LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Civil War Auction #674  / 

72336

CONFEDERATE SOUVENIR OF A PENNSYLVANIA

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 500.00 USD
CONFEDERATE SOUVENIR OF A PENNSYLVANIA
<B>GREAT Confederate postage stamp from the body of a DEAD REB! </B></I><B><I>Taken as a souvenir by a Pennsylvania Bucktail soldier!</B></I></B></I><BR><BR> - Truly unique and one-of-a-kind Civil War relic, souvenired as a prize by Corporal Colby C. Tupper of Co. G of the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry “Bucktails,” and accompanied by superb provenance and documentation in the form of an original note penned in old browned ink on the back of a period piece of lined stationery, upon which said prize has been glued, i.e., a blue 10-cent canceled Confederate States postage stamp bearing the portrait of President Jefferson Davis (see close-up) and having a most extraordinary history.<BR><BR>Note reads as follows: “This stamp was taken off a letter taken from a dead Rebel’s pocket by C. C. Tupper. The letter was from the soldier’s sweetheart.” Also inscribed along the top in the same hand is the additional descriptor “Confederate." Note itself measures 3.75 inches by 5.75 inches in actual size and long ago was matted and framed, an adhesive substance having been expertly applied along a one-quarter-inch perimeter of the paper to keep it properly aligned against the rear of the mat (perfectly reversible if so desired). Overall condition is very good to excellent, save for one very small tear at the lower right hand corner, as visible in scan.<BR><BR>Although Colby C. Tupper’s surname is incorrectly entered in both the Pennsylvania rosters and the Civil War online database as “Tripper,” the accuracy of the spelling as presented here is absolutely and conclusively substantiated by his name as it appears on his National Archives pension file and the Pennsylvania soldiers’ monument at Gettysburg (see photos), where he was wounded on July 1st of 1863 and where, in fact, he could have very well found and retrieved this piece. One of the most unusual aspects of this exceptional relic is that the small CS stamp apparently held a greater fascination to Corporal Tupper than the letter itself, which perhaps due to its personal nature, may have been discarded at the time purely out of respect to his fallen enemy. In any event, a marvelous Civil War artifact. <BR><BR><B>Condition:</B></I> Fine-very fine.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Framed - with Glass, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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