Wreck Mail 1892: 1 cent stationery card sent from Milwaukee, USA to Vienna, Austria, dated 19 January 1892, carried on the  ill-fated North German Lloyd Steamer "S.S. Eider" which sank off the Isle of Wight with much heroism displayed by the RNLI in saving the passengers and crew on board during 31 January 1893. The envelope struck with framed "Gehoben aus dem / geschetterten Schiff / Eider" in violet, with "FRANCO" in black applied to denote postage had been prepaid despite being absence due to being washed off by sea water. Also, an arrival cds “WIEN 4/1 BESTELLT 8.3.92”. Fine. 

1953: United Nations (New York) UPU, two Proofs of the 5 cents in pale and deep blue, printed on white paper and mounted onto card (127 x 62 mm.), fresh colour and margins all around, pencil number below “178/5” and “178/12” respectively, the latter with a tick alongside. Design depicting the world map and an envelope with UN emblem; the deep blue being the issued colour. Fine. 

1886: Stationery letter card, Grant 2 cents green on creamy white, uprated with 1888 Special Delivery 10 cents blue (Type II), strong colour and good perforations, tied by duplex “4 WASHINGTON JAN 2 1892” sent locally, endorsed “Important”. Letter inside is confirming dinner that night. Trimmed slightly at top left. Scarce card and combination. 

1888: Special Delivery & Registration Large Sunken Die Proof of the 10 cents blue line under “TEN CENTS” (Type II), printed on card (94 x 73 mm.) reduced, fresh colour, some tiny faint stain clear of the design. Fine. 

1888: Special Delivery & Registration 10 cents blue Plate Proof, printed on card, top marginal inscription with imprint, strip of four imperforate, plate “No.7 3”, vibrant colour, margins all around. Eye catching. Fine example. Comes with three plate proofs printed on India and mounted on card, cut to stamp size, two in blue and one in orange. 

1879: Postage due, 10 cents brown in combination with Taylor 1879, 5 cents blue and Franklin 1881, 1 cent ultramarine, good colour, perforations mainly fine, tied by a cork cancel, a violet cds “LUND WISCONSIN MAR 20 1882”  to an registered envelope to Chicago, endorsed “Reg lost No 12” and with handstamp number “16922”. Reverse, arrival “RECEIVED CHIGAGO MAR 27 1882”. The 1 cent folded over to reverse. Scarce combination. 

1879: Banknote issue postage due 50 cents brown, five horizontal pairs, good colour and perforations mainly fine, used with New York pearl pre-cancel in violet blue, affixed to a parcel front sent to New York, manuscript “50”, with “T” in circle and “U.S. CHARGE to COLLECT 5 00 Cents” and a cds “NEW YORK OCT 3”. Vertical filing folds, two affecting adhesives. Rarity of 19th century US philately. 

Note: This surviving front derives from a large packet, not being prepaid it was charged as an unpaid letter at US §5.00, double deficiency, as a 50x-rate letter. 

1890: Washington, 2 cents carmine and Grant, 5 cents chocolate in combination with postage due 1884, 2 cents red-brown, two pairs and a single bisected vertically, all good colour, perforations mainly fine, the former used with dumb cancel, a cds “MECHANICSBURGH 17 JU 1892” alongside, the latter tied by an upright barred oval with star to large part of wrapper sent to Philadelphia and redirected to Wynnewood, USA, with “Postage Due for Forwarding ‘9’ Cents" in violet. Tears and creases, as is expected with a large size wrapper. Some perforation faults. Scarce bisected postage due. 

1894: Washington, 2 cents carmine, type II, in combination with Chile postage due 1895, se-tenant 2 centavos and 4 centavos red on yellow, all good colour, perforations fair, the former tied by machine cancel “NEW YORK APR 23 1895”, the latter with framed “MULTADA” to a commercial envelope sent to Valparaiso, with charge “T CENTIMES 15”. Light vertical fold, not affecting adhesives. Soiling and a few short perforations to dues. Fine. Scarce se-tenant use of Chile first permanent postage due. 

Note: Of the four reported se-tenant pair covers, no duplicates exist of any two values in combination. 

1885: Special Delivery & Registration Large Sunken Die Proof of the 10 cents blue, printed on card (107 x 90 mm.), fresh colour, some tiny faint stain or toning specks clear of the design. Fine. 

1885/96: Group of five postage due covers, two incoming from overseas, one outbound to UK and two circulated domestically. Noted; 1896, envelope sent from India franked with USA Grant 5 cent chocolate (Scott 223) tied by “BASSEIN” local cds with Rangoon and Sea Post on reverse, sent to New York, charged “5 CENTS” and 1884, 5 cents bright claret postage due tied to flap. Also, inbound stampless cover from Norway to South Norwalk, USA, with Copenhagen transit and postage due applied and Jefferson 1882, 10 cents brown. Two interesting examples, which come with two which feature “HELD FOR POSTAGE” marks. Some faults. 

1910: Postage due, 5 cents deep claret in combination with parcel post postage due 1913, 5 cents dark green, rich colour, perforations fine (5c straight edge to base), tied by indistinct oval to the reverse. Front, Russia script cds “JANO POD 29 10 13” (Jano Pod(olski), Ukraine) addressed to Kansas, USA, charge mark “HOUSTON TERMINAL STA. N.Y. NOV 23 DUE 10 CENTS”. Minor soiling. Scarce inbound mail from Ukraine/Russia. Cert. PF (2010). 

1873: Department of State, 3 cents green, fresh rich colour, good perforations, tied by target duplex “3 WASHINGTON DEC 3 1881” to an envelope sent to Cleveland, Ohio, USA, endorsed "Legation to Bolivia, Chas. Adams Minister" at top left, violet “DEPARTMENT OF STATE” handstamp alongside. Reverse, arrival cds “CLEVELAND RECD. DEC 5”. Slight edge wear. Fine. Scarce from Bolivia. 

Provenance: The Rollin C. Huggins Jr. Collection of U.S. Officials, Robert A. Siegel, 4 August 2016, lot 570.

1874/86: Stationery envelope front bearing Franklin, 1 cents light blue on buff in combination with Wells, Fargo & Co. One Newspaper Paid, Blue, good colour, good margins to three sides, imprint used with cork cancel, sent to Lübeck, Germany. Tear centrally not affecting the stamps. Scarce; very few on cover/piece to Europe. 

1875: Liberty stationery postal card, 1 cent black, uprated with Franklin 1873, 1 cent ultramarine, good colour and perforations, tied by blue target duplex “CINCINNATI MAR 29” (76) sent to London, transit cds “NEW YORK APR 1” and arrival “LONDON W.C. AP 11 76”. Fine and colourful example of a proper prepayment at the post card rate. Comes with a selection of 5 other stationery cards, five of which are used, including three from the 1873 first type 1 cent brown, two with additional franking, one sent to Spain (15 cents) and one sent to Germany (2 cents). 

Reference: The Postal History of the Universal Postal Union: The Postal card, Worldwide 1869-1975, Volume 1, illustrated pg. 248 (to London), 208 (to Spain) and 249 (to Germany). 

1887/94: Stationery envelope 90 cents purple on buff, design U56, good embossing and colour, used with oval “OHIO B” and duplex “CINCINNATI OHIO DEC 6” (1898) sent registered to Östra Ljungby, Sweden, with New York Exchange registration label and handstamp in purple “REGISTERED” number “202”. Reverse, transit “NEW YORK REG'Y.DIV 12 8 1898”. Fine and rare. The 90c stationery envelopes of any kind are not common. 

1897: Exhibition page with five specimen envelopes overprinted “UNIVERSAL POSTAL CONGRESS”, which were part of the samples given to the delegates at the 1897 Congress of Washington (5 May - 15 June), and were the stationery envelopes in use in the US from June 1897. They include 1 cent blue on buff, 2 cents green on blue, 2 cents green on amber, 4 cents red on cream and 5 cents deep blue on cream. In addition, an 1897 UPU Congress envelope used by a delegate posted to Austria showing the commemorative US flag machine cancel “WASHINGTON D.C. MAY 9 1897 CONGRÉS POSTAL UNIVERSEL”. It is franked with a 5 cents brown, which is oddly not the required colour under the UPU requirements, which stipulated blue. Fine group (6).

Note: Only 125 of each of the specimen envelopes were produced. 

1891/94: Group of four used stationery post cards from the Grant 1891, 1 cent black issue, two are message cards with the reply card attached unused, one uprated with Franklin 1 cent mailed to France, the other with a Washington 2 cents applied, sent to Switzerland. Also, a reply card sent from Lausanne, Switzerland dated 27 November 1892 (1 month 2 days after issue) franked with Swiss 5 cent sent to New York, and an 1891 1 cent (larger format UX10) up-franked with Columbus 1 cent, sent to Austria and charged 12 kreuzer due to exceeding permitted size dimensions, and with three Austrian postage dues added (1k (2) & 10k). The latter card has heavy vertical fold, not affecting adhesives. Condition is mixed. 

Reference: The Postal History of the Universal Postal Union: The Postal card, Worldwide 1869-1975, Volume 1, illustrated pg. 546 (France), 583 (Lausanne) and 623 (Austria).

1858/1952: Stockbook comprising predominately unused examples from various continents, including many blocks, part sheets and Proofs. Noted, a selection of South Australia 1892 official reprints with SPECIMEN overprints, St. Christopher 1892 plate number sheets of 20 ½ d. To 4 d., Spain 1920 Madrid Congress set of thirteen imperforate corner marginals, blocks and larger multiples of the Guatemala Quetzal 1881 set, amongst others. Condition is mainly fine. 
 

1923, 8 Tausend auf 30 Pfennig mit Wasserzeichen 2, sauber mit Stempel "PLAAZ 14.11.23", tadellos, sehr schönes Exemplar dieser gestempelt seltenen Marke, Fotoattest Bauer BPP (2023)