Need Help w/Antique Worn Leather Conservation and Conditioning

What a very cool piece! I'm inclined to let the next buyer deal with it...but... if you haven't watched the BBC Show "The Repair Shop"... Susie their leather expert discusses what she does to each piece that is literally "falling apart". There are many episodes which deal with restoring, cleaning, repairing leather.
Cheerio, Leslie

 

i may wind up leaving it alone. i received the cellugel and tried it on a small area and it does darken the leather quite a bit. i think this is probably because there is literally no original tanned surface left on most of it. it works for consolidating the powdery surface, but it will most likely make, for instance, that stamp almost invisible at this point. i was also going to say, i did finally hear back from the Wells Fargo museum's historian. she thinks it says "PAID" also, as it does resemble a common franking stamp that appeared on documents in that period. these documents are similar to the one posted on this forum by Deborah. however, i'm still trying to figure out what the date signifies. i really don't think the bag dates from 1859 and i haven't seen any examples of such a stamp with a date at the bottom or for that matter not preprinted on the document.