361 / September 2015

CENSOR MAIL: 1915/16, 8 cards and covers with different censor marks

MILITARY: 2 covers from the same correspondence, the first with bilingual "BIR EL SEBBE 2" and "HALIL UL RAHMAN" to Istanbul, both with censor marks /notation to Istanbul; a fine pair

TELEGRAPH: 1910/17, 5 receipts (2 franked on reverse) from Hebron, Acre, Haifa and Beni Saab

DJEDDA: "DJIDDE 26 4 902", clear strike on postal stationery card 20 pa. to Alexandria with transit mark of Suez

"DJEDDA 2 / 3.6.914" on 1914, 20 pa. on postcard to Constantinople

"DJEDDA 5" on postal stationery card 20 pa. without text, addressed to Holland. This is the discovery copy for this cancellation

EL ULA: "ELULA MEVKIFI POSTA SUBESI HATTI ALI", fine strike of blue negative seal of Hejaz railway, applied by favour on postcard 20 pa.; some pencil notation on front mostly erased; fine and extremely scarce

MECCA: "MEKKE FEV 19 99", double circle in black, clear strike on 1892, 1 pia. grey on reverse of cover to Sumatra, showing adjacent transit mark of Jedda, Aden, Colombo, Penang and Medan; some hinge remainders on front of cover, otherwise fine; very scarce

"MECQUE 1 / 13.6.12", good strike on 1909, 1 pia. on reverse of cover to Netherlands Indies with arrival mark of Weltevreden

"MECQUE 1 / 20-6-12", clear marking on 1909, 1 pia. blue on reverse of cover to Istanbul

MEDINA: "MEDINE 12-11.902", bilingual dater on vertical pair 1901, 2 pia. orange on registered envelope with return receipt to Istanbul with arrival mark; small part of backflap removed at top; a scarce usage

MEDINA: "MEDINE 1", octagonal date stamp on 1916, 10 pa. on picture side of postcard with reverse side additional franking 1915, 20 pa. to Constantinople, the later stamp cancelled upon arrival, on address side quite clear star & crescent Medina military censor cachet; card little corner crease and one stamp somewhat faulty; very scarce

"MEDINE 2 13-12-12", clear strike on 1909, 1 pia. on cover to Istanbul; a scarce cancellation

1918, Postcard from Medina with octagonal cds. and adjacent red censor mark

TAIF: "TAIF 5.11.907", good strike on postcard to Jedda; little unfresh and card with 2 diagonal creases; an attractive item with very scarce cancellation

YANBO: "YANBO 4-4-902", very clear bilingual dater on 1901, 20 pa. on reverse of cover to Istanbul; fine and very scarce

BILINMIYOR / AZ-ZUHRA: "BEIT-BERICH 15-4-18", 2 clear strikes on 1914, 1 pia. and bisect 20 pa. on cover to Faz-Zuhra with adjacent arrival mark "ZUHRA 16 4-18"; the envelope small tear at top without importance. A unique item with 2 extremely rare cancels, illustrated in ISFILA handbook of Ottoman cancellation

CAMARAN ISLAND: 1895/1912, 2 covers and postcard with clear cancellation "CAMARAN (ILE)" and bilingual "CAMARAN" in black and violet

HODEIDA: "HODEIDA 6", cds. in violet on postcard 1911 via Aden to Germany and large type bilingual "HUDEIDA" on cover 1907 to Istanbul

SALIF: 1915, lateral strike of bilingual dater as arrival mark on official cover from the Ministry of Health in Istanbul to the Camaran Island hospital, showing also Hodeida transit mark; manuscript "return" due to the war situation

SANAA: "SAN'A" arabic double circle in blue, clear strike on 1868, 5 pia. grey on reverse of cover with original contents to Istanbul with faint arrival mark of February 17, 1879 alongside; a scarce and early entire, also same cancellation in black on tax stamp 10 pa. on receipt of a registered letter

"SANAA", bilingual double circle, clear strike on 1892, 1 pia. on cover to Italy and  on cover 1910 to Istanbul

"SANA POSTA MUDURUALI" clear negative seal on postal receipt, usual folds; very scarce

AMRAN: "UMRAN POSTA SUBESI 1305", good strike of negative seal on 1892, 1 pia. on envelope to Taiz; the cover slightly reduced at right, otherwise fine. This is the only known example of an Umran cancellation on and off cover. One of the great rarities of Ottoman cancellations

TAIZ: "TELEGRAF VE POSTA HANE-i TAIZ", negative seal on telegram; several folds and a large tear in the upper part of the telegram backed (all quite imperceptible); a very rare item

BATOUM: "BATUM 1", all Arabic cds. on cover with 1916, 10 pa. in horizontal strip of 3 to Istanbul with censor and arrival marks

AKSARAY: "TELEGRAF VE POSTAHANE-I AKSARAY 1303", superb negative seal in red on 1892, 1 pia. on reverse of cover to Nigde; the stamp affected by some scratches, otherwise fine; very attractive and rare, the only example recorded in red colour to date

ANADOLUKAVAGI: "ANADOLUKAVAGI POSTA SUBESI", clear negative seal in blue on postcard 20 pa. with adjacent blue date stamp "ANATOLIE KVAC" 1889 to Pera; very fine and rare, the negative seal was previously unrecorded

ANADOLUKAVAGI: "ANATOLI -KAFAK 26.8.-915" on front of lettercard 1 pia., overprinted "FELDPOST" with adjacent German ship's postmark "KDMSP no. 14 27 8 15", addressed to a member of Austrian military

ARNAVUTKOY: "ARNAVUTKOY", Arabic octagonal postmark in blue on 1877, 20 pa. with handstamp "LOCAL" on postcard 1882 to Galata; stamp applied with damaged corner and card with slight vertical fold, still fine

BATTAL cancellations: 1863, 1 pia. lilac and 2 pia. blue, the latter one with small paper fault in the marginal area, used on reverse of lettersheet 1863 to Syros, 2 pia faint vertical crease, otherwise fine, certificate ISFILA

1 pia. 3rd printing on thick paper with good to large margins on entire letter of 1.1.1864 to Beraliye; a very fine and early use of 3rd printing

2 pia. on entire letter to Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2 pia. on lettersheet to Rustchuk, Bulgaria; the stamp cut-into at top, otherwise fine

BURDUR: Entire folded letter from Burdur 1864 to Istanbul, franked on arrival with postage due 1863, 5 pia., cancelled by mute dots and bars postmark

BURSA: 1863, 1 pia. 3rd printing on thick paper, tied by clear black "BATTAL" to entire letter dated January 5th 1864 to Istanbul, very fine; earliest recorded usage of a 3rd printing stamp!