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British Post Offices Abroad - The 'Dubois' Collection
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Lot# : 5544 Danish West Indies
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Second British Occupation 1810 (Dec 23): Second sheet of entire letter from Antigua to London endorsed 'p. Packet, 22 Dec.' struck in transit with superb small "ST. THOMAS" fleuron datestamp (Dec 27) in black. Rated '2/-' in manuscript - 1/1d. Packet charge and 11 d. from Falmouth to London, reverse with London arrival (Jan 22, 1811) in red. Scarce and very fine.Starting bid : 2,000 CHFHammer price : 6,500 CHFLot# : 5545 Danish West Indies
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Second British Occupation 1814 (Feb 17): Entire letter from St. Croix to Armagh, Ireland endorsed 'p. Packet', struck with superb "ST. CROIX" fleuron datestamp (Feb 17) in black. Rated originally at '2/6d.' to pay, altered to '3/2d.' comprising thr Packet Letter charge, inland Postage from Falmouth to Holyhead and Irish inland postage from Dublin (faint datestamp on reverse) to Armagh. An extremely rare superb strike.Starting bid : 2,000 CHFHammer price : 3,200 CHFLot# : 5546 Danish West Indies
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Second British Occupation 1814 (Oct 25): Cover from St. Thomas to London at double rate, struck with large "ST. THOMAS" fleuron datestamp (Oct 27) in black, rated '4/4d.' to pay in manuscript upon receipt (Packet rate 2/6d. + 1/10d. from Falmouth to London). Reverse with London arrival cds (Dec 5) in red. Slight stain at top away from the scarce fine strike of this postmark.Starting bid : 1,250 CHFHammer price : 1,250 CHFLot# : 5547 Danish West Indies
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1863 (May 1): Entire letter from St. Thomas to Kingston, Jamaica, endorsed 'Packet' and prepaid '4' (pence) in manuscript for inter-island rate, struck with very fine single ring "♚ / PAID / AT / ST. THOMAS" in red. Reverse with British P.O. ST. THOMAS double arc cds of despatch (May 1) in black and 'Kingston-Jamaica' arrival (May 5) in black. Fine and rare Gi = £ 1'800.Starting bid : 600 CHFHammer price : not soldLot# : 5548 Danish West Indies
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1876 (March 16): Great Britain 1870 ½ d. rose-red pl. 6, 1864/79 1 d. red pl. 154 and 1873 1 s. green pl. 12, used on cover from St. Thomas to Genova endorsed 'via Southampton', tied by two strikes of "ST. THOMAS / PAID / C51" duplex (March 16) in black and by 'London / Paid' transit cds in red. Reverse with Genova arrival cds (April 3). Cover with ironed bends but a charming and scarce three colour franking.rnProvenance: Harmers, London, 27 March 1997, lot 513.Starting bid : 350 CHFHammer price : 1,000 CHFLot# : 5549 Danish West Indies
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1873 (April 3): Complete James Abbot & Co.'s Circular, mailed from St. Thomas to St. George's, Bermuda franked by Great Britain 1864/79 1 d. red pl. 140 tied by "ST. THOMAS / PAID / C51" duplex in black (April 4). File fold well away from the adhesive, a fine and scarce usage.rnrnStarting bid : 250 CHFHammer price : 1,300 CHFLot# : 5550 Danish West Indies
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1870 (July 29): Great Britain 1864/79 1 d. red pl. 125 in a pair used with 1867 6 d. lilac pl. 6 in a pair on 1870 cover endorsed 'pr. Steamer via Ostende' from St. Thomas to Hamburg, cancelled by two fine strikes of "C51" obliterator in black. 'St. Thomas / Paid' cds in red below (July 29) and 'London / Paid' transit (Aug 13) and reverse with framed arrival (Aug 16) in black. Envelope with slight trim at left but a scarce and attractive cover.Starting bid : 400 CHFHammer price : 800 CHFLot# : 5551 Danish West Indies
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1871 (March): Great Britain 1864/79 1 d. red pl. 111, a pair and a strip of four, used with single 1867/70 6 d. violet pl. 9 on cover from St. Thomas to Torquay, all tied by four strikes of the "C51" obliterator. Reverse with Torquay arrival cds (March 14) in black. Underpaid 3 d. and struck on despatch with INSUFFICIENTLY / PREPAID handstamp in black (Parmenter IP.1) with manuscript '6d.' to pay (double the deficiency). A charming and scarce cover.rnProvenance: Collection "Windsor", Harmers, New York, 28 Oct 1983, lot 754.Starting bid : 600 CHFHammer price : 1,100 CHFLot# : 5552 Danish West Indies
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1869 (Feb 27): Entire letter from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Cadiz, prepaid as far as St. Thomas with manuscript '4' (pence) in red; franked by 1858/69 2 d. blue pl. 5, 1867 3 d. rose pl. 5, 6 d. lilac pl. 6 and 1 s. green pl. 4, this last with corner missing, all tied by "C51" obliterator in black and the 6 d. by 'St. Thomas / Paid' cds in red (March 1). 'London / Paid' transit cds (March 16) in red and thence to Cadiz (March 20). An extremely attractive and rare four colour franking. Cert. Sismondo (2005).1 / 1Starting bid : 1,500 CHFHammer price : 1,600 CHFLot# : 5553 Danish West Indies
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1873 (June 13): Great Britain 1858/69 2 d. blue pl. 14, 1872 6 d. buff pl. 11 and 1867 2 s. blue all used on 1873 cover from St. Thomas to the Austro-Ottoman Bank in Constantinople tied by "ST. THOMAS / PAID / C51" duplexes (June 13) in black. 'London / Paid' transit (June 27) in red and reverse, with seal removed, with partial British P.O. / Constantinople cds in red. Top flap missing and some edge wear, as to be expected to the envelope, but a delightful three colour franking to an extraordinary, probably unique, destination.rnNote: There was no example of a classic DWI cover in the famous 'Cihangir' collection of Incoming Mail to Constantinople.Starting bid : 2,000 CHFHammer price : 2,600 CHFLot# : 5554 Danish West Indies
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1868 (July 11): Cover from Frederikstad via St. Thomas to Copenhagen, with circular FREDERIKSTAD cds (11/7) in black and manuscript '1/3' in red ink, franked at St. Thomas with 1867 3 d. rose, pl. 4, single and horizontal strip of four, the single applied over the original despatch cds, lifted for checking and hinged back into place, all tied by three strikes of the "C51" obliterator in black. 'St. Thomas / Paid' cds below in red alongside 'London / Paid' transit (July 29). Copenhagen arrival on reverse (July 31). A rare and most unusual cover. Cert. RPSL (1988).1 / 1Starting bid : 1,000 CHFHammer price : 1,700 CHFLot# : 5555 Danish West Indies
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1865 (Sept 16): Great Britain 1865 4 d. vermilion pl. 7 used on 1865 entire letter written from Kingston, Jamaica and mailed via St. Thomas to Ragged Islands, Nova Scotia, tied by bold "C51" obliterator in black. Oval "Lamb & Co. / St. Thomas W.I" Forwarding Agent cachet in blue at left and also on reverse; charged "CTS / 5" due on arrival in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Reverse with Halifax oval (Oct 4) and 'Locks Island / NS' cds (Nov 7). A fine and unusual usage. Opinion Holcombe (1989).rnProvenance: Collection Andre Bollen, DF, 29-30 March 1984, lot 11637.rn1 / 1Starting bid : 400 CHFHammer price : 950 CHFLot# : 5556 Danish West Indies
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1876 (May 30): Cover from Guanajuato, Mexico to Peru, mailed via Forwarding Agent with oval "Federsen Willink & Co. / St. Thomas" cachet in black, franked with Great Britain 1865 4 d. vermilion pl. 14 in a vertical strip of three and single 1867 2 s. blue all tied by "ST. THOMAS / PAID / C51" duplexes (July 3) in black. Single ring PANAMA transit cds (July 10) and reverse with side flaps missing and small part of Peruvian Postage Due damaged on opening the letter. A rare and spectacular franking.rnProvenance: Collection Grant Glassco, RL, 25-27 Nov 1969, lot 773; Corinphila, Zurich, sale 72, Sept 1985, lot 6796.Starting bid : 1,250 CHFHammer price : 3,200 CHFLot# : 5557 Danish West Indies
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1871 (Aug 27): Cover at double rate from Christiansted to London via St. Thomas, prepaid with Danish West Indies 3 c. carmine-rose, two examples, good to touched margins, tied by concentric ring handstamps in black with CHRISTIANSTED despatch cds below (Aug 27). Great Britain 1867 1 s. green pl. 5 horizontal pair applied for onward transmission and tied by "C51" obliterators in black with 'St. Thomas / Paid' cds in red below. Reverse with top flap missing and London (Sept 11) arrival cds in red. Small imperfections and overall soiling but a magnificent and enormously rare cover for the connoisseur.rnProvenance: Collection Edward Tresoldi Granger, Harmers, London, 26-27 Jan 1959, lot 367; Collection Grant Glassco, RL, 25-27 Nov 1969, lot 767.Starting bid : 7,500 CHFHammer price : 7,500 CHFLot# : 5562 Martinique
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Second British Occupation 1798 (Feb 13): Entire letter, begun on October 5 1797, mailed from Grenada via Martinique to Ayr, Scotland struck in transit with fine straight line "MARTINIQUE" in black (Jamet type 4), and endorsed 'Double Only' at top with manuscript '4/10d.' to pay (Packet rate of 1 shilling doubled and Falmouth to Ayr 1/5d. doubled). Reverse with arrival (May 8) in red. A fine and scarce entire.Starting bid : 500 CHFHammer price : 500 CHFLot# : 5563 Martinique
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Third British Occupation 1810 (April 11): Entire letter from Liverpool, England to Tortola, presumably carried privately to Martinique, mailed there with octagonal framed "MARTINIQUE" handstamp in black (Jamet type 7) on reverse and displaying well; rated at top "8d. 3 bits" with docketing of receipt "Rec'd 21st June 1810", the 3 bits being the local currency on Tortola. A fine and scarce entire.Starting bid : 500 CHFHammer price : 500 CHFLot# : 5696 Spain
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1859 (June 19): Entire letter from Fernando Po to Santa Cruz de Teneriffe, Canary Islands, with manuscript 'Pd. 4' (pence) at left, struck with very fine "♚ / PAID / AT / FERNANDO-PO" with despatch cds adjacent of 'Fernando-Po' in black (June 29). Slitted for disinfection with 'Santa Cruz' arrival cds on reverse and charged with circular "2.R" (reales) for local delivery. Creasing to the entire but of great rarity - this being the earliest recorded strike of this marking, predating the Parmenter & Gordon listing by a fortnight Gi = £ 7'000.rnProvenance: Spink, London, 13 Dec 2016, lot 1127.rnrnStarting bid : 6,000 CHFHammer price : 8,000 CHFLot# : 5697 Bulgaria
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Crimean War 1854 (Sept 3): Great Britain 1841 1 d. red brown on blued paper, imperforate, a horizontal strip of three lettered SG-SI paying the concessionary rate, just touched at left but with large margins on three sides and portions of adjoing stamps at top, used on cover with full original contents from "Balchik Bay", South of Varna, to Whitstable endorsed 'via Marseilles' tied by "* ♚ *" in black. Reverse with BRITISH ARMY POST OFFICE datestamp lightly struck, London and Canterbury (Sept 21) cds's. A very rare usage of the imperforate issue.rnNote: Contents "we have had a very severe sickness all last month aboard our ship...we have lost 68 of our crew with this sickness but it is getting healthy now, it was the Cholera and the Diahorrea that out men died with the Britannia that is our Admiral's ship had the sickness very bad she loss 100 and 58...the French ship Valmay lost 100 and 80 and the Montablia lost 200. We are going to sail for Sebastopol of the 5 of this month..all our Troops is embarked and there is five hundred sail of ships all together...".rnProvenance: Collection E.E. Yates, RL, 31 July 1940, lot 270; Collection McGowan, RL, 25 Jan. 1950, lot 95;rnCollection Griffiths Blackler, Harmers, May 1992, lot 1755.rnrnStarting bid : 2,000 CHFHammer price : 3,000 CHFLot# : 5803 Great Britain
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Mail Boat Obliterations / Mediterranean Packets 1867: Great Britain 1864/79 1 d. red pl. 84 in a block of six, tied to cover to Henley on Thames by six bold strikes of the Mailboat "A81" obliterator ("handed to Mr. Douglas for use on board, 18th March 1859") with reverse of envelope showing Crest of "HMS Pearl" in grey blue and 'Henley on Thames' arrival cds (April 3) in black. Closed tear to envelope and small imperfections at top but a superb and rare franking.rnNote: HMS Pearl had a chquered career, taking part in the Taiping Rebellion and the bombardment of Kagoshima during the Anglo-Satsuma War. In May 1861 the Pearl was involved in an incident involving a British merchant ship named North Star and Chinese pirates. On 13 May, pirates in a junk attacked the North Star off the coast of Hong Kong Island. They killed or mortally wounded at least five members of the crew and stole over $4'000 worth of gold before abandoning the ship. Only two survivors remained on the ship and they hid from the pirates until they left the North Star and then they set sail for the port of Hong Kong. HMS Pearl was anchored off Green Island at the time and she eventually recovered both the merchantman and the survivors.rnProvenance: Collection E.E. Yates, RL, London, 21 Jan 1940, lot 192.Starting bid : 1,000 CHFHammer price : 1,000 CHFLot# : 5805 Great Britain
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Mail Boat Obliterations / Mediterranean Packets 1856: Great Britain 6 d. lilac used on 1860 cover from Gibraltar to London tied by bold strike of Mailboat "B12" obliterator ("To Mr. Fisher for use on board the "Delta"), dated on despatch "Feb 4th" at lower left when the 'Delta' was at Gibraltar. Obverse with manuscript 'Evening February 9th' when the ship docked at Southampton. Reverse with Torquay arrival cds (Feb 9). Rare. Cert. BPA (1959).rnProvenance: 'Mailboat Covers & Cancellations', Spink, 7 March 2007, lot 1084.1 / 1Starting bid : 1,250 CHFHammer price : not sold -
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