April 16, 1852 San Francisco CDS to La Rochelle, France with red matching "Paid" and "26"  handstamps, Le Havre (May 8) entry cds with matching "16" decimes due rating handstamp.  26 cent prepaid British open mail rate via American Packet.  Manuscript "per Northerner, via New York & Liverpool" directive.


This was the first CDS with all upper case letters for CAL. Similar types exist with and without a period after CAL, this CDS is the NO-Period version.  There are two types of this CDS, 1) with tightly spaced SCO letters in "Francisco" and 2) with widely spaced SCO letters in "Francisco" (see below for details).

Some of the unique identifying characteristics of this CDS are; 
32.5 mm diameter
Serif font
"CAL" at bottom (in all caps, without period)
Day/Month only, no year
Details of this CDS are shown below.

Side-by-side comparison of Tightly (Left) vs. Widely (Right) spaced "SCO" lettering.  Two distinct CDS devices even though they are very similar.


1854 - Honolulu Hawaiian-Islands Oct 3 red CDS, cover to Massachusetts.  San Francisco CAL 1 Nov CDS, matching "SHIP" and "12" handstamps (2 cent ship fee + 10 cent unpaid transcontinental rate).  Widely spaced "SCO" lettering in the CDS.


Earliest/Latest Found Dates (Bookends) For This CDS
Ref # Rate Date Destination Image
SF CAL (Tight SCO) Earliest 10 July 13, 1851 New York
SF CAL (Tight SCO) Latest 10 April 16, 1853 North Carolina
SF CAL (Wide SCO) Earliest8September 30, 1853Massachusetts
SF CAL (Wide SCO) Latest6November 1, 1854New York