386th Auction

5 k. black/lilac and 1875 2k. black/red used with cds “ST PETERSBOURG 13 FEV. 1884” to 7 k. on 10 k. brown postal stationery envelope registered to Montevideo, Uruguay, adjacent red registration marks “R N° St. Pétersbourg Russie.” and “R / R.O DEL URUGUAY”, arrival cds “OFICINA DEL RECOMENDADAS MONTEVIDEO 27 MARZ (8)4”. The 2 k. with trivial corner crease, otherwise very fine. A most appealing Breitfuss mail to a rare destination

20 k. blue/red tied by cds “S. PETERBURG 11 DEC 1891” to reverse of a registered envelope to Nagasaki, Japan, addressed to the “care of the Russian Consul, Imperial Russian frigate staff surgeon”, endorsed on front “Via Brindisi”, reverse transit cds “HONG KONG FE 11 92” and arrival mark “NAGASAKI 6 FEB 1892 JAPAN”, very fine and most unusual, in addition two registered covers from Vladivostok to either Hakodate or Nagasaki. A fine trio

1889, 2 k. emerald-green, five singles tied by cds “MITAVA 15 FEV. 1893” to reverse of registered 10 k. blue postal stationery envelope to Malang, Java with reverse transit “SEMARANG 10 4 1893”, “TOEREN 12 4 1893” and arrival mark “MALANG 12 4 1893”, mostly very fine, in addition a registered 5 k. postal stationery from “PERNOV LIFL. 1 APR. 1897” to Weltevreden (minor usual toning) and a registered 10 k. postal stationery registered envelope with “PETERBURG 24 IX 1894” to Samarang without arrival mark. A very scarce trio

“SHANGHAI POST OFFICE 15 I 1900” large cds (T&S type 1), two fine strikes on “KITAI” 1 k., 2 k., 7 k. and 10 k. to reverse of registered envelope to Germany with transit cds “HONG KONG” and arrival cds “HAGEN 17. 2. 00”, repeated on front with red registration label in English language “I(mperial).R(ussian).P(ost).O(ffice) / Shanghai, China. N°4 R”, trace of one adhesive taken off probably before sending (as the franking pays the correct rate), very fine. A rare use of the registration label and attractive early mail from the Russian Post Office at Treaty Port of Shanghai

“CHEEFOO 20 IX (18)99” large cds (T&S Type 1, Gregorian calendar), superb strike on “KITAI” 10 k. horizontal pair with adjacent framed “R Tchéfou, Chine N°. 254” to registered envelope to Austria, re-addressed to Bohemia, reverse transit Russian cds “SHANGHAI 10 SEP. 1899” (T&S Type 2, Julian calendar), “HONG KONG SP 29 99” and arrival cds, endorsed on back flap “Imperial Russian Post Master”, very fine. A remarkable cover, probably the earliest registered mail from the Russian Post Office at the Treaty Port of Cheefoo (opened 1896) and an extremely scarce registration mark 

“KYAKHTA ZABAIK(AL) OB(LAST) TEL(EGRAPH) OFF(ICE) 26 XI 1908”, blue cds. on 4 k. repeated alongside on photocard to the Great Northern Telegraph Corporation in Shanghai with adjacent arrival cds. “SHANGHAI POSTE RUSSE 21 12 08”, the card with one minor peripheral tear of no importance, very fine, also an unused scenic postcard of the city of Kyakhta. Located at the Mongolian border, the post office of Kyakhta was supposedly transferred to nearby Troitskosavsk, and continued solely as a telegraph office. An extremely rare item

“TROITSKOSAVSK ZABAIK(AL) OB(LAST) 4 IX 19-10” cds. (Hellrigl type 1b), repeated alongside and tying a 3 k. to postcard to Kyakhta, extremely fine, also an unused scenic postcard, scarce duo

“TROITSKOSAVSK 12 8 13 g” cds. (Hellrigl type 2), tying Romanov 7 k. pair (one stamp teared at top before posting) to reverse of a registered envelope to Chita with arrival cds., on front a superb departure strike and the very rare registration label in Russian “Z N°660 Troitskosavsk Zabailkalskoy Obl.” (Hellrigl type 5), still fine and rare, the serial “g” on the postmark is unrecorded by Hellrigl

1881/1914, Imperial Post Offices in Transcaucasia, interesting collection of 69 covers and cards, including postal stations on the Georgian Military road, some better items with 1917 registered envelope from the anti-plague station “ZURNABAK YELIZAV. PROTIVOCHUM STAN.”, 1909 postcard from “NOVYI-AFON SUKHUM.”, 1914 free frank envelope from “AKHMETY TIFL.”, 1904 postcard with blue cds. “ANANUR TIFL.”, 1904 postcard from “BYELI KLYOUTSK TIFL. G.”, also mail from Dishet, Kazbek, Kobi, the meteorological station Mleti, etc., together with two envelopes with different types of the 1899 provisional violet registration label from Tiflis. Slightly mixed condition, neatly housed on expertly described album pages

1918/23, Civil War Issues, fine group of circa 140 mint never hinged/unused and used, including Revenues and Areas, some scarcer items throughout with some gutter strips and inverted overprints, noted Siberia, Chita, Armenia, Kharkov provisional overprints, etc., overall in good condition, neatly housed in one booklet

1891/1900, Russian Mail to Latin America, fine group of 9 registered covers, some good destinations with Montevideo in Uruguay, Santiago and Valparaiso in Chile, San Jose in Costa Rica, Buenos aires in Brasil, better routes with registered envelope from “VLADIVOSTOK 21 NOV. 1890" to Rio de Janeiro with transit cds “NAGASAKI 21 DEC 1891”, “REGISTERED 25 DEC 1891 YOKOHAMA”, New York transit registration etiquette and reverse arrival (some faults), etc., slightly mixed condition

1918/23, Armenia to Transcaucasia, mint never hinged/unused and used accumulation, many scarcer items throughout with Pateman guarantee notes, overall in fine condition, neatly housed in one booklet

“NAGASAKI 18.NOV.97 JAPAN” cds. on Russia 1897 7 k. blue and 3 k. carmine-rose on cover originating from Vladivostok with boxed "PAQUEBOT" and YOKOHAMA 22.11.97 c.d.s. alongside, via "Gensen", Korea (where the Paquebot) was applied, forwarded to Hannover, very fine, with arrival postmark 8/12/97. A very rare ship cover