361 / September 2015

SHOMNU: "Sumnu", Arabic double circle in blue, 3 strikes on 1868/70, 20 pa., horizontal strip of 3 on reverse of opened out envelope from France, franked with Ceres 1 c., 2 c. (2) and 25 c. (3) via Vienna to Shumla and redirected to Pera; name in the cover cut out; French stamps partly with small faults where applied at the edge of the cover; an attractive combination cover

SOFIA: "TELGRAFHANE-I SOFYA 274/ADMon TELque IMPIe SOFYA", clear negative seal on telegram from Istanbul 1858 to Sofia; extremely attractive and rare

STARA ZAGORA: "AN CANIB-I POSTAHANE-I ZAGRA-I ATIK 272", clear strike on folded cover to Istanbul, extremely fine and rare

1849/61 (about), 6 prephilatelic letters with negative seals of Filibe (2), Ruszuk (2 incl. registered), Sofia and Shomnu

1865/1912, lot of 2 covers, 4 postcards and 2 money order receipts

BENGHAZI: "BENGAZI POSTAHANESI", good strike on 1884, 1 pia. (small marginal fault at right) on reverse of cover to Trablusgarb, very scarce

MASRATA: "MASRATA 1-6-911", clear strike on 1909, 1 pia. on reverse of cover from Alexandria, transported by Agency boat, showing adjacent oval agent's mark "ORIENTE ... VAPOR ITALIENNE / Agence d'Alexandrie", to Masrata; fine and scarce

"MASRATA", legible strike on nice picture postcard of Hedjas railway

1896/1911 (ca.), 8 covers and one postcard with print cds. incl. "DERNAH", double circle "BENGHAZI", "TRIPOLI D'AFRIQUE 3" etc.

BAGDAD: "BAGDAD TURQUIE FEV 12 1870" on Duloz surcharge ½ pia. on 20 pa. green in horizontal pair in combination with Ampir 1876, 10 pa. black/lilac on small envelope to Tabriz, Persia; a fine cover with quite unusual combination

"BAGDAD 8-1-910", cds. on 7 copies 1908, 10 pa. green (one further value fallen off during transport) on registered envelope to Azir in Basra Vilayet, showing on reverse arrival mark "BASSORA"; stamps and envelope small faults

"BAGDAD 26-11-916" on 1916, 1 pia. in horizontal pair on registered envelope to Constantinople, bearing on reverse scarce censor vignette

FAV: "FAO 14-3-907" on 1905, 20 pa. on privately produced photo-postcard to Basra. A great rarity of Iraq postal history; the only known strike of this postmark on entire. Illustrated in ISFILA handbook of Ottoman cancellations

HIT: "HIT 1-10-910", good strike in violet on postal stationery envelope 1 pia. to Switzerland with boxed censor mark "MUAYENE OLUNMUSTUR 1", on reverse small part of arrival mark; vertical cover fold, otherwise fine

MOSSUL: "MOSUL 5", all Arabic cds., 3 strikes on registered cover with all Arabic register label; stamps partly marginal faults, where applied at the edge of the cover, otherwise fine and very scarce; this cover is illustrated in the ISFILA and book of Turkish postmarks

NEDJEF ECHREF: "Necef", all Arabic octagonal negative seal, extremely fine strike on 1 pia. on reverse of small envelope with adjacent bilingual Nedjef date stamp to Teheran with arrival marks; fine and scarce

1852/1914 (about), 14 covers and postcards incl. several interesting items

AL BAB: "BAB", bilingual cds. on postcard 1915 to Boston, USA; returned with red boxed "DETAINED BY TURKISH CENSORSHIP"; some stamps and card faults (creasing)

LATTAQUIE: "TELGRAFVE POSTAHANE-I LAZKEYE", somewhat faint but clear strike on complete telegram form, very scarce

YABLAH: "DJEBEL 12 9 918", 2 strikes on block of 4 and horizontal pair 1915, 5 pa. on 10 pa. on postcard to Saffet with Beirut transit marks of 18.9.18 and frontside clear negative censor seal "MUAYINE OLUNMUSTUR AHMED HAMDI 1333". Since Saffet was occupied by the British troups on September 26, the card most likely did not arrive at its destination; one stamp applied with long tear and cut in the top of the card going into the censor mark. A very rare item of Syrian postal history, the only known entire showing the Djebel cancellation

1844/47, 2 entire letters with negative seals of Sam (Damas) and Haleb

1871/1914 (about), 13 covers and postcards incl. 2 entires with bisects, different cancellations as "BAB", "NEBIK" etc.

CENSOR: 1915/18, 2 covers and 2 postcards with different censor marks

BAABDA: "BAABDA", bilingual cds. on postcard with additional franking to Fatih, showing on front clear negative censor mark "HAMA MOTASARRIF CENSOR"; fine and very scarce

BAALBEK: 1898/1917, 2 covers, lettercard and postcard with different cancellations, one with negative military censor mark

BESKENTA: "BESKENTA POSTA SUDESI", clear negative seal on 1892, 1 pia. on envelope via London to Fort Fairfield, Maine, United States of America; stamp and envelope with small faults; a very rare cancellation

RAYAK: "RAYAK 1", all Arabic cds. on red crescent envelope to Haifa with arrival mark on front; entires of this city are all extremely scarce

1865/1918 (about), 21 covers and postcards and 1 telegram form with different cancellations incl. "SOFAR", "ALEY", "BAABDAD", rare "TELEGRAF VE POSTAHANE-I SUR 1308" etc.; a valuable and interesting lot

MAAN: "MOHAN", somewhat faint but readable bilingual cds. in violet on cover to Kadikeuy with arrival mark; one stamp slightly effected by vertical cover crease, otherwise fine; a very rare cancellation

MEDJDIL: "Telegraf ve Postahane-i Mecdil" and "Telgrafhane-i Gaza", good to very clear strikes on military correspondence telegram form; a fine and very rare item of Holy Land postal history, only few similar items known

NABLUS: Official letter with clear negative franchise seal

"NABLOUS-CAIFFA AMBULANT 8-2-15" TPO cancel, legible strike on postcard 20 pa. to Istanbul from Sebla with arrival mark and faint censor marks in violet and red; in the text the sender writes about his travel by train southwards from Damascus. One of the greatest rarities of Holy Land cancellations, the only strike known apart from archival records

NAZARETH: "NASRE 12-9-915" on 1914, 10 pa. in vertical strip of 3 on postcard to Canakkale with adjacent transit mark "DAMAS 3" and small negative censor mark "MUAYINE OLONMUSTUR 1330"; franking with small faults; a scarce card, only few items with this censor mark known

MILITARY MAIL: "HARBIYE NEZARET" (War Ministry) arrival mark on front of envelope with adjacent dispatch mark of Beer Sheeba, censored at origin; original contents enclosed

"KUDUS-U SERIF MINTIKASI ASKERI SANSOR", negative military censor mark of Jerusalem area on postcard from "JERUSALEM 6-5-915"

1893/1917, 25 covers and postcards with mostly different cancellations incl. rare negative seals of Nablus and Jaffa Port