Famous U.S. 90c 1869 'Ice House' cover turns up 38 years after theft from home

By Charles Snee

The only known genuine cover bearing a United States 1869 90˘ Abraham Lincoln stamp was recovered Jan. 4 at a stamp store in Chicago.

The famed cover surfaced more than 38 years after it was stolen in Indianapolis in 1967.

Illustrated below, the 1873 cover is known to stamp collectors as the "Ice House" cover because of its address: "Ice House Calcutta E. Indies."

Word of the momentous find first surfaced Jan. 12 on the Internet chat board run by U.S. postal historian and dealer Richard Frajola of New Mexico.

Charles Berg, owner of the Stamp King stamp shop in Chicago, told Linn's Jan. 13 that an elderly couple brought the famous cover to his store Jan. 4.

"It was one of several covers that the couple brought to my store to ascertain if they were worth anything," stated Berg. "The other covers were of minimal value, but the third one caught my eye right away.

"The cover was positively identified as the Ice House cover with the help of other experienced collectors.

"Law enforcement authorities were called, because the cover had been stolen many years ago and never recovered.

"Contrary to at least one Internet report, the couple were not taken into custody. As far as I know, the authorities had no reason to believe they were involved in the original 1967 theft.

"The people who brought the Ice House cover to my store didn't know what it was.

"When I compared the cover to the picture of it in Jon Rose's book United States Postage Stamps of 1869, it didn't look any the worse for wear. The cover did not appear to have suffered any significant damage, which I think is amazing."

Stamp dealer Jim Lee told Linn's that the Indianapolis office of the FBI might be involved with the recovery because the cover was originally stolen in Indianapolis.

Special Agent Wendy Osborne, media representative for the Indianapolis office of the FBI, confirmed for Linn's that the Indianapolis office was aware that the cover had been found in Chicago. Osborne told Linn's that the cover is in the possession of the FBI in Chicago.

"The FBI special agents in Chicago handling this case are not allowed to talk to the media because the investigation is ongoing," Osborne stated.

"The Indianapolis office got involved because of the laws governing the transport of stolen goods across state lines. We were told about the investigation because the cover had been stolen in Indianapolis."

Osborne told Linn's that the Chicago Police Department took initial possession of the cover.

"The cover was voluntarily turned over to the Chicago police, who then released it to the FBI in Chicago," Osborne said.

"The FBI is attempting to validate the authenticity of the cover and is seeking an appraisal. Ownership also is being determined."

As news of the recovery spread on the Internet, some collectors speculated that the theft of the Ice House cover might be connected to the March 1983 theft of the Charles J. Starnes collection, most of which was recovered in May 2004 (Linn's, July 4, page 1).

Osborne told Linn's that to her knowledge the FBI was not aware of any connection between the Starnes theft and the theft of the Ice House cover.

J. David Baker of Indianapolis, who assembled a spectacular collection of classic U.S. postal history in the 1950s and early 1960s, was the last collector to own the Ice House cover.

Shortly before the theft, Baker had selectively trimmed his collection to what he considered to be the best 250 covers.

In early December 1967, Baker's select collection, including the Ice House cover, was stolen from a safe in Baker's home.

The collection subsequently was recovered in 1975, but the Ice House cover and one other cover were not.

In 1978, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries sold the Baker collection for more than $770,000.

The Ice House cover, despite some faults, is the key to a comprehensive postal history collection of the 1869 Pictorial issue.

The cover, postmarked Aug. 8, 1873, was sent to James H. Bancroft in Calcutta, India.

The address reads "East Indies," referring to the islands near India.

In addition to the 90˘ Lincoln stamp (Scott 122), the cover is franked with a 10˘ Thomas Jefferson stamp and a 12˘ Henry Clay stamp (probably 150 and 151, respectively).

The $1.12 franking paid four times the 28˘ British mail rate to Calcutta, India, via Brindisi, Italy.

Britain received 96˘ of the $1.12, and 16˘ went to the United States.

U.S. postal historian Richard B. Graham recounts the colorful story of the cover's original discovery prior to World War I in his Dec. 30, 1985, Postal History column in Linn's.

"As told to Dave Baker, by whom he didn't say, the cover was found in a sack of material sold to an eastern seaport dealer by a man believed to have been a seaman who had acquired the material in India," Graham wrote.

"The cover was accompanied by other less exotic covers and a mass of paper. It had a huge tear just to the right of the Boston postmark.

"Only the 12˘ Banknote stamp at the right remained on the cover, the others having dropped off.

"A search through the bag produced the 90˘ stamp, separated into two pieces by the tear in the cover. The remaining stamp was not found.

"The torn edges of the 90˘ stamp, and also its postmark, matched the tear and postmark portion on the cover . . .

"The dealer finally figured out that the remaining stamp was a 10˘ Banknote. After some searching he located an example that matched reasonably well.

"The cover was then mended and the stamps placed in position, which fact has been known to all who have owned the cover."

Just below the address is Stanley B. Ashbrook's notation, "10˘ [stamp] replaced."

Other notes that Ashbrook wrote on the cover in 1953, including the applicable rate (written in the lower-left corner), do not appear on the cover as it is shown on page 1.

Graham continues: "The restoration of the 10˘ Banknote stamp, for ‘cosmetic' reasons, was not done with intent to defraud. No attempt was made to match the postmark at the bottom of the stamp, although the example selected does blend nicely."

Graham concludes his account of the Ice House cover with the hope that it "will emerge from wherever it rests, to be venerated again by collectors."

The Jan. 4 recovery brings Graham's desire closer to reality.