358 / September 2014

1864 RUSSIAN POLAND Entire letter with printed business address of Werballen to St Petersburg franked with Poland # 1 apparently cancelled "282" but with an inverted "2", adjacent cancellation of KIBARTY , St Petersburg receiver cancels front and back, signed Georg Bühler

1901 RUSSIAN POST OFFICES IN CHINA The very attractive Registered cover, slightly reduced at left, sent from PEKIN with early Registration label to St Petersburg with receiver cancellations on reverse. The cover bears the wax seal of the Russian Chinese Bank and is notable both for the very scarce registration label and the fine strikes of the PEKIN cancellations

1903 RUSSIAN POST OFFICES IN CHINA Registered cover to Paris (receiver on reverse) sent from Tientsin with 5 kop stamps in block of 4 with KITAI overprints, cancelled with typical defective strikes of the Tientsin canceller, and most notably late use of the large white provisional registration label of Tientsin, illustrated in Harry von Hofmann´s Zakaznoe - Recommandirt page 186

1907 RUSSIAN POST OFFICES IN CHINA  Imperial newspaper banderole 2 kopecks overprinted KITAI in red, sent from CHIFU to Saigon, with CHEFOU-CHINE POSTE FRANCAISE cancellation on reverse, a rare usage

1907 RUSSIAN POST OFFICES IN CHINA Registered "Samples No Value" from SHANGHAI to Austria-Hungary with Cyrillic Shanghai Registration label and international R cachet in violet at top of envelope, on reverse franking with KITAI adhesives totalling 14 kopecks and receiver cancellation, the long envelope folded back for display

1911 RUSSIAN POST OFFICES IN CHINA Registered cover from CHIFU to Denmark franked 2 x 10 kops KITAI oveprints on 1908 issue wove paper Imperial Arms and showing a nice usage of both internal and international registration labels (the internal label providing the Registry number), receiver cancellation on reverse

1900 / 1918 RUSSIAN POST OFFICES IN CHINA A fine collection of 38 covers and cards including mail from Hankow, Pekin, Shanghai, Tientsin and Chifu including 6 Registered covers and several colourful frankings, a very good opportunity to acquire an extensive range of this sought-after material

1902 MANCHURIA Small cover franked 2 x 10 kopecks with inland Registration label of Field Post Office # 11 and with cancellations front and back of MUKDEN Field Telegraph Office in the Primaur District, sent to Paris with international R cachet in circle and PARIS receiver, a very rare item illustrated in Harry von Hofmann´s Zakaznoe - Recommnadirt at page 191

1903 MANCHURIA Registered uprated postal stationery envelope sent from MANCHURIA Railway Post office and addressed to the Kunst and Albers office in Vladivostok, with Cyrillic Registration label for MANCHURIA Zh D P O , stamps on reverse with fine strikes of the railway station cancellation and a fine POCHTOVI VAGON 261 transit cancellation, a very rare and attractive item

1903 MANCHURIA Cover to Germany franked 60 kopecks on front with cancellations of Field Post Office # 13 and inland Registration label of INKOY Field and Telegraph Post office, on the reverse an International registration cachet of TIENTSIN and bi-lingual Chinese cancellations for NEWCHANG, roughly opened at right causing damage to two stamps but a rare item

1905 RUSSIA POST OFFICES IN MANCHURIA Registered cover from Harbin with Registration label of the Harbin Main Field Post Office, franked on reverse with Field Post cancellations and notable for the scarce paper censor seal applied to the reverse of the envelope, a fine item from the period of the Russian - Japanese War illustrated in Harry von Hofmann´s Zakaznoe - Recommandirt page 198

1903 CHINESE POST AND RUSSIAN POST IN MANCHURIA. Registered cover sent through the Chinese Post from Tientsin with Registration cachet and Chinese adhesives (cancelled TIENTSIN) on reverse, forwarded to Newchang with Chinese receiver and transferred to the Russian Post and re-registered with a Field Post registration label INKOY POLEVAYAR P T KONTORA and franked with four KITAI overprinted stamps for transmission to OSNABRÜCK, a rare and most interesting cover illustrated in Harry von Hofmann´s Zakaznoe - Recommandirt pages 194 - 195

1903 CHINESE POST AND RUSSIAN POST IN MANCHURIA Registered letter from Tientsin with Chinese Registration cachet on reverse along with Imperial Chinese stamps cancelled TIENTSIN, thence to Newchang with Chinese NEWCHANG receiver, re-registered there (Newchang = Inkoy) with Mss. R label and sent through the Field Post with 13th Field Post Office cancellations applied to the five  KITAI overprinted stamps, thence to OSNABRÜCK with Warsaw transit, a rare and fascinating cover illustrated in Harry von Hofman´s Zakaznoe - Recommndirt pages 192 - 93

1903 / 1916 MANCHURIA An excellent collection of 12 covers and 8 cards with Kharbin, Kharbin Voksal, Kharbin Pristan, Field Post from the Russian Japanese War and MANCHURIA cancellations, a valuable lot of scare material which includes 6 registered covers of which one is illustrated in Harry von Hofmann´s Zakaznoe - Recommandirt at page 188

1909 / 1917 CHINESE EASTERN RAILWAY: A group of 7 covers and cards with TPO cancels of routes 260 (2 items), 261 (2), 263 (1) and 264 (2), generally good to fine strikes of these scarce routes

1899 LYAO-TUNG LEASEHOLD. registered cover (some minor creasing) from PORT ARTHUR to Vienna, SHANGHAI and HONG KONG transits on reverse and WIEN receiver, franked 2 x 10 kop Imperial Arms, and with a spectacular provisional white registration label for PORT-ARTHUR itself of great rarity and adding greatly to the interest of this most interesting cover form the SEAGOING STEAMSHIP SERVICE OF CHINESE EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY

1902 LYAO-TUNG LEASEHOLD Registered cover with some creases and age toning from Dalny with Cyrillic Dalny Registration label, addressed to Tsingtau with TSINGTAU KIAUTSCHOU receiver cancellation on reverse, CHIFU and Field Post transit cancels and five adhesives totalling 32 kopecks each with DALNY cancellation, a rare item

1898 / 1904 LYAO - TUNG LEASEHOLD A collection of 8 cards and one cover from Port Arthur / Dalny with varied frankings and cancellations, one item with Mikulski certificate

1906 SIBERIA AND FAR EAST Registered triple weight commercial cover to St Petersburg with receiver on reverse, sent from Sakhalin with  Registration label of ALEXANDROVSK (SAKHALIN) and cancellations of P - ALEXANDROV NA SAKHAL; a rare and desirable item with detailed 1991 Mikulski certificate

1914 SIBERIA AND FAR EAST Remarkable Registered cover to Berlin with both Inland Foreign registration labels of Sakhalin, the Cyrillic label providing the registry number. The cancellation reads P - ALEXANDROV NA SAKHAL, scarce and attractive item

1899 / 1917 FAR EAST (AMUR and PRIAMUR). A collection of 18 items with fine examples of Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Nikolsk - Ussuryisk cancellations including railway stations, generally fine with good strikes of the cancellations making this a desirable lot.

1890 / 1912  Accumulation mint stamps, mostly in quarter sheets, including horizontally laid 2 kop (block of 21), 3 kop (21); vertically laid 2 kop (25), 5 kop (25), 4 kop (25); wove paper 5 kop KRED TIP 1910 (25)

1894 STAMP VARIETIES Ordinary business letter franked at the reduced rate of 3 kopecks sent locally withn Warsaw, two of the horizontally laid stamps showing a dramatic and unusual misperforation with displacements both horizontally and vertically

1899 ROYAL HOUSEHOLD Seven side autograph letter from Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna [ Princess Ella of Hesse, sister of the Czarina Alexandra] on personal notepaper in original envelope with crown embossing and special cancellation of the St Petersburg Post Director, all in fine condition

Remainder Lot of unclassified material including one Zemstvo cover, official paper seal (Dienstsiegeln) letters, money letters, two items from Finland, total 16 items

1807/11, "MITAU" straight line and boxed cancellation, each on cover, fine and scarce

1811/15, "Bolder.aa" straight line and boxed cancellation, each on cover (one trimmed at left), fine and scarce

1889/1904, 10 k. on printed commercial cover, regsistered from "BUKHARA 9 XII 1895"  to Peshawar, the routing via "AMBTE PONTEBBA - BOLOGNA 4 ... 96" and "SEA POST OFFICE JA 12 96"  to "PESHAWAR CITY 20 JA 96" all visible on the reverse, faults from opening but an interesting example of mail to India

10 k. used on commercial censored cover to London with adjacent cds. "MOSCOW 9.4.15"; since the cover was underpaid, the stamp uncancelled with adjacent red "0" and manuscript "50" below; in England taxed with 5 d. postage due stamp, interesting item

3 k. with numeral cancellation "3" on beautiful Red Cross charity envelope, locally sent within St Petersburg at the reduced Tariff 

1889, 10 k., tied by "TIFLIS 229 DZHULFA 1 12 07" to reverse of commercial  letter with contents from Erivan, a rare railway cancellation with additional strike on the front of the cover

1922, October Revolution 10 p. vertical pair and two singles and 27 p. single and 25 p. as block of six with additional franking tied by cds. to registered cover to Höchst, the block of six pasted over a block of six Hunger aid, because these stamps were only valid for domestic usage, fine and scarce

3 rub. with very rare perforation 13½:10:13½:13½, unused with original gum, very fine (Nr. 53D)

2001, 8 r. miniature sheet, imperforated proof on thick cromalin carton

2002, CEPT 8 r. miniature sheet, imperforated proof on thick cromalin carton

2004, CEPT 8 r. miniature sheet, 5 imperforated progressive proofs, very rare