I have a set of these, too. Four colors in all. Cinderellas officially pretending to be something more.
chatter on a stamp newsgroup, years ago....................
I have three stamps or possibly Cinderellas. They look similar to the
1869 10c Scott # 116. One is blue, one rose and one light brown.There
is an eagle with wings spread on top of a shield.. The shield contains
the words ARMY FRANK
with U on on the left side of the shield and S on the right.
The banner below says " OFFICIAL BUSINESS ONLY."
They are gummed.
Any idea what these are???
Interesting, aren't they? I have a few, both mint and used, in my collection
of cinderellas. The eminent philatelist and philatelic writer of the
1930s-50s, George Sloan, wrote about them many years ago. Seems they were
the concoction of a U.S. Army major during the Spanish-American war era.
The major was also a philatelist and produced the #116 look-alike "stamps"
to dress up the soldiers' free mail of that time. No fraud was intended.
The USPOD didn't like the idea very much and shut down the operation.
They're somewhat scarce today but not rare, and you can still pick them
up for a few bucks apiece, if you can find them.
The Army Frank stamp is classified as a USA Fantasy. It was privately
printed in 1898 supposedly for use on Army Mail during the
Spanish-American War. However, their use was never officially sanctioned
by the Army or the Post Office. These lables can be found in three colors
-- Rose, Brown, Blue. They have a current value of only about $1.00 each.
exist : cancelled, fraudulently or otherwise.
