368. Auction

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.

"S.TOMAS", octagonal handstamp in red, 2 strikes, one superb, one weak, next to each other on entire letter dated "New Haven 16th May 1846", with forwarding address "Mess. Whitmore & Co. St. Thomas" to Puerto Rico with arrival mark of June 22, charged "2 Rs.", very rare; the earlies recorded strike in red of which only few entires are recorded

"S. TOMAS", octagonal marking in blue, clear strike on envelope, addressed to a Danish captain at Mayaguez with arrial mark "ISLA DE PORTO-RICO 30 MAR. 1865", charged "2½" reales inland postage with blue handstamp; a rare marking

"S. TOMAS", octagonal marking in blue, good strike on entire letter with crowned circle "PAID AT BARBADOES", sent via "ST:-THOMAS FE 4 1851" to San Juan, Puerto Rico, here marked in blue with "1¼ (onzas)". A rare and unusual letter

" S. TOMAS", octagonal marking in blue on lettersheet from St. Thomas 1862 to Puerto Rico, dispatched at the "ST. THOMAS EXPRESS OFFICE" (blue oval with manuscript date). A fine letter with a rare combination of postmarks

"SPANISH. MAIL. PACKET SP 28 68", clear strike on reverse of envelope with oval "CAPITAN GENERAL DE PUERTO RICO E.*M.", addressed to the Spanish consul at Southampton, transported via "ST. THOMAS SP 29 68" and British arrival "SOUTHAMPTON PACKET LETTER OC 14 1868", charged with "1/-" handstamp. The envelope with small faults; a very rare marking

1866, James T. Abbot & Co. circular, dated June 21 and headed "PER 'NORTH AMERICA"", addressed to Portland, franked with 1861/67, 2 c. black with cork cancel; the 'North America' of the US-Brazil mail line arrived New York June 28, 1866. An interesting item, according to Dubois one of two recorded circulars from St. Thomas with blackjacks

1875, Envelope from "ST. THOMAS 13/8 1875" to New Jersey, paid in cash with red boxed "FRANCO" and franked with US 1870, 5 c. blue, tied on arrival "NEW YORK SEP 20"; the stamp slightly affixed over the edge of the cover, still good perforation, fine and scarce

1876, Small envelope with blue private (?) handstamp "ST. CROIX, D.W.I. / OCT 16 1876" to New Jersey, charged on arrival with "NEW-YORK SHIPLETTER 6 / NOV 8"; very unusual

1864, Waterlow 2 r. green, tied by clear "CORREOS LA GUAIRA SEP 9" to Bordeaux, endorsed "p. Steamer" and sent via London and Paris to Bordeaux, taxed "16" decimes; the stamp with slight scissors' cut at top, but perforation still intact; a very fine and scarce entire (Facit LG2)

2 r. green, tied by partly weak La Guaira cds. to lettersheet via "LONDON MY 15 65" to Pamplona, Spain, here charged with "4 R", with arrival mark of May 17, a fine cover with a scarce destination, sign. Holcombe (Facit LG2)

1866, Rasco, Stone II 2 r. green, tied by Caracas circle postmark to lettersheet via England to Bordeaux, very fine condition for this issue (one pulled perf) (Facit LG11)

1866, 2 r. yellow-green, tied by clear "F. VA. ADMON. DE CORREOS LA GUAIRA FEB 25" to entire letter via London and France to Genua with boxed "GB 2 F 60 C", charged "10" decimes; a very fine letter with scarce destination for this issue, certificates Fiecchi (1971) and Moorhouse (2014)

Stone IIb: 2 r. orange, tied by "CORREOS CARACAS" to lettersheet via London to Bordeaux, charged on arrival with "10" decimes; the rouletting slightly irregular, otherwise very fine and rare, just 8 entires recorded with this stamp, sign. Holcombe (Facit LG13)