Lot 2126
Cartel Ship, "Fair American", 1814 Stampless Folded Letter from Liverpool to New York
Very Scarce Cartel Ship Usage
起拍价: $360
Estimate: $700 - $800
Illustrated in Walske's North American Blockade Run Mail, 1775-1865 Exhibit
Stampless folded letter datelined at Liverpool on April 4, 1814, carried aboard the cartel ship Fair American, which sailed April 8 while transporting dispatches for the U.S. Secretary of State. The contents note that the “cartel now about to sail.” The letter arrived at New York on May 13, passing through the wartime blockade, and bears a manuscript “6” cents for in-port ship fee.
Period accounts of Fair American’s January 1814 sailing from New York record the presence of eleven unauthorized stowaways, later removed by a revenue cutter, with reports that letters and documents were destroyed during the incident (Niles’ Weekly Register, January 29, 1814, p. 364).
来源
Ex Walske, Arnell
拍卖会信息
The Philatelic Icons Sale 2026 | June 26-28
Sale 28: U.S. & Worldwide Stampless Postal History, and 18th Century American Historical Documents — Friday, June 26, 2026 | 3pm EST, 12pm PST
We are honored to present The Philatelic Icons Sale, the largest and most significant auction Americana Stamps has ever offered.
America's history lives in the letters that crossed goldfields and battle lines, in express covers that linked frontier towns to the outside world, and in the stamps that mark how a young country built its postal system from scratch. This sale brings together more than 1,500 lots that trace that story, including philatelic icons seldom offered to the public.
This auction is a natural fit for 2026, the 250th year of the United States, and for the Boston 2026 World Expo (May 23 to 30, Booth 141), the once-per-decade international exhibition where we are proud to open the sale. More than 750 lots are accompanied by Philatelic Foundation certifications, the largest concentration of certified material we have ever offered in a single sale.
As always, the sale is designed to serve both the collector and the researcher. Whenever available, you can expect:
✔ High-resolution imagery of all aspects of the item
✔ Links to reference articles and supporting research
✔ Links to philatelic certifications
✔ Census data and population insights
✔ Provenance details to trace notable histories
Whether you are pursuing a long-sought rarity or simply enjoy the chance to study material of this caliber, we invite you to explore the Philatelic Icons Sale and join us in Boston for our largest in-person preview to date.