Kelsey Press Company Cover
Special delivery rates ranging from 10¢ up to 35¢ were in effect during at least part of the 14¢ American Indian stamp’s period of use, and the stamp was no doubt used to help pay postage on many parcels and packages mailed during that time. Examples used to pay postage and the special delivery fee for a standard envelope are exceptionally scarce, and such usages from after the 1932 postage rate increase have the American Indian overpaying the then-current rate by 1¢.
Prior to that date, the 14¢ American Indian could exactly pay a special delivery rate: 4¢ for two ounces at 2¢ per ounce plus 10¢ for special delivery. That appears to be the rate evidenced by the cover illustrated here.
The envelope mailed from New York, New York, to the Kelsey Press Company of Meriden, Connecticut, bears a single copy of the 14¢ stamp, which is tied to cover by a May 23, 1927, machine cancellation from Madison Square Station in New York. In addition to several blobs of sealing wax, the reverse has a Meriden received marking dated May 24.
The least expensive fee for registered mail during the first two years of the American Indian stamp’s existence was also 10¢, meaning a two-ounce letter sent by registered mail would have cost the same amount as a two-ounce letter sent special delivery. Surviving examples of registered covers bearing a single 14¢ stamp paying postage appear to be more common than special delivery covers bearing a single copy of the same stamp, but it is unclear whether more envelopes were sent via registered mail or whether they were just more likely to be saved.
References
- Beecher, Henry W., and Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz. U.S. Domestic Postal Rates, 1872–2011. 3rd ed. Bellefonte, Pennsylvania: American Philatelic Society, 2011.
Published 2025-01-30