386th Auction

1888 (January 29), 20pa on 5kr postal stationery card, cancelled by choice Filippopel c.d.s., bold oval commercial sender's handstamp at left, to Vienna, with equally crisp c.d.s. receiver (22 Dec) on front, very fine.

"LARNACCA DI CIPRO 9/9" clear strike in typical brownish ink on folded letter (written in greek) to Triest with arrival mark, fine entire from the Ralli correspondence

1876-83, Austrian Levant 2 sld. yellow and 10 sld. blue horizontal pairs, cancelled respectively with Burgas and Filipopoli c.d.s., with Lombardy-Venetia 1864-5 5 sld. rose and 10 sld. blue horizontal pairs, also cancelled Burgas and Filipopoli, the Austria Levant 2 sld. yellow with some paper adhesions to reverse, the 10sld. with pressed horizontal crease, otherwise fine and uncommon multiples.

1867/1883, 2sld. orange (Coarse Print) through 3 sld. green to 50 sld. brown (Fine Print) Franz Josef, with 1883 3 sld. green through 50 sld. red lilac Arms, all cancelled with neat strikes of Filipopoli or Filippopel c.d.s., the 1878 3 sld. with thin, the 1883 5 sld. toned in places and 20 sld. with horizontal crease, but of generally fine appearance, and a challenge to assemble. (Michel 1I, 2II-4II, 5I-7I,  9-13)

1871, folded envelope bearing two 15 sld. brown and 5 sld. red, good perfs, tied by "BERUTTI 3/7" handstamp, red mark "P.D." alongside, on reverse arrival mark Lyon 17/Juil/71,usual file fold at bottom, otherwise fine. The 35 Soldi rate to France (usual 15 sld. to Trieste and 20 sld. to France) is scarce and in PROFI archive is no other such mix from Beyrouth recorded

1871, folded envelope from Austrian Post Office "CANEA JUN/14/1871" (Tchilinghirian fig. 533) franked with 10 Sld. blue, to Athens with 20 L. blue large hermes head, blue crayon "20" alongside, transit mark "SYRA JUN/16" on reverse, usual file fold and few spots, otherwise fine and attractive!

1870 (August 24), folded letter to Vienna, franked with Austrian Levant 15 sld. brown, Coarse Print, tied by Filipopoli c.d.s., with c.d.s. arrival backstamp (2 Sep), quite fresh, a desirable single franking. 

1876-83, 10 sld. blue Franz Josef, Fine Print, horizontal strip of three, tied to small piece by two strikes of Filipopoli c.d.s. fresh colour, a scarce multiple.

1879 (May 27), folded letter to Constantinople, franked with 10 sld. blue, Fine Print, tied by neatly-struck Filipopoli c.d.s., reverse with c.d.s. arrival backstamp (30 May), slight toning surrounding adhesive, else fine, signed Sorani.

1886 (31 December), 10pa on 3sld. Coat of Arms, tied to cover to Leipzig by Filipopoli c.d.s., reverse with Constantinople transit (3 Jan), Leipzig  c.d.s. receiver (7 Jan), a fresh and very fine single franking, paying the printed matter rate.

1864, 10 so. blue, horizontal pair, and 15 so. dark brown, issues of Lombardy Venetia, both struck with choice “Filipopoli” c.d.s., scarce and fine.

1906, Ganzsachenkarte 10 C. auf 10 H. rosa mit “JAFFA a 17/11/06 ÖSTERR. POST”, mit rs. Text nach Breslau mit Ankunftsstempel, etwas bügiger Bedarfsbeleg aus Palästina mit klarer Abstempelung

1914, Ganzsachenkarte 10 C. aus Jaffa nach Frankfurt mit nebengesetztem, 2-zeiligen Rahmenstempel "AUS JERUSALEM / ÖSTERR. POST".

1900, Brief aus CANEA mit 1 Pia. grauultramarin/schwarz sauber entwertet "I.R. SPEDIZONE POSTALE CANEA 19/10/00", nebengesetzt ovales "T" für Nachporto, nach Constantinopel mit rs. österr. Transitstempel und türkischem Ankunftsstempel, vertikale Bugspur, eine ungewöhnliche Verwendung

1908, “VALONA OESTERREICHISCHE POST 23.2.08” (Tchilinghirian Fig. 486) auf Firmen-Trauerbrief mit 1 Pia. nach Triest mit rs. Ankunftsstempel 25.2.08, Teil der Klappe fehlt, ansonsten einwandfrei, saubere Abstempelung

1911, 10 Para grün Privatganzsache mit Zusatzfrankatur 10 Pa. und 20 Pa. als Brief der Deutschen Palästina-Bank von Caifa nach Oldenburg, dazu zwei Ganzsachen der Deutschen Palästina-Bank 10 Pa. und 1 Pia. ohne Zusatzfrankatur bedarfsgebraucht mit Randknittern und Bügen. 

1916, Kompletter Satz Aufdruckmarken mit 21 Werten, ausgesucht schön zentrierte Stücke, postfrisch, tadellos

1863, Leopold three values up to 20 c.blue, unused no gum, tiny faults, still fine (Michel 10-12)

1863, 40 c. carmine, perforated 12 ½ x 13 ½, unused, with part original gum, deep colour, fresh and fine.

1865, 1 Fr. light violet, unused, without gum, typical centering for this challenging key value, fine.

1879, 10 c. black and green, unused, fine

1884, 50 st. on 1 fr. black/red heraldic lion, unused, fine

1981, EUROPE CSCE 30 souvenir sheets, mint never hinged

1884, 5 p. orange, rouletted, unused without gum, deep colour, tiny thin spot, otherwise fine

1892, SOFIA blue star cancellation on German Reich 10 Pfg postal stationery reply part to Grosshain / Germany, fine

1842, folded letter from Plovdiv to Pest, with choice strike of disinfection marking “Netto Di Fuora E Di Dentro”, affixed with wax seals of Aleksinats and Semlin alongside and largely intact, very fine; ex Hitzler.

1847, folded letter from Plovdiv to Pest, struck on reverse with circular “Netto Di Fuora E Di Dentro” disinfection marking, with red wax seals of Aleksinats and Semlin alongside, light horizontal fold, else fine; ex Hitzler.

1860 (June 22), folded letter from Plovdiv to Marseille, struck with Filipopoli despatch c.d.s., handstamped FRANCO in black and P.D. in red, French entry c.d.s. on front, reverse with Wien (28 Jun) and Paris (1 Jul) c.d.s., black Semlin disinfection handstamp, some minor staining in places, else fine; ex Hitzler.

1879 (December 9), stampless cover, from Plovdiv to Worms, via Constantinople, handstamped “FRANCO” in blue, with blue c.d.s. transit marks (Dec. 23) on front and back, some toning, yet a rare cover, one of only a small number of such examples recorded following the closure of the last Russian field post offices and transfer of civil mail responsibility to Eastern Rumelia, but before adhesive stamps had arrive from Constantinople in late 1880.

1880 (January), group of nine postal stationery cards, showing examples printed on thin light paper without “FRANCO” handstamp, thick grey paper without “FRANCO” handstamp, thin light paper with 30mm “FRANCO” handstamp, thick grey paper with 30mm “FRANCO” handstamp, thick grey paper with short-form (29.5mm) “FRANCO” handstamp, thick grey paper with long-form (31mm) “FRANCO” handstamp, “FRANCO” overprint doubled, and examples on both thick and light paper showing “FRANCO” in light blue and “Ostrumelische Post” in dark blue, usual corner creases and edge wear, a chiefly fine and ideal group for the specialist.

1880 (January 16), prepaid stampless cover to Constantinople, struck with blue Plovdiv c.d.s., straight-line FRANCO in blue below, with c.d.s. arrival backstamp (Jan 31), opening tear to back flap and some light creasing, else fine.

Note: responsibility for civil mails passed to Eastern Rumelian authorities in mid-1879, though adhesive stamps were not available until late 1880.  

1880 (March 11), registered cover from Tatar Pazardjik to Adrianopel, likely paid 1-1/2pi letter rate plus 1-1/2pi registration fee, struck FRANCO in black due to unavailability of postage stamps for prepayment, neatly-struck Plovdiv transit on front (March 11), reverse with faint c.d.s. arrival backstamp, some toning, cover reduced at right, yet a scarce example of registered mail from this short-lived period.

1880 (June 25), stampless cover to London, prepaid and struck with blue FRANCO straight-line, alongside fine Plovdiv despatch c.d.s. and Constantinople transit (Jul 9), reverse with second transit c.d.s. and London c.d.s. receiver (Jul 14), portion torn from back, clear of postmarks, cover opened on three sides for display, but a scarce usage to a foreign destination, with clearer strikes than often seen.

1886, three postal stationery covers to Freiherrn Adolph von Gissa in Plovdiv, with a 7k stationery cover from Libau (June 4),  a 10pf uprated Bavarian stationery cover from Bamberg, and 10pf Crown & Eagle stationery of Germany uprated from Dresden, the first two with Constantinople transit and c.d.s. arrival backstamps, the last transiting via  Orsova and Sofia, the Bavarian cover opened on three sides for display, a pleasing group to an important figure in the early study of the postal history of the period.

1881, 1/2pre on 20pa green horizontal pair, overprint “R.O.” inverted, centrally-struck with circular grid cancel in blue, nicely-centered and fresh colour, light central wrinkles not detracting from the pleasing appearance of this scarce variety.

1881, 1/2pre on 20pa green, overprinted “R.O.” in blue, vertical pair, cancelled with multiple strikes of circular grid cancel in blue, some small perf flaws as commonly found, else a fine and scarce pair; with 1996 Holcombe certificate.