| DWI Pre-1917 |  Top |
| Item # |
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US$ | ||
248445 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
DWI Harbor scene, horizontal-inset format. Highly detailed sepia-photo showing harborside buildings and more buildings ascending the hill in the background. No card publisher indicated. The message on the card is datelined "St. Thomas 23-3-1900". The presumption is that the picture is taken from the St. Thomas harbor viewpoint, but I have not been able to (yet) identify the foreground building and I suspect the picture may instead be of the Christiansted harbor. The diagonal-curving white line is an artifact of the photo printing; I believe it to be caused by a crack in the contact-print glass. The card was mailed within St. Thomas, and it is "franked" with a 5 cent Bicolor Perf 12.75 stamp (Scott #19, Average centering) -- which would have been a large overpayment of postage -- but I am of the opinion that the stamp does NOT belong to this card and was later added to fill in where a stamp had fallen off. The cancellation date is not clear. The stamp would be quite scarce properly used on an item of mail. For this reason, I have priced the card as a picture post card, NOT the stamp used on a card or cover. The card itself is most certainly a very early (the 1900 dateline is appropriate to the card) pre-1907 undivided-address side. This may (?) be the earliest DWI picture post card I have had in 50 years; DWI cards before 1904 are extremely scarce. Ignoring the stamp, this is still a very desirable early DWI picture post card. |
29.00 |
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248446 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott # 18a BISECT, Green-Blue Printing [4 Cent Perf 12.75 Bicolor] VF (upper left corner) solo use on 23 January 1903 (fourth day of bisect use) picture post card (lithographed photo of Blackbeard Castle / tower) from ST. THOMAS to the U.S. with BROOKLYN, NY, receiving machine postmark. Two cents was the correct foreign post card rate at the time. However, examples of the bisect used on cards to other countries are quite scarce (compared to use on locally mailed souvenir covers), especially with a receiving postmark such as this has. The card, being pre-1907, has an undivided back, and is without any publisher information, but has a standard European-type German / French address-side header. The subject matter of the card is not uncommon, but it is often misunderstood. This is the so-called Blackbeards castle / tower on St. Thomas. (That is not to be confused with the slightly shorter Bluebeards castle / tower located on St. Croix.) Per Wikipedia, it was erected in 1679 by the Danes as a watchtower to protect the harbor as well as Fort Christian. It was originally called Skytsborg (meaning protection castle). It is located at the highest point of Government Hill. Skytsborg served as a very effective vantage point for Danish soldiers to spot enemy ships. Fort Christian is at sea level, thus making it ideal for thwarting attackers with cannon fire; however, the fort itself did not provide an ideal view of incoming ships entering the harbor. Pirate Blackbeard was believed to have used this tower at some point. A typical bisect, in good condition and used locally on an envelope, can sell from $45 to $90 depending upon various factors. However, nicely used on post card, the bisect is much, much scarcer. While I do not have a complete record of all bisect covers/cards I have sold in the last 50 years, I do not have a specific record of having had any bisects on card to other countries (though I am sure I must have had one or two). This is the only bisect on post card example I have been able to offer on the website from 2006 when I added this section to the website and now (2024). An very nice item! |
165.00 |
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240575 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
29 [1903 2 cent Coat of Arms] (VF) solo use on 31 March 1904 picture post card (lithographed photo of Black Beard Castle / tower) from ST. THOMAS to the U.S. with LANCASTER, PA., receiving machine postmark. The card has a small crease and a sealed tear near (but not affecting!) the stamp. The card, being pre-1907, has an undivided back, and is without any publisher information. This stamp is scarce on cover/card; 2018 Facit value is SEK 1800 (11/2018 $230)! Very attractive! |
120.00 |
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239216 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
32 [1905 10 bit Christian IX] (F-VF) on 18 September 1907 picture post card from FREDERIKSTED, via ST. THOMAS, to the U.S. The card pictures the "Public Wharf", with Customs House (the main official building) in Christiansted (some wear on picture side; Lightbourn "St. Croix Series, No. 32."). |
45.00 |
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238010 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
"Statue of King Christian IX unveiled August 1909 / Emancipation Garden, St. Thomas, D.W.I." vertical format. Mint VF picture post card. Publisher imprint: Lightbourns West India Series. |
12.00 |
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237883 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
43 [1907 5 bit Frederik VIII] (Fine) on 4 August 1911 picture post card used within CHRISTIANSTED. Nice (hand?) colored card of :"Blue Beards Castle", with publisher imprint "Edwd. Fraas copyright. Series No. 23". |
35.00 |
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248447 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Transition Period cover: U.S. 1 cent Washington (VF) on THIRD DAY OF AVAILABILITY OF U.S. STAMPS in DWI. Picture post card with dateline of "5 - 4 - 17" (5 April 1917) and message of Easter wishes. The stamp is canceled, very faintly, at ST. THOMAS with "4 ...." still using the DWI style postmark device. It is likely that the new St. Thomas postmaster reversed the day / month numerals in the postmark device since U.S. postmarks use month / day, thus the first numeral would be a 4. The card was sent to CHRISTIANSTED and there was struck with a very clear "7 / 4 / 1917" DWI-style receiving postmark (I think the Danish postmaster was still on duty in Christiansted in these very early days of the transition. The U.S. style postmark devices did not come into use for at least a couple of weeks, thus there was a very short period of time when the U.S. stamps had to e canceled by DWI-style postmarks. The first day of use of U.S. stamps was 2 April. Most of the transition-era covers that are seen have a "sexier" combination of U.S. and DWI stamps -- actual "ordinary" uses such as this with only the new U.S. stamps are remarkably scarce in the very early days of the transition. The picture post card is a REAL PHOTO view of St. Thomas with a lot of detail. In the lower right there a couple of workers putting a roof on a building. There is no card publisher information. This particular card may or may not be scarce, but I have not previously encountered it. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in 50 years that I have been able to offer such an "ordinary mail" non-philatelic item, and so early, from the transition period. |
SOLD |