Well, I didn’t expect to go to a stamp show on Saturday, but it just turned out that way. I had a meeting in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is about a 3.5 hour drive each way. The meeting went way shorter than I expected, so I needed to figure out what to do with the rest of my day. Since the drive home took me right past Indianapolis, I checked online to see if there was anything going on.

Lo and behold, the MSDA (Midwest Stamp Dealers Association) was holding a 2-day show this weekend, and if I put pedal to the metal, I’d hit the show location at 3PM, leaving 2 hours before closing. I didn’t have any of my materials with me: no tongs, magnifiers, checklists, not even my checkbook. Since it would only take me about a 30 minutes out of my way, I threw caution to the wind.

I got to the show location at 2:50pm, a bit quicker than expected. The general reaction was one of “What the heck are you doing here???” as I almost always show up in the mornings before a show opens, never in the afternoon, and I typically let Denny Peoples know I’m coming. He had a stack of material set aside for me, but didn’t bring it since he wasn’t expecting me… so he was annoyed. He’ll get over it; I’ll see him in 3 weeks at the MSDA show in my home town.

I touched base with Michael Mules of Fox River Stamps regarding arrangements for our upcoming show. I spent some time chatting with Rick Scott. I picked up some neat world dollar covers from Rusty Shoaf for resale on eBay. Michigan Street Antiques had a couple inexpensive revenue checks that I liked the aesthetics of, and I had enough cash to pick them up.

Of course as usual, the majority of my time and purchases were spent at Denny’s table. My not having my checkbook wasn’t an issue, as I could drop a check in the mail when I got home.

A lovely selection of both revenue documents and non-revenue items just picked up for either the aesthetics of the engravings or vignettes, or the unusual nature of the documents, and one revenue stamp that I was extremely happy to pick up.

First an item from Rusty’s dollar box, a lovely Uniform Penny Postage envelope and letter sheet. I believe these are imitations done by William Henry Elliot, or reprints thereof.

Some “pick-n-pay” stock memos from Denny. Even though they are low-catalog-value stamps, I like picking up these overprinted issues still on documents. I don’t see them nearly as frequently as one would expect.

A previously unlisted RN-B20. Interesting in that the date line is below the receipt, as well as the partial overprint at bottom left. I wonder if this was originally a much larger document that was cut down?

Two checks purchased just for the graphics.

A February 1863 transfer of stock of 17 shares of the Lancaster and Ephrata Turnpike featuring a top margin single of the 25-cent Protest (Scott #R49a).

Two documents purchased primarily for the attractive vignettes, both printed on fragile onionskin paper/parchment.

This one was neat (to me). Typically, one doesn’t find late usages of genuine part perfs, but this is one. A January 1867 use of a 50-cent Entry of Goods part perf (Scott #R55b), on an Oregon quit claim deed. Once again, a west coast late usage, which is where the overwhelimingly vast majority of genuine late imperf and part perf usages originate.

A couple improper usage documents.

Attractive 1899 bank check from the Pleasant Valley Wine Company featuring the engraving of a wine bottle on the reverse.

I had no idea there was a “Board of World’s Fair Managers” in of all places Helena Montana.

This one is unusual IMO, an 1865 Ripely County Indiana $50 War Bond, with a 5-cent Express (Scott #R25c) tied by embossed seal.

And lastly, a very scarce item, a 5-cent Inland Exchange imperforate (Scott #R27a) on document fragment, that has been privately rouletted. I’m only aware of one other example, which interestingly enough, is also in my collection, purchased also from Denny, at COMPEX in 2019. That one, also on piece, is an 1863 dated example.