The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V14 2011 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 14, Number 19, May 8, 2011, Article 11

NATIONAL POSTAL MUSEUM ACQUIRED CONFEDERATE STAMP PRINTING PLATE

It's not numismatic, but close enough for The E-Sylum: The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum has acquired a Confederate postage-stamp printing plate. What a great artifact! Here's an article from Art Daily. -Editor

Confederate Stamp printing plate

The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum has acquired from The Franklin Institute a Confederate postage-stamp printing plate that was confiscated during the Civil War. The printing plate contains 400 5-cent Jefferson Davis stamp images etched in copper and weighs nearly 100 pounds. The copper plate was ordered by the Confederate States of America and manufactured by De La Rue & Co. of London in 1861. The federal vessel Mercedita captured the British ship Bermuda between Bermuda and Nassau April 27, 1862, and as part of the contraband, the printing plate was brought to Philadelphia and sold. It was never used to print stamps by the Confederacy.

The Confederate printing plate was acquired by The Franklin Institute in 1954, when it was actively building a philatelic collection. Subsequently, the institute has deacessioned and disposed of most of its postal-related objects, finding that philately is no longer consistent with its educational mission.

"This spectacular acquisition will be a centerpiece in the display case of the three-dimensional objects from the National Philatelic Collection to be featured in the new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery,"said Cheryl R. Ganz, chief curator of philately. "The 5-cent plate provides a wonderful connection to the first philatelic object ever collected by the Smithsonian Institution-a pane of the Confederate States of America's 10-cent blue Jefferson Davis stamp."

"It is appropriate that the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum was able to acquire the historic captured Confederate printing plate at the beginning of the commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial," said Trish Kaufmann, president of the Confederate Stamp Alliance. "Its significance to American postal history cannot be overstated."

To read the complete article, see: National Postal Museum Acquires Rare Confederate Printing Plate from the Franklin Institute (www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=47161)

KOLBE & FANNING JUNE 2, 2011 SALE HIGHLIGHTS

Rare and Unusual Publications on American Numismatics Including

Eckfeldt & Du Bois's delightful 1850 work featuring actual samples
of California Gold Rush nuggets;
the famous 1929 Elder sale catalogue of the Lawrence Collection,
including a full set of 22 original photographs depicting Lawrence's pioneer gold,
ancient coins, English and European rarities, and American colonial coins

Catalogue Available at Our Web Site: www.numislit.com
Printed Catalogues $10.00

KOLBE & FANNING NUMISMATIC BOOKSELLERS
141 W JOHNSTOWN ROAD, GAHANNA OH 43230-2700
(614) 414-0855 • df@numislit.com GFK@numislit.com


Wayne Homren, Editor

Google
 
NBS (coinbooks.org) Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V14 2011 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

Copyright © 1998 - 2020 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
All Rights Reserved.

NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster
coin