Lot
3060 
1852, 3¢ dull red, type II, horizontal pair, lifted from its original position over 13¢ stamp, the left 3¢ is repaired with piece added at top, canceled by partial strike of San Francisco cds, used in combination with Hawaii, 1851, 13c Blue, "Hawaiian Postage" (3), type II, the righthand position in setting of two, huge margins except ample at left (between two positions), slight creasing and small tears typical of the fragile pelure paper that have been treated by a paper restorer, both stamps paying United States and Hawaiian composite postage of 5¢ Hawaiian, 2¢ ship captain's fee and 6¢ U.S. transcontinental rate on 1854 buff cover to Thomas Croswell & Son in Farmington Falls, Maine, original letter from George D. Gower datelined "Lahaina March 22d/54" no longer accompanies; minor cover edge staining removed and opening tear sealed at upper left, the Missionary is intact without any paper addition or painting-in of design as so often encountered, Very Fine appearance, ex-Hackmey, Gross, Middendorf; with 1999 P.F. and 2021 P.S.E. certificates. Scott No. 11A Estimate $50,000 - 75,000.
THE ONLY RECORDED MIXED FRANKING OF THE HAWAIIAN 13¢ "HAWAIIAN POSTAGE" MISSIONARY AND UNITED STATES STAMPS.
Cover #10 in the Gregory 13¢ "Hawaiian Postage" Issue (Scott 3) Cover Census of 11 covers. This is the only 13¢ "Hawaiian Postage" cover in the census used with United States stamps and one of only eight covers with complete stamps available to collectors. The earliest known use (No. 1) has most of the stamp torn away, and there are two covers (No. 2, No. 9) ensconced in the National Postal Museum.
This cover was carried by the brig "Prince de Joinville" from Honolulu Mar. 23rd 1854 to San Francisco arriving Apr. 10th. It was carried on steamship "John L. Stephens" from San Francisco Apr. 15th to Panama and probably by USMSS "Illinois" from Aspinwall Apr. 17th to New York arriving Apr. 25th.
The sender, George D. Gower, was born Aug. 31, 1826 at Farmington, Maine and later operated a lumber business in New Haven, Conn. While he lived in Lahaina during the 1850s, he regularly read Anglican services at his home on Sunday afternoon, frequented by whaler captains and others. He served as Customs Collector of Lahaina from 1851 to 1854.
The 13¢ "Hawaiian Postage" Missionary pays the correct composite rate (5¢ Hawaiian, 2¢ ship captain's fee and 6¢ U.S. transcontinental rate). During the Treaty Period, the short-lived paste-over practice at the Honolulu Post Office of affixing United States stamps (6¢ postage) over Hawaiian postage was probably done as a precaution against having United States postage charged to the recipients of letters from Hawaii. When United States postage stamps were used, no "Ship" or rate markings were applied at San Francisco to the paste-over covers, but 2¢ was charged to the account of the Honolulu post office for the ship fee paid with the Hawaii stamp. In his book, Fred Gregory records only one paste-over Missionary cover and eight with 1853 Kamehameha III Issue.
Realized: $90,000