386th Auction

1872, France Cérès 30 centimes brown, a fine horizontal pair in combination with Sage 20 centimes lilac-brown, tied by GC “5104” with adjacent “SHANGHAI CHINE 25 AOUT 77” to double rate envelope, originating from the German consulate in Shanghai with its blue embossed seal on reverse, sent via Marseilles and with arrival cds, very fine and attractive (Yvert-Nr. 56, 67)

1903, Provisional postage due violet handstamp “A PERCEVOIR” on Sage 30 centimes brown, fresh colours and with its right sheet margin, neatly tied upon arrival by cds “TIEN TSIN CHINE 13 OCT 03” to envelope endorsed “Corps d´occupation de Chine”, sent from the village of Calenzana on the island of Corsica to the French armoury in China, the envelope with light vertical bend not detracting, very fine. A rare usage enhanced by the scarce origin, quite remarkable, signed Calves (Yvert-Nr. Taxe 9a)

Sent unpaid as a military mail in closed bag, the free frank privilege being revoked after the end of the Boxer rebellion the cover was therefore charged accordingly at double the domestic rate, i.e 30 centimes

1875/1920, lovely group of 7 covers and cards, with French General Colonies Cérès 40 centimes orange tied by cds “PONDICCHERY JUIN 77” to entire letter to Nantes via Brindisi, Sage 25 centimes, two singles tied by “ALEXANDRIE EGYPTE 16 AVRIL 84” to a domestic envelope with adjacent “BM”, French Post Office Shanghai with Sage 4 centimes as a pair tied by GC “5104” to 1881 printed matter to France, etc., a most eclectic group, mostly in good condition

1875/1924 (ca), Stationery Cards and Envelopes, fine group of 8 mostly used items with an interesting range of usages, some better items like Réunion 1885 10 centimes on 40 centimes (Mi.-Nr. 8) as a single franking, tied by blue cds “REUNION JUIN 86” to local formula card to France, Tunisia very scarce 1908 usage of a 30 centimes express letter formula card abroad, uprated with 25 centimes and sent to Germany, Nossi Bé 1894 10 centimes reply card used as a return from Germany with cds “HAMBURG 1/8 94” to Madagascar, etc, mostly in very fine condition, a delightful assembly

1900/35, Postage Dues and taxed mail, 5 covers and cards, with 1928 “BYRD ANTACRTIC EXPEDITION” envelope to Tahiti and taxed upon arrival, scarce usage of a registered official envelope “VALEURS RECOUVRÉES” from Paris to the French Post Office in Constantinople with 10 centimes brown postage due applied upon arrival and tied by cds “CONSTANTINOPLE GALATA 19 10 06”, etc., some occasional faults, mostly in good condition

1871, Napoléon 80 centimes rose with Cérès 10 centimes yellow-brown, each tied with cds “PARIS 1 BATIGNOLLES 13 AOUT 77” repeated alongside to small registered envelope to Italy, reverse blue “PARIS ETRANGER” and arrival cds, the adhesives with small imperfections and a tiny part of one postmark tampered with, the cover with slight aging and removed wax seals, still fine. A remarkable convergence of a rare French colonies mixed issues franking with their domestic usage in France, very rare, signed Calves and J.-F. Brun (Yvert-Nr. 10, 11)

The tariff for a domestic registered letter to Italy was 80 centimes, the extra 10 centimes paying for the maritime fee from the colonies; the letter was presumably franked abroad, but for some reason avoided the postal system and was carried privately to France, where it finally entered the mail stream at Batignolles

1872, Cérès 10 centimes brown on rose, together with 15 centimes yellow brown in horizontal pair, fresh colours and all with clear to large margins around, tied by dotted diamond to letter sheet (small part missing) from Guadeloupe to Bordeaux, endorsed “steamer français” with maritime cds “PAQ. FR. POINTE A PITRE 8 JUIL. 76”, reverse transit and arrival, very fine and rare (Yvert-Nr. 19, 22)

Possibly the earliest cover known from any French colonies franked at their first UPU tariff  (French possessions abroad were admitted to the UPU on 1st July 1876, incoming mail to France was charged at maritime rate of 40 centimes)

1849, Cérès 1 franc carmine and 25 centimes blue in horizontal pair, all of vivid colours and with good to large margins all around, neatly tied by roller grid cancel to letter sheet without content with large cds “POINTE-A-PITRE 15 JANV. 1852” to Paris, reverse arrival cds “PARIS 10 FEVR. 52”, endorsed on front “voie d´Angleterre” and sent via British packet, red framed “PD” and entry postmark via Calais. An extremely fine and lovely commercial cover from the Beuscher correspondence, correctly franked at the 1,50 francs first step weight rate, signed Calves (Yvert-Nr. 4, 6)

Provenance: Edward Grabowski (Spink auction, 2007), 350th Heinrich Köhler auction (2012)

“SAINT BARTHELEMY GUADELOUPE 29 MARS 87” double cds, fair strike on Dubois 10 centimes black/lilac, repeated alongside to formula postal card to Sweden with maritime transit postmark and reverse arrival, very fine. The remote island of Saint Barthelemy was ceded to France in 1878 and attached to Guadeloupe, any early mail under French administration being exceedingly scarce, this very card being sublimated by the elusive destination. A remarkable item

1876, Typeset Postage Due 15 centimes black on pale blue paper, a well margined copy of fresh colours, tied by cds “GUADELOUPE POINTE A PITRE 6 AOUT 1880” to local unfranked envelope with adjacent departure cds struck the day before, postage due handstamp "15" alongside, reverse flap missing, fine. A remarkable and most appealing Drop letter rate usage with only 2 covers recorded, certificate J.-F. Brun (2013) (Yvert-Nr. TT4)

Provenance: ex Grabowski, Spink Shreves Galleries 2007, lot 321

1893, Postage Due 50 centimes lilac, neatly tied upon arrival by cds “GRAND BASSAM 6 JUIL 02” to an unpaid envelope dropped at sea to a German steamship trawling the African west coast, oval handstamp “DEUTSCHE SEEPOST LINIE HAMBURG WESTAFRIKA 2 7 02” alongside, the envelope with vertical fold and minor imperfections, interesting usage where the 50 centimes pays for the ship letter rate for unpaid letters

1895, 5 francs violet on lilac paper, neatly tied by cds “TAMATAVE MADAGASCAR NOV 97” to a money letter to Switzerland, “CHARGÉ” and maritime transit handstamp alongside, reverse arrival “FLEURIER 15 XII 97”, the adhesive with a couple of pulled perforations, still a fine cover. A scarce single franking from the highest facial value, correctly paying both the triple rate, the registration fee and the insurance for a 2,000 francs transfer (Yvert-Nr. 22)

POSTAGE DUE: 1896/97, 50 centimes violet, tied by cds “FIANARAMTSOA 7 JUN 00” to incoming Boer War soldier's envelope from Natal, with cds. “DURBAN 7 AP 1900” and adjacent "T" in circle. Backflap missing.

1881, Alphée Dubois 5 centimes green in horizontal pair, fresh colours, neatly tied by cds “SAINT-PIERRE 9 AVRIL 85 MARTINIQUE” repeated alongside to green preprinted formula card to Bremen with arrival cds, left adhesive with a few pulled perforations, otherwise fine

“NLLE-CALEDONIE NOUMEA 15 JUIN 77” circular datestamp, very fine strike on letter sheet with part of content to France, alongside tax handstamps “7” and “T”, embarked on English packet, with red cds “PAQ. AN. V. SUEZ”, transit via Marseilles and reverse arrival, fine and very scarce.

Note: Postage due:  2x30c (double the French GPU base rate) + 10c = 70c

1891, Sage 1 franc bronze-green imperforated, two horizontal strips of four as well as two strips of five, together with Alphée Dubois 25 centimes black/rose, the latter paying the registration fee, neatly tied blue cds “REUNION 6 NOV 91” to the front of a registered parcel card to Transvaal, transit via Mauritius and Natal with framed “R” alongside; two 1 franc adhesives with faults, the parcel front with two small tears of no importance, otherwise fine. A massive, quite extraordinary and eye appealling franking to an elusive destination (Yvert-Nr. 16, 24)

1872, General Issue Cérès 5 centimes green, horizontal pair with good margins, together with 30 centimes brown, neatly tied by blue dotted diamond “GOR” with adjacent blue cds “SENEGAL ET DÉPces * GORÉE 25 SEPT. 76” to mourning envelope to Bordeaux; on reverse faint postmark. One 5 centimes with small tear at top and 30 centimes light corner crease, otherwise a fine and attractive cover. Signed Calves and Jamet (Yvert-Nr. 17, 20)

Correctly franked at the 40 centimes French maritime rate to France, confirmed by the endorsement at top “Paquebot français” 

1872, 10 lepta orange and 20 lepta blue with good to large margins around, tied by cds. “KONSTANTINOPEL 17.1.76" to letter sheet to Syros with arrival postmark, fine, certificate Simmermacher BPP (1993)

1875, 1 drachma black/green, tied by Athens c.d.s. to envelope from Vienna 1894 to Athens, franked on reverse with strip of five 1890, 2 kreuzer. Charged postage due because the franking was on the reverse, which was contrary to Greek PO rules.   Very fine and very scarce.

1875, 60 lepta black/green, tied by numeral “95” CONSTANTINOPLE to small cover, sent unpaid from Syra 1876 to Constantinople, with arrival mark, taxed upon arrival. Fine and very scarce usage at the foreign post office.

EGYPT: “ALEXANDRIA 25 APR 78”, c.d.s. clear on Large Hermes Head 30 lepta brown, clear to large margins, on entire bank letter to Athens, with additional strike alongside. Very fine and scarce.

1871, Emperor Franz Josef 2 kreuzer yellow tied by cds. "NAGYBANYA 9.11.74"  to Austrian postal stationery card 2 kreuzer (which was not valid in Hungary!) with printed address to Vienna, with arrival postmark. A fineand most unusual usage.

1904, 5 filler light green/black, two adhesives (one mostly torn off) tied by unclear cds dated 3rd March 1906 to small wrapper to Djibouti, treated as unpaid since Ethiopia was not yet a member of the UPU, and taxed upon arrival with blue crayon “T” and on reverse Ethiopia Postage Dues ½ gersch  vermilion pair, 2 gersch dark brown and 4 gersch lilac-brown, paying the domestic rate of 7 gersch and tied by cds “ HARAR 2 4 6”, some imperfections as to be expected, still fine, very scarce

Newspaper rate correctly paid at the country of departure, however invalidated upon arrival by a non-UPU member (Ethiopia joining on 1st November 1908)

1881/1915, 1881, 20 kr. tied by cds. “BRASSO OCT.18.81” to registered folded letter to the International Postal Organisation in Bern with interesting text regarding article 5 of the International Postal Treaty from 9th October 1874, postal stationery card with additional franking sent as express card in 1915 with censor mark to Germany

1903, 10 filler with First Day cancel “BUDAPEST 903 NOV.-1"” on unfranked locally used card, with adjacent despatch- and  arrival mark. Supposed to be the only First Day item of the first Postage Due issue. Ex Gabor Visnyovszki.

1871, Emperor Franz Joseph Stationery card 2 kreuzer yellow with additional franking 2 kreuzer yellow, each used with bilingual cds. “BUDAPEST 74.APR.26.” to Dagmarsellen, Switzerland. Card with small corner creases, otherwise fine, a rare pre-UPU postal rate valid untill 30.6.1875

One of the few times in GPU history that a postal rate increased upon formation of the postal union, from 4 kr to 5 kr.

1869/71, postal stationery card 2 kreuzer with German imprint, early use with cds. “PEST 8.10.69” (8 days after issue) together with stationery card 2 kreuzer with Hungarian imprint, early use with blue cds. “NAGYKATA 14.10.(69)", also 1871 stationery card used with cds. ”NAGYKANIZSA" and Company address label on front, fine and attractive bilingual trio

Illustrated in James Peter Gough ‘The Postal Card’, p. 20 and 741

1904, "I Gildi / 02-03", UPU Reprints with ‘Large Crown’ watermark, complete set of 18 including the seven Official stamps, very fine and fresh, unmounted mint. Very rare (Facit = 14'000 Skr.).

Note: The despatch of this new issue to the UPU Headquarters in Bern had been overlooked. By the time the P.O. was alerted to this, supplies of the issue had been exhausted. Denmark reprinted the issue with the new watermark and the stamps were sent to Iceland to be overprinted and thereafter forwarded to the UPU. 

Provenance: ‘Severin’ (Corinphila 2012)

1883, reply part of postcard 8 aur lilac, used with target “73” of Lemvig, Denmark (additional strike on reverse), with text to Reykjavík, with transit mark “KOPENHAGEN 1/8”. Very scarce. Certificate Nielsen (2006) 

1902, 2 reply parts of domestic double cards 5 aur, uprated in Germany resp. Austria with 5 pfennig resp. 5 heller, and send to Kopenhagen, with arrival marks. Both cards from the same sender, obviously a Danish fish dealer. An interesting ensemble, 

Illustrated in James Peter Gough ‘The Postal Card’, p. 763

1853, 9 centesimi light blue, in combination with Modena 1852, 5 cents green, with dot after figure, both of fine colour and with good to mostly large margins, tied to first page of newspaper "Messaggere di Modena" of October 24, 1853. A rare and most attractive complementary mixed franking, of which only very few examples have been recorded. Certificate Sorani (2002)

After the revolutions of 1848 Austria and a couple of northern Italian states instituted a tax to be collected on incoming foreign newspapers to discourage their import.

1859, ½ Bajocchi on yellow, vertical pair, slightly touched at top, otherwise clear to large margins, with parts of two neighbours stamps at left, tied by grid to reverse of pricelist from "FAENZA 30 OTT. 59" to Russi. The entire was mailed unfranked, taxed upon arrival and stamps applied on reverse as receipt. Signed Alberto Diena and Vaccari.

1867, Vittorio Emanuele 20 centesimi blue, used with diamond of dots on postal stationery card 10 centesimi brown from “COMO 27…74” to Karlsruhe, Germany, fine. A scarce usage at the letter rate from the Pre-UPU period

1877, Vittorio Emanuele 10 centesimi blue, tied by c.d.s. "FIRENZE FERROVIA 26 3 78" to postcard 10 centesimi,  to New Haven, United States, with New York arrival mark. Slight creasing, not affecting the franking. A scarce early usage to overseas; this rate ceased as of April 1st, 1879..

Illustrated in James Peter Gough ‘The Postal Card’, p. 286

1901, Vittorio Emanuele 10 centesimi brown-rose, neatly tied by special postmark “ROMA VI.CONGRESSO-POSTALE UNIVERSALE 18.MAG.06” to special card in brown with greeting text and signatures of various delegates, addressed to the general postmaster in Stockholm, fine, rare

"COMMISION D'ETUDES U.P.U FLORENCE 1923/ 4.10.23", clear strike on 1901, 1 Lire on cover to Paris

A pre-Congress conference meeting in Florence to prepare the agenda and special studies for the Congress of Stockholm 1924.