"Early in the 20th Century there occurred a bankruptcy sale of the effects of the Philadelphia Bank Note Company which had inherited from the Toppan, Carpenter Company the duplicate dies of the 1851 issue, to which numerals had been added to all the values except the 10c and 30c, for submission as essays with their proposal for the 1861 contract." [Clarence W. Brazer, 1941]

The buyer of the dies was Ernest Schernikow an officer of the Hamilton Bank Note Company. In 1903 they made reprints from the dies in as many as fifteen colors. It is believed that this was done to help recoup the $10,000.00 Schernikow paid for the effects of the Philadelphia Bank Note Company. For years they were peddled along Nassau Street in New York.
 

	Clockwise from upper right: 63-E1b, Violet on Light Green card, XF (880169) $125.00. 65-E3e, Scarlet on Ivory card, XF (880239) $175.00. 67-E4f, Light Green on proof paper, XF, Ex-Finkelburg (880276) $100.00

The holding offered here is the largest to be offered to the philatelic market in over 25 years. The condition is quite fine throughout. However, there are hinge soaking marks on a few of the ones printed on proof paper. Do not try to soak the hinges off! This type of proof paper only expands and stains when exposed to water.

I know of only one nearly complete collection of these beautiful essays. The 250+ duplicates are form that collection. You will find more examples on page six of this newsletter. To see the complete offering in color go to our home page (www.jameslee.com) and click on Shernikows. For those of you who don't have access to the Web we can offer color copies by issues. A phone call (847/215-1231) is all that is necessary to receive the copies.

The last big show of the year is only a few days away. If you are within driving distance of Chicago there is still time to make your plans to come to Chicago for the weekend. The Chicago Philatelic Society sponsors the show and they will host the American Revenue Association annual meeting. There will be plenty of exhibits to view, seminars to attend and about 100 dealers to shop.

Our booth will feature plenty of literature, the Schernikow collection and a portion of the Tom Alexander collection of 3c 1851 - 57 issue on and off cover. We will also have our stock of essays and proofs, postal history and fancy cancels available for you to peruse.