[Tudor Hall, Va.] manuscript “Paid 5” on cover addressed to “Mrs. William King, Care Alexr H Rutherford Esq. Richmond, Va.”with archivist pencil docketing “Manassas Jct, June 1st 1861” – THE FIRST DAY OF THE CONFEDERATE POSTAL SYSTEM. Orderlies collected outgoing mail at the company level along with the correct amount of money for postage from each soldier (before the soldier’s due privilege was instituted July 31, 1861). Some earlier collectors espoused these as provisional markings (they are not). With the military activity in the area, the postmaster saw postal proceeds go from $47.53 the preceding year to $7,800 for a four-month period beginning July 1861. The cover shows a relatively neat and fully written out “Paid 5”, which quickly degenerated to “Pd 5” with the weight of all the extra work, done by the postmaster mostly with no help. Many covers in the Don Preston Peters collection, such as this, have their letters at Duke University. As there is no postmark on this cover, the best an expertizing body could do would be “no opinion” with regard to the date of mailing, thus this cover is offered on its own merits. While very likely June 1, there is no incontrovertible proof thereof and it is therefore offered at a fraction of what a provable example would command. Ex Don Preston Peters, Ian Tickell, and John Vagnetti. $450.