337 / September 2009

1874, 20 o. salmon pink, mint, fine, signed. Gebr. Senf

1916, "Postes Serbes": Merson 50 c. tied by cds. "TRESOR ET POSTES*504*2-7 17" to registered cover to pseudo address in Geneva, with french censor and arrival mark, small imperfections

Registered cover from Saloniki to Geneva, franked with Semeuse 15 and 35 c. with cds. "TRESOR ET POSTES*504*8-5 17" and adjacent boxed "OUVERT PAR L'AUTORITÉ MILITAIRE SERBE" and bilingual registered mark "CORRESPONDANCES MILITAIRES", vertical crease otherwise fine

1851, Isabella 6 r. blue, fresh color, horizontal pair with good margins all round with spider cancel, fine, certificate Graus

6 r. blue and 10 r. green, the latter slightly cut into at top, otherwise good margins and tied by spider cancel to larger judiciary-cover front from "LA CORUNA 16 OCT 1851" to Ferrol, a very scarce franking

10 r. green, fresh color, good margins all around with lower sheet margin and spider cancel, fine, certificate Comex

1852, 6 c. postal forgeries: 2 copies, each on piece with grid cancels which have been removed and large part of the design completely repainted by hand; these 2 famous forgeries were discovered in Granada in October 1852. The forger had the "brilliant" notion of repainting two of the stamps from which he had removed the black franking ink by a chemical process. As well as the franking mark he also obliterated the stamp. One after the other the letters with these "stamps" attached were posted in the city and one after the other they were confiscated. After they had been opened with all legal formalities, it was realized that the forger already enjoyed the State's protection. He was an inmate of the city's prison. 2 great rarities of Spanish philately, each with certificate Graus (Edifil False Postal Tipo 14-I)

2 r. pale-rose, fresh color, good margins all round with grid cancel, good example of this rare stamp, certificate CEM and Comex

1853, 2 r. brick-red, fresh color and good margins all round with centric grid cancel, fine, certificate Graus (Mi. 3.500,-)

5 r. light green, good margins all round with scarce blue grid cancel, fine, certificate Comex

6 r. blue, fresh color and good margins all round with grid cancel, fine, certificate Ferchenbauer

1 c. bronze, good margins all round, used, good copy of this difficult stamp, certificate Graus

1854, Shield 6 r. blue, fresh color and good margins all round with centric grid cancel, fine, certificate Comex

1855, Isabella 2 c. green, horizontal pair with good margins all round with blue grid cancel, fine, certificate Graus

4 c. brownred and 2 r. braunviolett (both with imperfections) tied by grid cancel to registered cover from "LUGO 6 MAY 56" to Sisamo (Coruna), handwritten acknowledgment of receipt partly on one stamp, rare cover

1856, 4c. rose, unwatermarked paper, pen cancelled, affixed on entire letter dated "Palma 12 Dicbre 1857" (Mallorca) in manuscript inside, in combination with France 1853/61, Napoleon 80 c. carmine (faults) routed via London and "Paquebot Anglais" to Habana, Cuba. The letter was written on Mallorca Island and privately carried to Paris where it was posted on 30 Dec 1857. An interesting combination of Spanish and French adhesives on cover, althought it is not possible to say for sure, whether the Spanish stamps belongs originally to the cover or not, therefore, the cover will be sold "as is" (Edifil-no.48)

1860, 12 cs. carmine on yellow tied by cart-wheel "1" and manuscript to cover to Bordeaux, here redirected, franked with 1853, Napoleon 20 c., at top with manuscript "trouvé a la boîte", taxed with "5 c" this crossed out and in manuscript beneath the stamp "timbre bon", a very rare and spectacular cover

2 r. lilac on pale-lilac, block of four with good margins all round, unused, slightly toned, sign. Roig, certificate Graus

1864, 1 r. red-brown on green, good margins all round with no. "1" on cover from "MADRID ... MAR 64" to Santo Domingo, a rare cover from the period of the spanish occupation (1861/65), certificate Graus

1 r. brown on green, fresh color and good margins all round, vertical block of ten with gutter pairs, tied by "8" to large part of cover with adjacent pre-philatelic "A" of Abono, 3 stamps slight creases otherwise fine, extremly scarce, certificate Graus (Edifil-Nr. 67)

1865, 12 c. blue/rose, inverted border as horizontal pair with normal stamp on folded cover from Valencia (1865) via Madrid to Paris with transit marks, heavy crease through all the stamps, but still a very rare cover, signed Bühler

1882, Alfons 75 c. mauve, fresh color and good centering, unused, fine, certificate Graus

1938, Airmail 5 pts. on 1 pts., unhinged mint, fine

PUERTO RICO: 1898, 8 c. brown, defective, and "Impuesto De Guerra" 2 c. lilac, surcharged in violet on 1898 registered cover to Santurce, tied by framed Ponce date-stamp in blue-green; some ageing but a very scarce cover (Scott-no. 146,MR5)

8 c. brown and "Impuesto De Guerra 2 c. on 2 m. de peso orange (2), surcharged in violet, tied to 1898 cover to New York, endorsed "per Vapor-Arcadia" by San Juan cds. in black, reverse with New York arrival (Oct 12) cds; a scarce franking (Scott-no.146,MR2)

"Habilatado" handstamps: 3, 8 an 20 c. (doubled handstamp on 20 c. value) and 1898, 5 on 1 and 2 m. surcharges "Impuesto De Guerra" in magenta and violet respectively, all tied to registered 1898 cover from San Juan to Madrid cancelled by "Certificado/San Juan" date-stamps (Sept.5) in violet; cover trimmed at top and missing left corner but a scarce usage of these Provisionals on letter (Scott-no.161,167,168,MR2,MR13)

SPANISH MOROCCO: 1889/90, Spain 15 c. brown on 1890 underpaid cover from Tanger to Bordeaux, tied by Tanger cds. (Sept 11), framed "T/Espagne" in black and taxed on arrival in France with pair of 10 c. black Postage Dues (Sept 15); a scarce usage

1900, 1 c. green-blue, horizontal block of eight with tete-beche with left sheet margin, unused, fine, signed Roig

1928, Express stamp 20 c. with controll number, block of four, unhinged mint, fine, certificate Graus

1903, 2 pia. ultramarine, tied by Constantinople cds. to registered 'Avis de réception en retour' to Germany with arrival mark; opened on 2 sides, scarce

POST IN BULGARIA: "ROUSTCHOUK", clear strike of blue negative cancel on complete folded cover (1859) to Constantinopel (Coles/Walker Nr. 58)

"SLIVEN", 1861, cover to Constantinopel with negative cancel "postage is to be collected" in blue

"SOFIA", clear strike of black-blue negative cancel on complete folded cover (1859) to Constantinopel (Coles/Walker Nr. 73)

POST IN YEMEN: 1913, "HODEIDA 2 19 10 913" (C/W 5) on horizontal pair of 20 pa. on cover to Marseille, reverse with transit and arrival mark, fine

1918, 30 sh. ultramarine with imperial Russia imperforated 1 k. and 3 k. in horizontal strip of three, used on commercial cover (previously used, turned and re-used)

1918, 35 k. (50) and 20 on 14 K. (25) on postal money order