San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-05-25
BIG PRICE FOR A STAMP.
St. Louis Firm Disposes of l0-Cent
Baltimore Provisional for $4,000.

iuo IdicSb pOetdSo etdhP III VIZ
world was yesterday sold by st,
Louis firm to a New York man
for 4,400, the largest price ever
paid by a philatelist. Before IL
became the king stamp Of the New
Workers. splendid collection it had
served to enrich a young man OF
Louisville, KY. to the extent of
$1,000. The stamp which is valued
so highly is called the "l0c Balti-
more PROVISIONAL" and is the only
one known to exist. Its rarity
places it in unique position in the
philatelic world. The "l0c Balti-
more PROVISIONAL" beside COM
manding the largest price ever
paid by collector, was placed on
the market at greater cost to the
dealer than any stamp hitherto re-
corded. The purchaser was w. A.
Castle, collector. He bought it
from the Mekeel stamp and pub
fishing company Of st, Louis,
Tie stamp, which was coveted
by hundreds Of wealthy men in all
countries, is an transformations
and innocent looking affair. No
body outside of a connoisseur in
such matters would hesitate a mo-
ment in consigning it to the
flames. In fact, a number of "l0c
st. Louis PROFESSIONALS" almost as
valuable as the "10c Baltimore
PROFESSIONALS" were on the point
of being burned up in Louisville,
KY, recently, when they met with
timely rescue by an observanr
fireman, who thought them Curl
Gus. Stamp collectors in Louis
vile thought them valuable, and
the janitors, of thebuilding where
they were found searched about
and discovered a barrel of rubbish,
containing number of provision
al stamps. The local collectors
gobbled them all up, and the jani-
tors, who sold out hastily, were
only aware of the very rich
find they had made when Mr.. /. A.
Mekeel appeared in Louisville
some time later and purchased
the entire find for $4,000. The
seemingly fabulous price for a lot
OF old rubbish that had been lying
in a garrett for years, and was con-
signed to the flames, created much
comment in Louisville, and 1t was
not long before everybody was
searching for old stamps, but par
ticularly for provisional stamps.
As the result Of that search a
young man named Duncan OF
Louisville. KY, discovered among
the family papers the "l0c Balti.
more provisional" stamp. He
communicated with Mr.. q. HI. Me-
keel, who dispatched his brother,
G. ID. Mekeel, to Louisville at once.
After a negotiation OF two weeks
young Mr.. Duncan disposed Of
his find for $1,000.
This is the stamp sold to Mr..
Castle, who values 1t at nothing
less than $4,000, II he would be
willing to part 1t with on any
terms.
The stamp is about II inches
long and One.half inch wide. It is
printed on white paper and bears
the name Of James M. Buchanan
across the face. Immediately un-
der the autograph of Buchanan
appears the figures denoting the
denomination.
The "l0c Baltimore provisional"
was issued by James M. Buch-
anan, postmaster of Baltimore,
during the years 1S45.47, when
provisional stamps were legalized
by the government. The pro-
visional stamps, valued so highly
by philatelists, were the first at
tempt at carrying mail by postage.
The United States government
during the years 1S45.47 did not
issue postage stamps. The post
masters at different cities issued
stamps upon their own RESPONSE
bility, each choosing a suitable
design. Postmaster Buchanan
chose his autograph, with the de-
nomination beneath.
In 1S47 the government stopped
the issue Of the provisional stamp
and substituted its own. The
brief life of the provisional stamp
left but few in existence. Since
the issue Of stamps by the govern.
ment in 1S47 they have dwindled
till existing provisional stamps OF
any one city's issue may be
counted on the fingers of the two
hands. n
There are number Of st. Louis
and New York provisional stamps
in existence. The find by the
Louisville janitors contained a
nnm her Of hnth Mr. Castle h 6