CSA 11-AD, 10¢ blue (4 large to huge margins) tied pen squiggle with perfectly struck circular datestamp of FINCASTLE VA MAR 6 on commercially made cover to Lt. Gov. Price, Richmond, Virginia. Light pencil “1865” at top. $180.

Samuel Price (1805-1884) was a Virginia lawyer from Greenbrier County (now West Virginia) and politician who helped establish the state of West Virginia. Price was a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861, where he voted against secession. Nonetheless, he began his term as lieutenant governor under “Extra Billy” Smith from January 1, 1864-May 9, 1865. He relinquished office when the state officers abandoned Richmond on April 2, 1865. The federal government recognized the Restored Government of Virginia, based in Wheeling, WV, as the legitimate government in Virginia on June 25, 1861. It elected its own slate of governors, and after West Virginia was split from Virginia on June 20, 1863, the restored government relocated to Alexandria. After the fall of Richmond and the end of the Civil War in May 1865, the executive officers moved the government from Alexandria to Richmond, which the Restored Government had always considered to be its official capital.