Auction # 59 - Robert J. Karrer Collection of Charleston SC

Confederacy, Charleston S.C. Nov 26 186. Cds with matching "Paid 2" circled rating handstamp (C.S.A. type C) on locally addressed 1864 buff cover to William Middleton Esq., manuscript charge box notation at top, original 1864 enclosure; some edge wear and tone spot, F.-V.F., a rare late use of this handstamp.
Estimate; $300 - 400.

Handstamps continued to be used, usually under two circumstances: stamp shortages, or more often for those who had set up accounts with the post office though an arrangement whereby properly endorsed mail could be charged against a deposit. In Charleston, a major industrial city, such accounts were common.