Lot no. 1974

Humboldt Express, 1863, 25c. blue, ample to large margins all around, affixed to legal-sized envelope from Star City to San Francisco, franked with pair of 1861 3c. Washington, cover struck with red PAID and choice strike of red oval “Langton's Pioneer Express / Star City”, reverse with yellow “LANGTON'S / PIONEER EXPRESS / FROM / Star City NT” label with city in manuscript, some small edge flaws, the Humboldt Express stamp not original to this cover, yet the stamp itself is quite scarce, this example being very fine and particularly attractive given its generous margins and fresh appearance, as is the cover with such a fine strike of the Pioneer Express oval, thus a nevertheless desirable piece of Western Express and Nevada postal history.

Note:

Samuel W. Langton established the Humboldt Express to connect the Humboldt mines of northern Nevada with the capital Carson City. As this was a difficult route, Langton added a 25c surcharge to the rate of $2 per letter; to facilitate pre-payment of this fee, the 25c. brown stamps were produced. Owing to the overwhelming similarities between the Humboldt Express stamp and the concurrent Pony Express stamps, it is thought that Langton's stamps were also printed by Britton & Rey in San Francisco.