368. Auction

Entire letter from St. Thomas to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with red "SHIP" and "NEW-YORK JAN 23", charged "12½" cents

1829, Entire letter from St. Croix to Aberdeen, transported by the "Sheldrake" of the Leeward Line, charged with "5/2", transported to Falmouth with unframed "F/LEEWARD ISLAND FE 26 1829", fine

1834, Dated lettersheet from St. Thomas to Petersburg, endorsed "p John", showing on front clear red octagonal "PHILA 17 OCT" and rare "Full-rigged ship" handstamp, charged "20 3/4" cents; fine and very scarce

1837, Entire letter from St. Croix to Toronto, Canada, showing on front red "SHIP" and "NEW-YORK APR 2" and green "QUEENSTON AP 10 1837", charged with a total of "1/11½"; 2 vertical file folds, one affecting the Queenston cancel; a fine letter with scarce destination

1838, Entire letter from St. Croix, forwarded via St. Thomas forwarding agent Hjardemaal & Nolding (manuscript notation on reverse) and London forwarding agent Preller & Garbach to Copenhagen, on reverse red boxed "PACKET LETTER" and London transit mark.A scarce destination.

1840 (ca.), Small envelope with red "FORWARDED BY WHITMORE & Co. ST. THOMAS" on reverse, sent to New York with black "NEW-YORK-SHIP 7 cts. / JUL 21"

1845, Prepaid entire letter, dated "St. Croix 27 Sept. 1845", addressed to Madeira, showing on front red "LONDON PAID 15 NOV 1845", and manuscript "7/4" for the quadruple rate, at Madeira charged with "400" reis inland postage

1846, Entire letter, dated "St. Croix 28 October 1846" to Madeira, on front red "LONDON PAID 1 DEC 1846" and noted "3/8"; at Madeira taxed with "240" reis inland fee

Entire second rate letter from St. Croix via "ST:-THOMAS JY 14 1846" to Copenhagen, transported per "Avon" to Bermuda and from here July 21 per "Clyde" to Southampton and finally via London to Hamburg, taxed in London with "3/4" and charged at Copenhagen with a total of "184" skilling (on reverse), scarce

1848, Entire letter from St. Croix via "ST:-THOMAS SE 30 1848" to Copenhagen, transported via Bermuda, Southampton, London and Hamburg, from here - due to the German-Danish war - via Lübeck, charged with a total of 114 skilling

1856, Entire letter from "CHRISTIANSTED 13 11 1856" via "ST. THOMAS 14 11 1856" to Copenhagen, transported via the British PO, London, Belgium, Prussia and Hamburg, charged with a total of "60" skilling, light file folds, scarce

1857, Entire double rate letter from "CHRISTIANSTED 28/7 1857" to Copenhagen, transported via Danish and British PO at St. Thomas, London and Hamburg, charged with a total of 119 skilling (noted on reverse), a scarce letter

1861, Red "FORWARDED BY KOEFOED WHITMORE & Co. ST. THOMAS" on reverse of entire letter to New York with frontside "5" cents due

1865, Small envelope from "ST. THOMAS 20/12 1865" to Boston, part-paid with 4 c. inland fee, charged on arrival with "STEAMSHIP 10", very fine

1866 (ca.), Red oval "FORWARDED BY J. CAPPE'S SONS ST. THOMAS W.I." on reverse of small envelope with manuscript return address "U.S. Stmer 'Swatara' ST. THOMAS W.I." to New Jersey with frontside "NEW YORK SHIP 5 CTS. / MAR .."

1879, Entire unpaid letter from "ST. THOMAS 29/9 1877" to Paris, marked at St. Thomas with "T" in circle and taxed in France "7" decimes; on reverse octagonal "LIGNE B PAQ. FR. No 4 / 29 SEPT. 77"

"FRANCO" in circle, clear handstamp in blackish-red on front of small envelope from "ST: THOMAS 10 11 1857" to St. Croix, fine and very scarce, just 9 entires with this handstamp recorded

"PORTO" in circle, clear handstamp on front of envelope from the US, franked with 3 c. and addressed to a member of the U.S.S. "Oscola" at St. Croix with St. Thomas date stamp on front and reverse (16. and 18.3.1867); in the envelope at left 3 cm scissors' cut, otherwise fine and very scarce, just 6 entires with the "PORTO" handstamp are recorded

1856/73, Coat of Arms, 3 c. dark carmine with yellow gum, ample to good margins, unmounted mint, very fine, opinion Vagn Jensen

3 c. dark carmine with brown gum, ample to large margins, unmounted mint, very fine, opinion Vagn Jensen

3 c. carmine with nice even margins, tied by clear target to entire letter, written at Puerto Cabello 2.7.1866, privately forwarded and mailed via "ST. THOMAS JU 12 1866" via London, Copenhagen, Lübeck and railway "J. JERNB. P.SP.B. 2 TOG" to Randers in Northern Denmark, here charged with a total of "63" skilling. A fine, very attractive and rare letter, rarely seen in this quality, certificate Nielsen (1995)

3 c. carmine, 2 copies, partly cut close or in the frame line, tied by target to double rate lettersheet from "FREDERIKSTED 11/9 1860" via St. Thomas Danish and British PO and London to Norfolk, England, charged in London with "1/-". An attractive and exceedingly rare letter to Europe; just a handful of multiple frankings of the DWI square issues are recorded. Certificates Nielsen (1996) and Paaskesen (1996)

1866, 3 c. carmine-rose, complete sheet of 100 stamps with full sheet margins, unused with original gum, 86 stamps mint never hinged; a vertical fold between the 2nd and 3rd row from right, touching some of the stamps slightly, otherwise extremely fine and fresh, very rare, certificate Nielsen (1994)

1866, 3 c. carmine-rose, block of 25 from the lower right sheet corner, pre-folded between the 3rd and 4th vertical row, unused with original gum and adhesions, fine

1866, 3 c. carmine, slightly touched at top, tied by clear target to lettersheet from "ST:-THOMAS 13 8 1868" to St. Croix; the lettersheet somewhat affected by termites, still fine and quite fresh, certificate Nielsen (1999)

1866, 3 c. carmine-rose with good to very large margins, tied by clear target to lettersheet from "ST: THOMAS 13 10 1868" to New York with frontside "N.Y. STEAMSHIP 10/OCT 20"; one back flap somewhat reduced, otherwise fine. A very scarce and attractive letter, only 6 similar  frankings to the US are recorded. Certificate Møller BPP (2001)

3 c. rose, just touched at lower left, otherwise clear to good margins, tied by target with adjacent cds. "ST. THOMAS 14/4 1868" to lettersheet from San Juan, Puerto Rico, franked for local postage with Spanish West Indies 1868, 10 c. blue, cancelled by numeral "6", sent by closed mail with Herera Line on April 12, 1868 to St. Thomas, here handed over to forwarding agent "SCHON WILLINK & CO" (blue oval marking on reverse), franked with the Danish 3 c. and US 10 c. green and transported on April 14 per "Southamerica" (US & BMSC) to New York where the US stamp was cancelled upon arrival with duplex "NEW YORK AP 21"; faint ironed creases through Spanish and American stamp, otherwise a fine and very attractive entire of greatest rarity, the only recorded triple combination of this kind, certificates Philatelic Foundation (1968 and 1991), certificate Graus (1991)

3 c. rose tied by target to small mourning envelope with adjacent "CHRISTIANSTED 11 8 18.." addressed to Ponce, Puerto Rico with red manuscript "pd 4 d.", handed over to the British PO, franked with 4 d. vermilion (applied almost completely over the DWI stamp), pl. 9, cancelled "C51" with adjacent red "ST. THOMAS PAID AU 12 68" and sent to San Juan, here marked with black octagonal "S. TOMAS" and franked with Spanish West Indies 1868, 20 c. bluish-green, cancelled by parilla with adjacent handstamp "20" due for the Spanish inland postage. The envelope opened out for display, top back flap missing and some faults at the top margin also affecting the Danish and British stamp. A wellknown and precious item of West Indies' philately, certificate Holcombe (1988) Provenance: Illustrated in Engstroem, D.W.I. Mails, vol. 1, page 2-10, illustrated in Dubois, Farrington, Schnell, D.W.I. Mails, vol. 1, page 18, Robson Lowe auction 13.10.1982

1872/73, Perforated issue 3 c. carmine-rose and 4 c. blue, both used with target, very fine

4 c., imperforated proof with normal frame on ungummed paper, very fine and rare, certificate Nielsen (2007) (AFA P7)

12 c. lilac/yellow-green, frame inverted (not issued like this), small sheetlet with 2 die proofs, ungummed and without watermark, very fine and rare, certificate Nielsen (2009) (AFA P12B)

50 c. violet, imperforated proof without watermark on ungummed paper, very fine, certificate Nielsen (2004) (AFA P13)

1873/90, Perforated 14:13½, 1 c. in horizontal pair, normal frame, tied by cds. "ST. THOMAS 12/6 1885" to folded newspaper "THE BULLETIN", the newspaper with faults and folds partly fixed with archival tape, the stamps in fine condition; a very scarce printed matter franking (Facit 5d)

1 c. with frame inverted, 2 copies, tied by cds. "ST. THOMAS 5/1 1897" to printed matter envelope to New York, right stamp slightly round corner at top right, otherwise fine (Facit 5i)

1 c. brown-red/light-green and 3 copies 3 c. carmine/dull green-blue, tied by cds. "ST. THOMAS 29/12 1892" to envelope of the Hamburg-America Line to New York with captain Becker cachet on reverse; one 3 c. tiny marginal tear, otherwise very fine

3 c., first print (1873), block of 25 from the upper left sheet corner, unused o.g., 16 stamps mint never hinged, a rare and attractive multiple, certificate Nielsen (2010) (Facit 6a)