Rejected Essays

From Bill Welch Collection

From the early 1880s until the mid-1890s, Seebeck sought new stamp contracts by offering suggested designs to the governments of a number of Latin American governments. Most declined.


Venezuela

Early 1880s

There is no documentary evidence that these are Seebeck essays. However, the vignette is very similar to the portrait of Simon Bolivar on Seebeck’s issues fo the Colombian State of Bolivar, which debuted in 1879. The currency changed from “centimos” to “centavos” in 1880.




Colombia

This has to date after 1886 when the Republic of Colombia was established. The die number, 414 is the lowest known for Hamilton. The 1890 Seebeck Issues of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras have die numbers in the 400s, suggesting that this essay was made when they were in 1889.




While Seebeck / Hamilton was successful in getting contracts with El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras as well as Ecuador later, they did try to get contracts from other countries.

Hamilton got into financial trouble during the Panic of 1893. This prompted a flurry of essays as the company sought new business.

Bolivia

Dated 1893 these essays appear to show the peculiar design of Justice and her pet condor?





Prepared in 1893, a vignette of the Coat of Arms. The die number is 581

Ecuador: A Hi-Value Seebeck on Cover

The stamps (5c + 10c + 20c + 50c -pair) paid the following”

12 times the 10 centavos foreign rate 1s, 20c
Registration 10c
Acknowledgement of receipt 5c
TOTAL 1s, 35c

River and Lake Mail

Bill Welch also had an interest in River and Lake mail and here are some nice items from his collection of these.


The Nicaragua Mail Steam Navigation and Trading Company had the exclusive privilege for the navigation of Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan river. This dated from 1877 but was purchased for $300,000 in 1891 by the Maritime Canal Company.

Two lovely covers from Paraguay.

More Seebeck and U. S. Philately

Seebeck was also involved in U. S. Philately as a stamp dealer. Prior to his involvement with Hamilton Bank Note Company, he ran a successful stamp business. One way to advertise his business was to have “advertising collars” printed around current U. S. postal stationery, which he did for the 1c through 6c denominations for his Vesey Street and Wall Street addresses.

Only the 1-cent is known used, no doubt to send 1-page prices lists primarily to Europe.

Reay envelopes of 1870 –




2-cent Reay envelope of 1870 with the Vesey Street Collar. (3 Vesey Street was a basement shop in the Astor House Hotel, along Broadway in lower Manhattan.



Plimpton envelopes of 1874 (3-cent) and 1875 (5-cent, Die I)



2-cent Plimpton envelope with Vesey Street Collar.