368. Auktion

1854, "FOREIGN LETTER OFFICE ST. THOMAS" on reverse of entire letter from Barranquilla to New York with frontside forwarding agen cachet "RECD & FORWD. ST. THOMAS / M. PRETTO & Co.", transported to Baltimore with blue arrial mark of July 12, blue "SHIP" and "7" (cents due), a fine and scarce combination letter

1854, "FOREIGN LETTER OFFICE ST. THOMAS" on reverse of entire letter from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico to New York, privately carried to St. Thomas and from here sent to Baltimore with frontside blue arrival mark of November 16, "SHIP" and "7" (cents due); a file fold on front with paper break and entire slightly stained

"ST. THOMAS 28 JUIL. 77", consular octagonal marking on entire letter to France, on reverse "LIGNE B", charged on arrival "12" decimes

"ST. THOMAS PAQ. FR. B No. 1 / 26 MAI 68", clear on unpaid lettersheet with St. Thomas sender mark, apparently handed over directly to the ship, addressed to Herrnhut in Saxony with clear accountancy mark "F./48"

"ST. THOMAS PAQ. FR. B No. 2 / 24 OCT. 65" on reverse of entire letter with frontside "SANTIAGO DE CUBA PAQ. FR. D No. 1 / 18 OCT. 65", to Paris charged "8" decimes on arrival

"ST. THOMAS PAQ. FR. B No. 2 / 25 MARS 70", clear on reverse of entire letter with Danish cds. "ST. THOMAS 25/3 1870" to Paris, taxed with "10" decimes

"ST. THOMAS PAQ. FR. E No.4 / 24 JUIL. 66", clear on printed matter lettersheet franked with Napoleon perforated 5 c. green in horizontal strip of 3 (perforation mostly cut by scissors), to Le Havre with arrival mark, fine

"ST. THOMAS PAQ. FR. .." (1866), 2 somewhat shifted strikes on Napoleon perforated 20 c. blue and 40 c. orange on lettersheet with adjacent St. Thomas sender's mark and Danish "ST:-THOMAS 39/6 1866", sent to Guadeloupe, here (due to the weak cancellation) octagonal "COR. D. ARMEES CACIQUE 2 JUIL 66" was applied; the paper a little weak in the folds and partly separated, otherwise fine and very scarce, the only recorded use of the St. Thomas octagonal marking used as cancellation

"ST:-THOMAS JA 9 1843", superb strike on reverse of entire letter dated "St. Thomas le 23 Dbre 1842" to London with frontside black boxed "PACKET LETTER" and charged in manuscript "1/5". A very attractive and fine letter. This is the earliest recorded date of a British postmark used at St. Thomas

1849, Entire letter via British PO "ST:-THOMAS JA 14 1849" to London, here "FORWARDED BY FREDERIK HUTH & Co" and sent via Belgium and Prussia to Herrnhut in Saxony with black "Aus ENGLAND per AACHEN"

1852, Entire letter from St. Croix, sent by British PO "ST.-THOMAS JU 15 1853" via England and Hamburg to Copenhagen, charged with a total of 87 skilling (noted on reverse); a fine and scarce letter to Denmark

1855, Envelope from "ST. THOMAS OC 31 1855" endorsed "By English steamer" to Bruxelles, transported by the "Atrato" to Southampton; charged with a total of "28" decimes in Belgium, with Belgium boxed accountancy mark on front; a scarce destination

1859, Unpaid lettersheet from "ST. THOMAS JY 1859" via London, Hamburg and Helsingborg to Westerwick, Sweden, charged with a total of "288 oere", fine and very scarce

1870, lettersheet from "ST-THOMAS DE 29 70" to Reims during the Prussian occupation 1870/71, via "LONDON JA 14 71"; since England did not note any charges, the letter was just taxed "65 cts." (rounded up) for an unfranked letter from Great Britain. An interesting item

1859, "PAID AT ST. THOMAS", crowned circle (CC1), clear strike on envelope from "CHRISTIANSTED 12 11 1859" via St. Thomas, London and Hamburg to Ahrensburg in the Danish Duchy of Holstein; in London originally taxed with "1/4½" (postage to Denmark) but corrected in "½" for transportation to Hamburg. In Hamburg straight line "fr. Hbg." applied and transfered to the Danish post office. A fine and interesting cover

"PAID AT ST. THOMAS" (CC1), good strike on cover from "ST. THOMAS JY 1 1856" via England to Canari on the Island of Corse, very fine

"PAID AT ST. THOMAS" (CC1), clear strike on envelope, prepaid with "4" d. till Panama from "ST.-THOMAS MR 18 1862" via "PANAMA MR 23 1862" to San Francisco with arrival mark on front, charged "10" cents

"PAID AT ST. THOMAS" (CC1), clear strike with adjacent manuscript "1/-" on entire letter to New York, transported by open mail via "SP. GEORGES BERMUDA MR 2 1858" and Halifax, showing on front clear "BOSTON BR. PKT. 5 / MAR 12"

1859, "PAID AT ST. THOMAS", crowned circle (CC2), nice clear strike on entire letter via London and Hamburg to Tondern in the Danish duchy of Schleswig, fully paid, showing on front manuscript 2s/sd and clear Hamburg "Franco"; a fine and rare letter

"PAID AT ST. THOMAS" (CC2), clear strike on entire letter from "FREDERIKSTED 29/5 1856" via "ST. THOMAS 30/5 1856" (blue) to Copenhagen, carried with the British mail to London, further by Prussian closed mail to Hamburg and from here to Denmark. The letter was fully paid with 37 c. incl. 4 c. inland postage to St. Thomas and 33 c. (=1/4½" shilling) British postage to Copenhagen. A very fine entire with the scarce crowned circle

"PAID AT ST. THOMAS" (CC2), good strike on entire letter from St. Croix with adjacent Danish "CHRISTIANSTED 12 5 1862" to South Zorra, West Canada, endorsed "Via Halifax", paid with 4 c. inland postage and "pd 4 d." British postage to Halifax, transported via "ST. GEORGES MY 18 1862", on reverse also transit mark of Quebec and arrival mark of May 31; on front marked "unpaid 5" which was applied to part paid letters. A very interesting and rare letter with light patina, one of the few recorded carried by open mail

"No._ DETAINED FOR POSTAGE", clear red boxed marking on reverse of entire letter 1860 from Caracas, addressed to New York, prepaid only as far as St. Thomas. Since part-payment to the US was not permitted, the PO at Caracas was informed about the missing prepayment. After receiving the dueamount the letter was cancelled "PAID AT ST. THOMAS" with adjacent manuscript "1/-" and taken to Baltimore with arrival mark of March1 with adjacent blue "SHIP" and "5". Unfortunately the Venezuelan franking fallen off or removed, still fine and extremely rare

"No. __  DETAINED FOR POSTAGE", clear red double line marking on entire letter from Maracaibo 13.8.1864 addressed to Veracruz, privately carried to St. Thomas, from here finally sent with red "ST. THOMAS PAID OC 15 64" with adjacent "1/-". Some ink erosion in the address, otherwise very fine; an extremely rare letter

"REGISTERED ST. THOMAS JY 28 70", red oval handstamp on registered cover with 1867/80, 3 d. rose, plate 5 and 1 s. green, plate 4 with clear "C51" and adjacent red "ST. THOMAS PAID" to Philadelphia with frontside cds. "NEW YORK REGISTERD". The stamps with minor imperfections, top back flap missing, otherwise very fine and attractive; only very few registered letters of the British PO at St. Thomas recorded (SG Z7, 29)

STAMPS: 1 d. rose tied by duplex "C51 / ST. THOMAS PAID .. 73" to entire printed matter to Cuba with frontside oval "NA1" (1 real due for inland postage); stamp little unfresh, otherwise very fine (SG Z3)

2 d. blue, tied by upright oval "C51" with adjacent red "ST. THOMAS PAID FE 29 72" on printed matter to Italy with "PD" in circle, very clean and scarce to this destination (SG Z5)

3 d. rose and 3 copies 4 d. vermilion, pl. 11, tied by vertical "C51" to envelope with adjacent "ST. THOMAS PAID NO 29 69" to Copenhagen with transit and arrival mark; the envelope slight marginal faults, one 4 d. applied damaged and 3 d. marginal faults at upper right and bottom, still fine (SG Z7, 10)

4 d. vermilion, pl. 14, tied by duplex "C51 / ST.-THOMAS JA 5 77" to small envelope to New Jersey, since the cover was unsufficiently prepaid here charged with "NEW YORK DUE 5 CTS. / JAN 15", fine (SG Z10)

4 d. vermilion, pl. 4, tied by duplex "C51 / ST. THOMAS JY 3 75" to lettersheet via "COLON JY 10" with straight line "TRANSIT" to Rio Hacha, Columbia, taxed with "10 ct" for inland postage; the lettersheet small hole on front, otherwise fine (SG Z10)

4 d. vermilion, pl. 11, tied by vertical "C51" with adjacent red "ST. THOMAS PAID AP 17 70" on entire letter via Trinidad forwarder (transit mark on reverse) to Carupano, Venezuela (SG Z10)

4 d. vermilion, pl. 13, tied by duplex "C51 / ST. THOMAS MY 3 74" to entire letter to Jacmel, Haiti, very fine (SG Z10)

4 d. vermilion, pl. 14, horizontal pair, tied by duplex "C51" / ST. THOMAS AP 16 75" to lettersheet to Port au Prince, Haiti, very fine (SG Z10)

4 d. vermilion, 3 copies, tied by "C51" (3 TH. HOF) to small blue envelope from "ST. JAN 1/4 1867" via St. Thomas and London to Liverpool; the stamps with some perforation faults, one stamp corner missing, still fine and attractive and one of very few recorded entires from the Island of St. John Provenance: J. Grant Glassco (Robson Lowe 1969)

1 s. green, pl. 5, and horizontal pair 1 d. rose, tied by vertical "C51" with adjacent "ST. THOMAS DE 15 71" to entire letter to Hamburg, very fine, sign. Pröschold BPP (SG Z3, 29)

1 s. green, pl. 4 and 3 d. rose, pl. 5, tied by upright "C51" with adjacent red "ST. THOMAS PAID JA 29 70" to cover to Copenhagen, Denmark; 3 d. pulled perf, otherwise fine (SG Z7, 29)

"SANTHOMAS.", oval marking, clear strike on wrapper with return address "Del cefe civil y Militar de la Prova. de Marac." to the Venezualian consul at Santiago de Cuba, taxed "12" reales inland postage; some tropical staining, otherwise fine. Only few entires with the oval marking are recorded, this one of the nicer ones.