The "5 Paid" Griffin provisionals first came to light in the 1940s. First, two were reported, then four and finally a fifth. However, no similar "10 Paid" example ever came to light. Then about a year ago Conrad Bush discovered a "10 Paid" provisional in a lot of three covers he obtained from "an old lady in a Georgia nursing home."

The "10 Paid" provisional is the same marking as the "5 Paid" provisional except the rate marking is changed to "10." The marking is on the upper half of a U. S. three cent postal stationery envelope. Unfortunately, the lower half containing the address was cut away.

In his book, Confederate Stamps, Old Letters and History, Raynor Hubbell speculated that the period of use of the five cent Griffin provisionals was June 1862. This was based on two of the four known examples having enclosures dated 1862. The other two known examples were also dated in June and it was assumed they were used in the same period in 1862.

Hubbell also noted that he had no examples of stamped Griffin covers postmarked in June 1862. He speculated that this reflected a period when the Griffin post office ran out of stamps. This theory held up when the fifth five cent provisional cover surfaced with a postmark of 31 May. The newly discovered ten cent provisional is postmarked 25 July, almost a month after the last five cent provisional cover. This stretches Hubbell's theory. However, it is quite possible the "10 Paid" envelope was prepared in June as speculated by Hubbell but wasn't used until a month later.

Figure 1 --Griffin, Ga Handstamp PAID 10 Provisional on US Postal Stationery Piece.

The Griffin "10 Paid" provisional may also have a unique distinction. If we assume that the year of use was 1862, then this is the latest use of a U. S. postal stationery envelope as a Confederate provisional from Georgia. The next latest use is a cover from Thomasville dated November 1861.

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