BE38

Fancy Cancel: Tuscaloosa Target-Star -- CSA #6 Horz Pair (4-Margin) tied by the Mobile, Ala DCDS without a date. Also tied by the Tuscaloosa (Ala) Target-Star Fancy Cancel (AC-15B) used as a receiving mark. Addressed to Capt E. A. Smith, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala. This cancel was overlooked for many years and described simply as a Tuscaloosa Star cancel. However, it is distinctly different from the more commonly seen star and now has its own catalog listing. This cover is currently the only recorded example of the Tuscaloosa Target-Star. Captain Eugene Allen Smith was detailed from the 33rd Ala Inf as the Captain of the University of Alabama Corps of Cadets from 1862 until the end of the war. After the war, he returned to the University as Professor of Geology and Mineralogy and became the Alabama State Geologist in 1873. Note on the reverse signed by VanDyk MacBride. The stamp with the cancel was cropped from this cover and used as the listing illustration (AC-15B) on Page 376 of the new CSA Catalog. The stamp is also illustrated on Page 354 of the Collector's Guide to Confederate Philately Second Edition. Sealed edge tear right lower corner, otherwise a Very Fine Cover.

SOLD $1,500.00