365 / September 2017

Courier letter dated Uppsala February 13th 1615 and sent to Stockholm. The letter is signed by King Gustaf II Adolf and addressed to three customs officials: Karl Christopherson, Kjell Jansson amd Lasse Bengtsson. The mark "MP" after the Kings signature is an abbreviation of the latin word Manu Propia which means "Signed with one's own hand". Attractive and unusual item.

Beautiful Courier letter dated August 21st 1637 and sent to Stockholm with small red seal on reverse.

Attractive letter with large elaborate meander coil sent to the Court of Appeal in Jönköping. The letter was sent by the General Post and has number 18 on the letter bill that accompanied this letter. Inside the letter there is a note stating that it was read to the Court on October 27th 1640.

Letter sent to Major General Lars Kagg in Stockholm. Letter bill number 56. From a note on reverse we know the letter was probably sent in March 1642.

Letter sent from the Provincial scribe Jacob Andersson to Hyndrich Fläming, Stockholm. Letter bill number 15, in addition the letter was marked "Frannco" to indicate that the postage had been paid. The letter arrived and was read on the same day, April 29th 1642.

Courier letter dated Brussels (Belgium) May 15th 1655 signed (Queen of Sweden from 1632-1654) Christina with large paper seal attached.  A fine letter and interesting show piece.

Letter sent in 1660 with a long and impressive Government address. Letter bill number 1, and with three sketched Royal Crowns indicating that it was an official letter sent free of postage. Certificate Frans Obermüller (1977).

Letter dated Calmar April 1719 and sent to Stockholm. The postage rate was doubled from March 1st 1718 but then reestablished to their original value from June 1st 1719. The original rate from 1692 between Calmar and Stockholm was 5 öre silver coins. Thus the postage for this letter became 10 öre as has also been marked on the letter.

Stockholm B-postmark type 1 from Stockholm July 9th 1686 to Rotterdam (The Netherlands). In use from January 1686 to late autumn 1686. Unusual to foreign destinations.

Stockholm B-postmark type 2 on letter with contents sent via Hamburg to Utrecht (The Netherlands). In use from 1868 to 1691.

Stockholm B-postmark type 5 on letter sent to Jönköping. In use from October 1696 to March 1708.

Stockholm Postmark in handwriting style, type 1a, on letter sent from Stockholm to Carlscrona. In use between 1719-1722. Certificate Lars-Tore Eriksson (1992).

Stockholm Postmark in handwriting style, type 3, dated July 14th 1722 and sent to Gefle. In use only during the very short period between April and July 1722.

Stockholm Ribbon postmark, type 2 sent to Marstrand. In use between 1731-1742. Also type 3 on small letter with contents dated July 24th 1736 and sent to Upsala. In use between 1731-1741.

Stockholm Straight Line Postmarks, lot with four different types: Type 3 sent to Westerås, type 4 sent to Lidköping, type 7 sent to Carlscrona and finally type 10 sent to Upsala.

Norrköping Straight Line Postmark, type 1, on letter sent from Norrköping to Stockholm in 1769. The letter is marked with a handstamp specially made to be used in Norrköping during the ongoing Parliament meeting. The imprint is NEGATIVE. Three letters with this mark are known to exist in private hands.

Norrköping Straight Line Postmark, type 3 in RED colour. On letter sent from Norrköping to Skenninge in 1800. One of only two letters of this type known to exist in private hands.

Smediebacken Straight Line Postmark on undated letter to Stockholm. In use between 1819-1830.

Double rate letter with an unusual shade of 8 Skilling Banco, sent December 11th 1857 from Stockholm to Westervik; an attractive letter. Certificate Erich Harbrecht (1991) and signed Strandell.  

First Day cancelled letterfront postmarked July 1st 1858 sent from Wisby to Christianstad, from there forwarded to Ronneby. Certificate HOW (1997) small tear in upper margin. Franked with 12 öre Coat of Arms on the first day of the introduction of the new currency. A rare FDC usage.

Triple rate letter sent November 10th 1865 from Falköping to Wenersborg franked with 12 + 24 öre Coat of Arms. Certificate HOW (1990).

Letter sent March 31st 1874 from Wåthult to Wernamo. Wåthult became a post office on January 1st 1874 but did not get its handstamp until later. Thus the postmaster there had to cancel the adhesives in handwriting. Certificate HOW (1990). Very interesting and attractive item.

Lot with three local letters sent within Stockholm. The first from 1860 with postmark "BETALDT" (Paid) indicating that also the delivery fee of 1 Skilling Banco had been prepaid. The second also from 1860 with postmark "BREFB. SK. OBET" (Delivery fee unpaid) and the third from 1857 postmarked "OBETALDT." (Unpaid) indicating that neither the local letter fee or the delivery fee had been prepaid.

Postal circular dated November 25th 1861 with affixed local stamp of the initial, 3 öre provisional type. Such circulars were sent to all post offices to inform them of the changes regarding the distribution of local letters. 

Letter with 3 öre local stamp sent january 9th 1869 within Westerås. Certificate HOW (1990) also signed Sjöman. Late usage.

Sample pouch postmarked Sala february 29th 1880 and sent to Söderhamn. The pouch is marked "Prof utan värde" (sample without value) and contained seeds. From January 1st 1880 the minimum postage for samples was 8 öre, this sewn pouch is franked with 2x 4 öre Circle type perf. 13.

Railway Telegram sent May 11th 1881 at 9 o'clock from Matfors to Sundsvall. From Sundsvall it was sent by post to the receiver living in Svartvik outside Sundsvall. The sender had to pay the normal letter postage, 12 öre, for that service.

Free letter sent from Stockholm to Carlscrona with Stockholm F-postmark, type 2. The handstamp was ordered from the Locksmith Jürgen Müller and was delivered in December 1686. It was in use from 1687 to March 1689, later renovated and in use once again from March 1695 to March 1702.

Free letter sent from Stockholm to Malmö with semicircular Stockholm Free letter postmark, type 2. In use only late 1822.

Very small (ca 94x60 mm) Free letter sent July 26th 1853 from Stockholm via Stettin 28/7 and Minden 29/7 to La Hague (The Netherlands). The letter was written by the Swedish Queen, who had Free letter rights. Her letter, marked "Fribref" (Free letter), passed the Cabinet and was there also marked "cab". Opened up for display. 

P.S. letter postmarked Greifswald March 20th around 1835 from the Swedish and Norwegian Post offices in Greifswald (seal on reverse) and sent to the GPO in Stockholm. Letters from one post office to another were to be sent as Free letters but they had to be marked "Postsak" (Postal Matter) or similar, normally abbreviated as P.S.

Letter dated November 25th 1667 and sent from Dean Andreas Helg-Helgonius to the Vicar Nicolas Petrander in Stenstorp. Unusual item.

Crown mail letter dated October 20th 1755 and sent from Gabriel Hallberg at Skottek to Adolph Sandberg. The letter is stamped three times with a circular Crown mail cancel that depicts three crowns and the letters F B (Fri Brev = Free letter). The fact that the letter was stamped three times and has remnants of a feather in the seal, indicates a need for fast delivery.

Notification (Kungörelse), sent as a letter, dated April 27th 1798 and sent from Gladsax to the Vicar of Jerresta. Stamped with two open crown mail cancels of a crude design.

Relay letter (Budkavlebrev) sent August 12th 1819 from Kårsta to the villagers of Krånge, Åse and Högsjö. The letter was endorsed that it had to be sent from man to man without any delay. The feather is also an indication that it was an urgent letter. This is easy to understand as the message was that a forest fire had broken out and the villagers were called for help to estinguish it.

Attractive Crown mail letter with three feathers sent July 23rd 1831 from Gårdsby to the County Sheriff G.M. Bergman in Wret. The front endorsed that the letter had to be conveyed by the mail carrier without the slightest delay subject to a penalty of 32 skillings.