10 cent tax.  The consignment was sent from Illinois to Bolton, England.

The two stamps below are not usage examples, but they are interesting unused AMEX printed precancel stock:

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: American Express Company Collectible Varieties

American Express printed so many precancels on the the one cent battleship stamp that there were bound to be multiple printing varieties; Fullerton noted several of what should be considered minor varieties that included differently shaped periods and missing periods.  In this post will be highlighted two major collectible varieties:  the invert and a double printing, followed by a few examples of what I consider minor varieties.

Type two 1900 invert, ex-Joyce:

Type two, 1901 double, unlisted by Fullerton, ex-Tolman:

Minor varieties:

Type one with skinny period after the "x", unlisted by Fullerton:

Type two, 189_ roulette, no period after the "X", listed by Fullerton:

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: American Express Company Collectible Types

American Express precancels are some of the most commonly found printed cancels on the 1898 documentaries.  For many revenue and nonrevenue collectors alike, the AMEX precancel is likely to be the one revenue printed cancel they have seen.  There are two main types of AMEX cancels, a serifed "Am. Ex." with an "189_" date, and a smaller nonserifed "Am. Ex." with three dates, including 189_, 1900, or 1901, producing a total five main collectible stamps with three of those very common and with two a bit more scarce.

The AMEX precancels are known only on the one cent battleship stamp.

This is the same American Express Company that exists today that is primarily known as a charge and credit card company.  In 1898, AMEX was actually engaged in the express business, which at the time consisted of retail package collection, forwarding and delivery, utilizing subcontracts with railroads to move the packages between cities and towns.  As such, the express companies consumed millions of one cent documentary stamps, as the law required a one cent tax stamp for each package bill of lading and its duplicates.

Type One:  Serifed Am. Ex. with 189_ year date on one cent roulette.  

Found only on the roulette battleship and quite common.

Type Two:  Nonserifed Am. Ex. with 189_ year date on one cent roulette.  This cancel is found on both the roulette and hyphen-hole battleships.  The roulette version is common.

Type Two:  Nonserifed Am. Ex. with 189_ year date on one cent hyphen-hole.  This cancel is found on both the roulette and hyphen-hole 189_ battleships.  The hyphen-hole version is relatively scarce.

Type Two:  Nonserifed Am. Ex. with 1900 year date on one cent hyphen-hole.  On this stamp the cancel is quite common.

Type Two:  Nonserifed Am. Ex. with 1901 year date on one cent hyphen-hole.  On this stamp the cancel is fairly common.

Type Three?  All of the printed cancels above were listed by Richard Fullerton in his 1952 catalog of these cancels.  No significant finds of other AMEX cancels like these have been found in the intervening years.  However, at least one example of a mimeographed cancel has been found:

This cancel was produced using the same process that made so many of my worksheets when I was in elementary school.  The example above is a scan of stamp I have in a folder on my computer.  I'm not sure where it came from; I think it might have been from a larger auction lot that I did not win.  Whatever the case, this stamp and cancel probably belong in a new list of 1898 documentary printed precancels.

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad Usage Example(s)

Saint Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad precanceled one cent battleship stamps, while not common, are reasonably available to the collector.  However, I have found that most of the examples I have ever seen have rather insignificant secondary cancels, usually manuscript or handstamp dates.  Occasionally a stamp turns up with some additional information in a handstamp, though I have yet to find an on-document use of this precancel.

Non-Burlington Route handstamp cancel:

St. L., K. & N. W. R. R. precancel with Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad aka "Big Four" handstamp from Alton, Illinois

The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad did not run in Illinois, though it did connect with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy that did run through Alton on its way from St. Louis to Chicago.  Somehow this stamp was canceled by the CCC&StL in Alton.

A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad Collectible Types

The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad ran roughly north-south along the western side of the Mississippi river between St. Louis and Keokuk, Missouri, and connected with several Burlington Route railroads including the Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Hannibal & St. Joseph.  

The railrod produced three types of precancels.  The first type, a non-serifed 24.5mm long cancel, is known on the both the roulette and hyphen-hole one cent battleship stamps.  The second type, using the same set of type as type one, is 22mm long, visibly shorter to the naked eye.  The shorter cancel is only known on the roulette one cent battleship, though it is possible that HH examples might be out there.  Lastly there is a third type, in art deco-ish letters, that has only been found on a single example of R155.  The type 3 was unknown to Fullerton.

Type one roulette:

Saint Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad type one precancel on one cent battleship roulette.

Type one hyphen-hole:

Saint Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad type one precancel on one cent battleship hyphen-hole.

Type two roulette:

Saint Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad type two precancel on one cent battleship roulette.

Type three R155:

Saint Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad type three precancel on R155.