The Die Varieties of the Nesbitt Series of United States Envelopes

By VICTOR M. BERTHOLD. NEW YORK SCOTT STAMP & COIN CO. 1906.
Copyrighted, 1906 All rights reserved.

Variety is the spice of Life . This aphorism, if applied to collectors of the dies of the early United States envelopes, changes with kaleidoscopic rapidity into: Varieties are the bane of collectors . The truth of this statement is borne out by the fact that, though the die varieties of the Nesbitt issues are one of the most interesting phases of American philately, the amount of our knowledge concerning them is surprisingly small.
If we recall that many of these dies have been in existence for half a century, embracing all issues prior to 1870, and thus, in comparison with modern issues, are hoary with age, that they have been collected for decades by ardent lovers of United States envelopes, our surprise is heightened.

Naturally the question arises: What is the reason for this state of affairs? Why have the Nesbitt die varieties been relegated to an entirely unmerited obscurity?
Unless I am greatly mistaken the answer is that the large majority of collectors believed the subject to be fraught with difficulties. Add to this both the lack of a catalogue and of any systematic exposition of the early die varieties, and it is easy to comprehend why the bugbear has continued to the detriment of United States philately.
However, thanks to the good services of the Scott Stamp & Coin Co., and the J. M. Bartels Co., this wrong impression has been largely removed and the future collector of the Nesbitt dies has a rich and inviting field now open for his favorite pursuit. Moreover, henceforth no collection lacking these important die varieties can lay a claim to a full degree of completeness, and this remark refers equally to those who collect entire envelopes or cut square specimens. Indeed, of the two the latter is by far the larger gainer, because these varieties appear on comparatively few knives or shapes of envelopes.