Skip to content
Hand Struck Stamps
Waghorn Sidebottom 8 — marking, 1838–1840, Black

Forwarding Agent · Marking

Waghorn Sidebottom 8

Date
1838–1840
Colour
Black
Rarity
Rare
Note
Smith 8
Submitted by
System

Census

Census records

4 covers recorded
COV-1780 pre stamp cover
COV-1780

16 November 1838

1838, "CARE OF MESSRS. WAGHORN & CO./L'POOL. ALEXANDRIA." (Sidebottom 8; Smith 8). Clear strike of two-line handstamp with initials at top right (R. T. Willis was Waghorn's agent in Liverpool) on folded letter datelined Philadelphia Pa. Nov. 16, 1838, and addressed to Calcutta, manuscript directive "via Marseilles", London Dec. 11, Liverpool, French and Bombay transit datestamps, red "P-D" handstamp, cover with some minor staining at right and a couple hinge reinforced folds FINE. A RARE EXAMPLE OF THE WAGHORN TYPE 8 HANDSTAMP--SMITH RECORDS ONLY EIGHT. THIS IS THE ONLY COVER WITH THIS HANDSTAMP KNOWN TO US THAT ORIGINATED IN THE UNITED STATES. Smith records eight examples of the Type 8 handstamp, used between Jun. 21, 1838, and Feb. 3, 1840. We are only aware of four covers originating in the United States--this is the only cover with this particular handstamp, which was applied in transit in Liverpool. The other three covers from the U.S. are known with the Type 7 handstamp (similar but with "London" versus "L'pool"). Ex Gibson (with his handstamp) and "Delta".

COV-1781 pre stamp cover
COV-1781

September 1839

COV-1782 pre stamp cover
COV-1782

30 January 1840

COV-2797 pre stamp cover
COV-2797

Submit a cover

Have a cover from Waghorn Sidebottom 8?

Front (and back) image required. It is reviewed before publication — nothing appears immediately.

Images * — front & back (0/3)
Auction house (optional)

Type to search registered auction houses

About Waghorn Sidebottom 8

Sidebottom 8 was in use from 1838 to 1840, with an earliest recorded strike in June 1838. It belongs to the run of marks from the agency's most active years, when Waghorn's overland service was carrying a steady flow of letters across Egypt between Alexandria, Cairo and Suez.

Struck in black and listed as Smith 8, it is one of the closely dated markings whose overlapping periods of use show the agency working with several cachets at once. Covers bearing it document the everyday operation of the forwarding business at its height, and each recorded example refines what is known of the mark's frequency and range.