1878, Wreck of the Metropolis, undenominated United States Postal Service / Post Office Department / Office of the Third Ass’t Postmaster General / Division of Dead Letters / Official Business penalty cover, postmarked Philadelphia (Feb 12), to Captain Amundsen, care of the Norwegian & Swedish Consul in St. Thomas, backstamped with St. Thomas receiver (23 Feb), imprint on back flap “The inclosed letter was recovered from the wreck of the / Steamer Metropolis, lost on Currituck Beach,/ North Carolina, January 31, 1878”, light adhesion marks on two back corners from prior mounting, a rare entire.
In January, 1878, the Steamer “Metropolis”, then owned by the Lunt Brothers shipping company, set sail for Brazil with over 700 tons of steel for the construction of a railroad, along with 248 passengers. It began taking on water in Delaware Bay, and despite rising seas, the Captain pressed on, until water flooded the engine room, forcing him to ground the ship on a sandbar near Currituck Beach. A delay in arranging a rescue led to the deaths of 102 passengers. Mail that was salvaged was forwarded on under official covers such as the example offered here.
