Lot
1107 
Postal Card, 1920, 1¢ on 2¢ red on cream, India Ink Essay, drawn in India ink on 2¢ red on cream (UX29) postal card, reputedly by Clair A. Houston of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a proposed surcharge consisting of "1 CENT" in a single line, Extremely Fine. Scott No. UX31E. USPCC No. S43E-A $3,000.
THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS HAND-DRAWN INDIA INK ESSAY OF THE 1920 SURCHARGE.
Following the termination of World War I, the l¢ postal card rate was restored effective July 1, 1919, and S37 was again placed in use. This resumption of the former rate resulted in a large surplus of 2¢ domestic postal cards (S41 and S42), variously estimated to number from 100 million to 160 million. Most of these were in Post Offices or distribution points scattered around the country, although a large number had been purchased by commercial users and were printed but still unmailed. These users wanted and were entitled to an adjustment on their cards. The Post Office Department adopted a surcharging method consisting of dies that fitted the canceling machines, thus permitting the work to be done in hundreds of different Post Offices. Even this method presented complications, since some canceling machines were Universals, while others were International Flyers. The essay here shows the first proposed surcharging die for use in a canceling machine, from which a sample canceling machine die was made by Universal and sent to Washington, D. C. It was tried out on a small number of cards producing UX31, which was rejected in favor of a design having the figure "1" above the word "CENT".
Realized: $1,900