Where to Start?
“Civil War postal history is fascinating — but where do I begin?”
“Isn’t it expensive?”
“Hasn’t everything about the Civil War already been ‘done’ before?”
The excuses are endless for not plunging into this fertile field— but the potential rewards are many.
The first thing to determine is whether you want to collect stamps or covers or both. Both, or either, can be collected affordably.
My collecting interest began with Confederate covers. Eventually, I found it necessary to carefully study the stamps as well, in order to properly understand the myriad uses and movement of the mails. I’ve come to enjoy both types of Civil War collecting for different reasons.
Confederate stamps and covers have a reputation for being expensive, and certainly can be. Collectors see high auction prices then shy away, assuming they can’t afford to collect, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sales of rare material create headlines because they often set record prices. But that doesn’t mean your collection has to be expensive. We all love to look at exhibits filled with rare philatelic treasures. That does not mean we must own them all to build fine collections of our own.
“How much can I expect to pay?” My answer is usually, “As much as you want,” or “whatever amount makes you comfortable.”
Figure 1. There are a limited number of Confederate general issues, but many collectable varieties to seek, such as this White Tie flaw on an 1862 5¢ Richmond print, listed as 7-L-v1 in the 2012 Confederate States of America Catalog and Handbook.
There are opportunities for research, study, writing, and exhibiting in both stamps and covers, North and South. These range from y-speck philately to intriguing postal history. Figure 1 is a case in point, the striking, so-called White Tie flaw on the Confederate 5¢ blue Jefferson Davis Richmond print on local paper (CSA Catalog 7-L-v1, Scott 7 variety).
You can build a collection around just United States Civil War issues or just those of the Confederate States. Even better, you can build a collection that showcases the era for what it was—a country and a postal system divided.
On both sides of the conflict, it is a story of the plight of ordinary people as they communicated by mail. Most families had relatives on both sides and many businesses had customers on the far side of the new borders that came into being. Imagine trying to communicate once the U.S. Post Office Department no longer made deliveries in the South.
Civil War postal history is a story of struggle and resilience. The philatelic story begins with the secession of individual states, the formation of the Confederate States of America and a Post Office Department.
Confederate States Post Office Department
The Confederate States Post Office Department (CSPOD) had to reorganize to serve the newly created polity of the south. However, it evolved directly from laws, regulations, practices and procedures, bookkeeping and accounting systems and official forms used by the United States Post Office Department (USPOD) prior to the creation of the Confederacy. Many local postmasters, if they supported the Southern cause, were reappointed as postmasters to the CSPOD, and their knowhow and experience were among the greatest tools they brought with them.
Figure 2. This U.S. 30¢ orange Franklin, Scott 38, has a New Orleans, Louisiana, 3 February 1861, circular datestamp, used during the state’s nine-day period as an Independent State.
Under the Confederate Constitution, the United States Postal Laws and Regulations in effect in November 1859 (1859 US-PL&R) applied to Confederate mail, unless they conflicted with Confederate law. By default, this made the postal rates of the Confederate States initially the same as those of the United States.
The first area of collectible postal history is Independent State Use, covering the period from the time a state seceded from the Union until it joined the Confederacy. The process began with South Carolina’s secession on December 20, 1860, and proceeded step-by-step through February 8, when the assembly of delegates from the six seceded states approved a provisional constitution. Figure 2 is a U.S. 30-cent orange Franklin (Scott 38) with a New Orleans, La., 3 Feb [1861] circular datestamp, used during Louisiana’s nine days as an independent state.
Until June 1, 1861, the USPOD provided service in the seceded states and, thereafter, the Confederate States when they joined the CSA. In doing so, U.S. Postmaster General (PMG) Montgomery Blair imposed a specific condition on approximately 1,200 postmasters in the seceded states. The Confederate postmasters were required to agree, in writing, to be personally responsible for all U.S. stamps and stamped envelopes shipped to them.
Figure 3. A first day cover of the Confederate postal system; it is not the U.S. 3¢ stamp that carried this Troy, Alabama, cover to Summerville, Georgia, but the “⑤” and “PAID” handstamped markings (representing the Confederate 5¢ letter rate) that showed payment of postage.
Figure 3 is a first day cover of the independent Confederate postal system. A U.S. 3¢ dull red 1857 issue is tied by a Troy, Alabama, June 1 [1861] circular datestamp on a cover to Summerville, Georgia. However, it was not the stamp, but the “5 PAID” handstamped marking representing the new Confederate rate, that paid the postage.
During this interim period, CSA Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan instructed all newly sworn-in Confederate postmasters to cooperate with the enemy government and remit all monies for U.S. stamps to the USPOD in Washington. Can you imagine such cooperation today?
The period from the time a state seceded until June 1, 1861, is appropriately collectable as both United States and Confederate States postal history. This historical interlude is the turbulent embodiment of a country and postal system divided.
Confederate Postmasters’ Provisionals
Mail still arrived in Southern states franked with U.S. postage even after the first shots were red at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and hostilities began in earnest. Consequently, some Southern postmasters were reluctant to order new U.S. stamps. Some prepared their own local adhesive stamps, or handstamped or printed their own envelopes, which we refer to as postmasters’ provisionals. Such provisionals are some of the most coveted and costly of Confederate collectibles.
Figure 4. The first wartime Confederate postmaster provisional, the rare 3¢ Madison C.H., Florida, printed in gold on bluish paper, Scott 3AX1, with manuscript [“P]aid in [Money”] cancel.
Figure 4 shows a used example of the first recorded provisional of this period, the rare — and, yes, valuable — 3¢ Madison, Florida, gold on bluish paper, Scott 3AX1, which caused a national scandal 158 years ago. Early in 1861, New York Herald Editor-Publisher James Gordon Bennett proclaimed: “The Post Master at Madison Fla has offered P Office Stamps contrary to Law.”
In the National Archives, I found the original letter that Madison postmaster Samuel J. Perry wrote to PMG Blair on March 8, 1861, refuting these charges. A search of the Blair letter-book revealed that he was answered in March 1861, but a copy of the letter was not in the records. As a result of the original Herald article, a postal inspector was sent from Washington to Florida to interview Perry, who apparently explained himself to the inspector’s satisfaction. Nonetheless, Perry was severely lectured by the third assistant postmaster general.
Rare provisionals can generate great interest but also can be a major drain on your bank account. What can you do if your resources are limited?
Figure 5. A used bottom-margin imprint pair of the typographed 1861 5¢ red brown on bluish paper New Orleans, Louisiana, postmaster provisional, Scott 62X4.
If you are intrigued by this area but do not have deep pockets, there are provisionals that are plentiful and full of collecting potential. Among these are J.L. Riddell’s 1861 provisional issues of New Orleans: a dozen stamps, errors and varieties (Scott 62X1-7) and a few handstamped envelopes (62XU1-3) with uncounted uses. An important part of the late Dr. Hubert Skinner’s philatelic reputation came from the thoughtful study and collection of these New Orleans provisionals. His 57-page history and plating, published in the 1978 edition of the Congress Book, is one that most serious Confederate collectors have in their libraries. Figure 5 shows a used 5¢ New Orleans, Louisiana, postmaster provisional imprint pair (Scott 62X4).
Before the Confederate General Issues
When U.S. mail service in the South was terminated on June 1, 1861, and the CSPOD took over its own affairs, no Confederate adhesive stamps were yet available. Meanwhile, even more Southern postmasters created their own local stamps, either adhesive or handstamped. Others reverted to the U.S. mid-century practice of simply handstamping or writing town names, dates and rates on outgoing envelopes or folded letters. This procedure had been mostly obsolete since 1847, when the first U.S. stamp was issued. These Confederate stampless covers are a large and comparatively inexpensive collecting area. Examples start at under $100, though prices rise with rare towns and fancier markings.
Town collections — depending on the town — can be reasonably priced, especially if you pick a large city such as Richmond. As the seat of political power, an industrial center and a transportation hub, Richmond produced a prodigious quantity of mail. It was the terminus of five railroads, as well as a seaport with access to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.
Soldiers passed through the city daily in great numbers. Multiple prisons and hospitals dotted the landscape, producing interesting categories of mail that often have stories to tell. One of these, the Libby Prison Escape in February 1864, in which 106 Union officers escaped a “hellhole” through a rat-infested tunnel, was one of the most successful prison breaks of the Civil War.
Richmond covers provide wonderful opportunities for fascinating postal history selections. Because of the wide variety of mail generated in Richmond, it has been well studied by students such as Peter W.W. Powell, who wrote a book typing the many datestamps. Collectors often assemble Richmond markings by Powell types. His book is still readily available.
But you need not collect well-known cities. You can collect small villages and towns just as successfully and create your own study. I know one collector who collects only towns that no longer exist — a ghost-town collection.
For successful collecting, the trick is to pick a category that is not so limiting than you can only find a few covers for it. That won’t make much of a collection. Because of that, some collectors pursue postmarks from a specific state, region or county instead of a town. Or they collect covers that have interesting enclosures, although it can be a considerable challenge to find both letter and cover together.
Another affordable area is Confederate Army field cancels on soldiers’ covers. In an effort to obscure troop movements, these covers do not bear town markings. Temporary camp post offices were run by postmasters who traveled with the Confederate armies to provide postal services to the troops in the field. Confederate Army field post offices often used special postal markings on the mail they handled. They can be collected by types from the CSA catalog.
Soldiers’ covers are often exciting in other ways. They are popular because one can often track correspondents through online archival sources. Some collect by army units, by commanders, by campaigns or war dates, and so forth. Soldiers’ covers almost always have a story to tell.
Unlike today, ordinary envelopes rarely had return addresses, but soldiers’ mail could be sent postage due. To send a letter postage due, the soldier’s name, rank and unit were to be endorsed on the covers. This was not postal service for free; the recipient gratefully paid the postage for mail that was almost always sent by a loved one.
Such covers are often a historical treasure hunt. Is that difficult-to-decipher scribble from a general officer who served at Gettysburg? Or did he die on the Mississippi river boat Sultana along with 1,800 other unfortunate souls on their way home from Andersonville Prison, after having endured the horrors of captivity? It is up to you to ferret out the story. It’s enlightening, it’s engrossing, and it can be a real adventure. Finally, properly identifying your patient may turn a $50 purchase into something worth four figures or more. Now, that’s exciting!
Figure 6. This Confederate cover from Capt. E.P. Alexander gains interest when you identify the sender, Edward Porter Alexander. Third in his class at West Point when he graduated in 1857, he served in the U.S. Army until 1861, resigned when he learned that his state had seceded, and later became a Confederate brigadier general.
Take the cover shown in Figure 6. This Confederate due cover from Capt. E.P. Alexander to his wife is more valuable if you know your history and correctly identify the sender. He is Edward Porter Alexander, who served in the U.S. Army from his graduation with honors from West Point in 1857 to 1861, but resigned to change sides when he learned that his native Georgia had seceded, later becoming a Confederate brigadier general. He was the officer in charge of the massive artillery bombardment preceding Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg.
Confederate General Issues
Less than a month after his appointment, PMG Reagan advertised in Southern and Northern newspapers asking for sealed proposals from printing firms to produce postage stamps. The CSPOD received bids from companies in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Newark, as well as New Orleans and Richmond. After the war commenced at Fort Sumter, it was evident the contract should go to a Southern firm. The Department settled on the modest Richmond lithographers, Hoyer & Ludwig.
Figure 7 shows the lithographed 5¢ green Jefferson Davis, the first Confederate general issue stamp from Stone 1. It was printed and sold in Richmond on October 16, 1861, five months after postal service between North and South was suspended. Meanwhile, postmasters throughout the seceded states were directed to use temporary substitutes.
Among stamp-issuing governments in the mid-1860s, only the Confederacy issued stamps using all three different printing methods available at that time—lithography, typography and gravure (the latter also referred to as intaglio or engraved). This alone offers a wide selection of potential collecting topics such as printing varieties, color shades, color and fancy cancels, essays and proofs, auxiliary markings and both officially and privately perforated stamps.
Figure 7. Five months after postal service between North and South ended, this 5¢ Jefferson Davis − the first Confederate general issue − was printed and sold on October 16, 1861.
Figure 8. This 1863 10¢ milky blue Jefferson Davis (Scott 11a) catalogs $18 unused, or $17 in the deep blue 1864 printing by Keatinge & Ball. The stamp also comes in four additional shades and perforated 12½, with many different cancels and uses as well.
A wide range of material is available representing North and South, including essays, and the most common general issue stamps of the Confederacy retail for $10 to $20. Varieties and shades understandably cost more but are still quite affordable, and with proper study and display, they can become something special. Figure 8 shows an unused imperforate 1863 Archer & Daly Richmond 10¢ milky blue Jefferson Davis (Scott 11a), cataloging $18 unused, or $17 in the deep blue 1864 printing by Keatinge & Ball. The stamp also comes in blue (11), dark blue (11b), greenish blue (11c) and green (11d) and officially perforated 12 1/2 by Archer & Daly (11e, including on covers, pairs, pairs on cover and blocks of four).
Scott also lists and prices this stamp on nine types of covers, in pairs and strips of four on covers, in blocks of four and margin blocks of 12 with inscriptions and plate numbers of the two printers. Copies also can be found with double transfers, unofficially rouletted and on cover thus, and with any of 15 cancellations in as many as six different colors. And bear in mind that it is just one of four Confederate stamps with a variant of this design (Scott 9-12).
The U.S. 2¢ Black Jack (Scott 73) is a popular stamp and has been the basis of more than one important collection, as well as many articles and even books. Collectors of Confederates are equally interested in this issue, although it is scarce on Across-the-Lines mail. The earliest dated use of an on-cover Black Jack is July 1, 1863, and July 6, 1863, on cover.
Figure 9. Andrew Jackson on 2¢ stamps issued in 1863 by the USPOD (the “Black Jack,” Scott 73) and the CSPOD (in pale red [First Printing], Scott 8a).
The Black Jack bears a portrait of the seventh U.S. President, Andrew Jackson. When the South got news of the North issuing a stamp depicting one of their heroes, the Confederacy used the very same portrait for 2¢ pale red and brown red stamps (Scott 8-8a) issued in the spring of that year. Their earliest recorded use is April 21, 1863 — more than two months earlier than the U.S. Black Jack. The Northern and Southern stamps appear side by side in Figure 9.
Collecting various printer imprints and types — mid-19th-century counterparts of later plate blocks — can make an interesting display as well, whether it is your main goal or part of a more encompassing study. Most catalog in the $400 to $500 range, but depending on condition and the rarity of the imprint, may be acquired for less.
If you want to put Confederate imprints together with similar blocks of the U.S. issues of the period, it can become very pricey, as they are far rarer than the plentiful Confederate examples. The same is true of scarcer single U.S. stamps of the era. While the basic U.S. 3¢ rose catalogs $125 unused and only $3 used, other shades with the same image may be found in the rare pink shade (Scott 64), or the even more elusive pigeon blood pink (Scott 64a), setting buyers back many thousands of dollars.
Figure 10. A CSA Post Office Department imprint and free frank on a 3¢ U.S. Nesbitt envelope that was not returned to the USPOD when war began. Many devalued envelopes were used on official CSPOD business.
With the outbreak of the war in 1861, the U.S. Government demonetized all 1857–61 postage stamps and postal stationery to prevent their use by postmasters in the seceded states. The CSPOD responded by retaining and overprinting large quantities of U.S. stamped envelopes with Confederate imprints for use by government agencies. They paid no postage, but were simply a free source of envelopes, which were very scarce in the South during the war. The printed corner from one such reused Nesbitt envelope appears in Figure 10.
After the war, there were huge stocks of some of U.S. stamps available in Southern post offices. Many were bought in quantity by philatelists. Mint sheets, multiples and singles are available in today’s philatelic marketplace because they were carefully put aside by postmasters in the Confederate States.
Isolated from world markets by Union Navy blockades, Southerners experienced shortages of almost every kind of commodity. Paper became almost unobtainable toward the close of the war. As a result, every available scrap with writing space was pressed into service, creating a collecting category called adversity covers.
Turned covers were one of the first signs of the growing paper shortage. Envelopes from previous correspondences were carefully turned inside out, regummed and used again. Sometimes a single envelope was reused three or four times before the sheer weakness of its folds forced its retirement. The previous stamp was either removed or covered with a new one.
Figure 11 shows an extreme example of wartime frugality: a triple-turned Confederate cover that crisscrossed Georgia from Talbotton to Ways Station, then from Savannah to Eatonton, and finally with a horizontal 5¢ blue pair from Guyton to Eatonton again, opened for display. Estimated at $500 to $750 in a December 2015 Siegel Auction Galleries sale, it was hammered down at $2,800.
Figure 11. This thrice-turned cover crisscrossed Georgia three times in 1864: from Talbotton to Ways Station; then from Savannah to Eatonton; and, finally, from Guyton to Eatonton again. It has been opened for display.
Figure 12. Two sides of the front of this Confederate adversity cover have been turned back to show that the envelope was fashioned from colorful wallpaper.
Southerners used wallpaper stocks and samples to fashion the colorful envelopes so popular with collectors today, like the cover in Figure 12. It is a Confederate collector’s second nature to look on the inside of a cover for more exciting possibilities than what the outside might show. More than once, I have been astounded to find the outwardly common use I just bought had so much more to offer within, translating into hundreds of dollars more than the prices I’d paid — every collector’s fantasy.
Wallpaper wasn’t the only source for homemade envelopes. Books were stripped of their flyleaves and title pages to supply letter paper. Tax receipts, wrapping paper, election ballots, bank checks, insurance blanks, military requisitions, religious tracts, accounting forms and sheet music were just some of the alternative sources of stationery.
Research Pays Dividends
I personally enjoy finding the special connections to and between correspondents, as well as the stories most every cover tells — if only you examine it thoughtfully.
With the advent of the internet, superabundant information can literally be at your fingertips: postal information, historical narratives, detailed military reports genealogical data and more. There also is that all-important network of collectors and specialized dealers, most of whom are quite willing to share their knowledge.
Decades ago, I spent countless hours in the Library of Congress, as well as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), poring over postal records. In my youth, I examined original postal documents, the thought of which still elicits excitement.
For example, during my research on the Madison provisionals, one of the letters I found in the files from the Madison postmaster to U.S. Postmaster General Blair stated that he produced 1¢ stamps as well as 3¢ stamps, and that examples were included with his letter. Unfortunately, no such stamps were found in the archives. To this day, no genuine 1¢ Madison provisional has ever been recorded. But the tantalizing thought that one may yet be found certainly captures the philatelic imagination. Understandably, NARA moved to methods that are safer for documents, protecting the delicate originals from potential handling damage, as well as the threat of theft. Thereafter, I was able to view documents using microfilm readers, over which I hunched for hours while my eyes turned to dust.
Today, we can view the very same documents via Fold3.com without the necessity of traveling to Washington, D.C. Even if I still lived in that area, I would probably use today’s more convenient online resources. The information they impart can be incredibly useful to postal historians.
Topics that Encompass Both Sides
Among the most fascinating areas of Civil War postal history are Across-the-Lines mail, special routes such as Trans-Mississippi mail represented by the cover in Figure 13, private express deliveries and covert mail operations. Blockade-run mail also falls within the scope of these studies, which includes mail captured by opposing forces and entered as evidence in Civil War Prize Courts.
Figure 13. A strip of four engraved 10¢ Jeff Davis stamps correctly pays the 40¢ Trans-Mississippi rate on this embossed cover from the principal at a school for young ladies in Petersburg, Virginia, sent “Via Meridian, Miss” to a relative serving as a Captain in Shreveport, Louisiana, a distance of over 1,100 miles.
When postal service between belligerents ended early in the war, substantial business was created for express companies. These agencies carried mail across the lines for nearly two months before President Abraham Lincoln ordered an end to such traffic. Thereafter, mail was required to be sent by Flag-of-Truce, although express companies continued to do some illegal business.
Flag-of-Truce uses encompass both prisoner-of-war and civilian uses. Both types of mail were subject to censorship and usually, but not always, bear manuscript or handstamped censor markings. While not technically Flag-of-Truce mail, mail from prisoners in parole camps is collected within this broader area as well.
Suspension of mail across the lines provides collectors with rare markings such as the coveted “Southern Letter Unpaid,” “Mails Suspended,” U.S. and Confederate Dead Letter Office markings and Trans-Rio Grande mail.
Other types of Civil War mail used on both sides include inland waterway mail, carrier services (only the Confederate cities of Charleston and New Orleans are recorded in the South), railroad markings, “Way” mail, advertising and college covers, government-imprinted covers (official, semi-official and state), the immensely popular and colorful patriotic covers and stickers―and much more. Fakes, forgeries and fantasies are avidly collected and studied as well, and are one of my personal collections.
When hoarding coins became common in Northern states, John Gault patented an encasement for postage stamps to use making change. One side showed the mint stamp, the other advertised the sponsor who paid for it. This 3¢ stamp in a ribbed Irving House encasement is Scott EP107a.
Finally, although the Northern states suffered no blockade and had all the stationery they needed, its citizens too used private and institutional creativity to meet other wartime needs. Hoarding of coinage in the North began well before Fort Sumter fell, driven by concern that the prices of precious and strategic metals would soar due to the conflict, and in speculative hope of a tidy profit. When even copper-nickel pennies disappeared, the public used postage stamps to make change, and shopkeepers followed suit. The government made it official, passing a law on July 17, 1862, that allowed the use of postage stamps to pay debts to the government under $5.
One month later, John Gault patented a metal encasement to protect the fragile stamp while making its value visible through a transparent mica cover on the other side. Gault also sold advertising space on the metal case where companies could offer goods and services. You can collect them by sponsor, type of case and denomination, and many are quite valuable.
Nine days after Gault’s patent, the government issued postage currency in 5¢, 10¢, 25¢ and 50¢ denominations. The U.S. Treasury Department created currency by affixing stamps to Treasury paper, later followed by actually printing 1861 5¢ Jefferson and 10¢ Washington stamp designs on small notes. By the following year, encased postage had been rendered obsolete.
Stamps also met another urgent wartime need that emerged when the U.S. Sanitary Commission came into being in June 1861. Created to promote clean and healthy conditions in Union Army camps, the Sanitary Commission also staffed field hospitals, raised money, provided supplies and educated the military and government on matters of health and sanitation.
Before it was disbanded in 1866, the Commission is estimated to have raised as much as $5 to $7.5 million in cash and $15 million in donated supplies to meet its commitments. To publicize and raise funds for this work, Sanitary Fairs were held, eight of which issued special Sanitary Fair stamps. According to Scott, “Sanitary Fair stamps occupy a position midway between United States semi-official carrier stamps and the private local posts. Although…not valid for U.S. postal service, they were prepared for, sold and used at fair post offices, usually with the approval and participation of the local postmaster.”
Detailed illustrated and priced listings for all three of these Union Civil Warrelated collectibles — Sanitary Fair, Encased Postage Stamps and Postage Currency — are grouped together on six pages in the Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue, immediately preceding the Confederate States of America provisional and general issue listings.
First Things First
If collecting the Civil War is a new area for you, invest in books, catalogs and memberships first. Take time talking to or corresponding with those knowledgeable in the field. Make friends of those people. Some of the most valuable assets we acquire from our hobby are the friendships made along the way and the insights they bring.
Search out and join the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, an APS affiliate. They are a group interested in the pre-1894 stamps and postal history of the United States. This is a must for anyone interested in the classic era of United States philately. If possible, attend meetings of their many local chapters. More information is available at
www.uspcs.org.
Do the same with the Confederate Stamp Alliance, also an APS affiliate. Avail yourself of their authentication service, mentor program, and their publications. You’ll find more information at www.csalliance.org.
Society websites include member news, censuses of classic postal history, collections of award-winning exhibits to explore, downloadable philatelic libraries, and other research material on classic philately of both North and South. Both societies publish full-color award-winning journals. What you learn from these will equip you to make informed decisions as your collection grows.
Looking for More?
How the Civil War Taught Americans the Art of Letter Writing: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-civil-wartaught-americans-art-letter-writing-180967913/
Mailing a Letter, Civil War-Style: americancivilwarvoice.org/2014/01/18/mailing-a-letter-civil-war-style/
National Archives — Civil War Records: Basic Research Sources: www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/resources
How to Use Genealogy Website Fold3: www.familytreemagazine.com/premium/fold3-guide/
References
Patricia A. Kaufmann, “U.S. 3-cent 1861 Postmaster Provisionals Used the in the Confederacy,” American Philatelist, 98, No. 11 (November 1984), pp. 1117–1124.
Patricia A. Kaufmann, “ e Madison Florida Postmaster Provisionals: Anatomy of a Postal History Research Project” - https://www.trishkaufmann.com/madison.php
Hubert C. Skinner, Ph.D., “Notes on the New Orleans Postmaster’s Provisionals: Plating and Postal History,” The Congress Book 1978, the American Philatelic Congress, 1978, pp.104–160.
Confederate States of America, Markings and Postal History of Richmond, Virginia, by Peter W. W. Powell, 1987.
Patricia A. Kaufmann, Francis J. Crown, Jr., Jerry S. Palazolo, Editors, Confederate States Catalog and Handbook of Stamps and Postal History, 2012, Confederate Stamp Alliance, www.csalliance.org.
Chad Snee et al, 2014 Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps & Covers. (Sidney, OH, 2013), 26.
Patricia A. Kaufmann, Francis J. Crown Jr., Jerry S. Palazolo, Confederate States of America Catalog and Handbook of Stamps and Postal History. (Confederate Stamp Alliance, 2012), 339–340.
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Editor's Note: The “How to Start Collecting the U.S. Civil War” article was originally published in the May 2019 issue of The American Philatelist. We are bringing the archives of The American Philatelist to the Newsroom - to read back issues of The American Philatelist, click here and scroll down to the Back Issues section.