An ultra-rare 11-star Confederate patriotic cover, displaying an equally rare 5c Nashville postmaster’s provisional stamp, has sold for $27,000.

The cover was sent in September 1861, six months into the civil war

The piece was the star of Robert A Siegel’s Civil War and Confederate States auction in New York on March 3.

Patriotic covers were popular on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line at the outset of the American civil war.

This 11-star cover is one of the rarest from the era. It’s one of only three patriotic covers to display a Nashville provisional.

Provisional stamps were introduced in 1861, after the northern states invalidated all postage stamps.

They vary from town to town and are highly collectible today.

Interested in building your own stamp collection? Click here to take a look at our stock.

Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about postage stamp auctions.