Object Details
Description
The mailing wrapper, marked "please deliver 11:45 AM 11/10/58," contained the rare gem, the "Hope Diamond," when it was sent as a gift by Harry Winston to the Smithsonian Institution located in Washington, D.C. in 1958. Winston, a well-known jeweler, routinely used the mails to deliver valuable material.
Mailed on the morning of November 8 from New York City, the item was sent by registered (first class) mail -- considered the safest means of transport for valuables at that time. The total fee was $145.29 (see the meter machine tapes). Postage only amounted to $2.44 for the package which weighed 61 ounces. The remainder of the fee ($142.85) paid for an indemnity of about $1 million.
The package was delivered on Monday, November 11, by letter carrier James G. Todd, who had picked it up at the Old City Post Office (the building is now home to the National Postal Museum).
Date
November 8, 1958
Object number
1992.2002.15
Type
Covers & Associated Letters
Medium
paper; ink
Dimensions
Height x Width: 11 1/8 x 14 1/4 in. (28.26 x 36.2 cm)
Place
United States of America
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
On View
Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Topic
The Cold War (1945-1990)
Covers & Letters
Link to Original Record
Record ID
npm_1992.2002.15
