Los 312
British Post Offices 1881: Registered cover from Carthagena to Breslau, Germany franked by extraordinary combination of Great Britain 1870 1½ d. lake-red, plate 3, 1873/80 1 s. orange-brown plate 13 and 1873/80 4 d. grey-brown plate 17 (two examples, un-recorded by Gibbons used in Colombia), the first two stamps tied by bold 'C65' obliterator (error for C56) and the latter two with straight line REGISTERED handstamp in black. Repeated 'Registered' at upper left and single ring CARTHAGENA despatch cds (March 2) adjacent. Oval London transit on front (March 30) in red and German registration label 'Vom Auslande über / Bahnp. 10 Vervier-Cöln'. Reverse with Breslau arrival cds (April 1) and further strike of the straight line 'Registered' handstamp. A remarkable and rare cover. Cert. BPA (2014).
Note: We have recorded just 5 covers struck with the 'C65' error for 'C56', this being the sole recorded usage of the 1880 4 d. grey-brown used in Carthagena.
