373rd Auction

"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

"PAID AT ST. THOMAS", crowned circle (CC2), nice clear strike on entire letter 1859 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

1852, Entire letter from St. Croix, sent by British PO "ST.-THOMAS JU 15 1853" via England and Hamburg to Copenhagen, charged with a total of 87 skilling (noted on reverse); a fine and scarce letter to Denmark

1 d. rose-red, plate 186, tied by vertical barred oval "C51" on 'sailor's letter' envelope from a seaman on HMS "SHAH" to England with arrival mark of July 30, 1877. Part of reverse flap missing and small faults, still fine and extremely scarce (SG Z3)

1 d. rose-red, pl. 139, vertical pair, the lower stamp with clipped perforation, tied by vertical "C51" to small sailor's cover from a crew member of H.M.S. 'Reindeer', Arica, Pacific, addressed to Newton Abbot with arrival mark of February 12, 1872, usual slight transportation marks. A fine and rare cover (SG Z3), certificate RPS (1973) Provenance: J. Grant Glassco (Robson Lowe 1969)

4 d. vermilion, plate 12, tied by vertical barred oval "C51" with adjacent red "ST. THOMAS PAID MY 31 71" to entire letter to Jamaica with frontside handstamp "1"; fine and scarce

4 d. vermilion, pl. 12 and 4 copies 3 d. rose, pl. 6, tied by duplex "C51/ST. THOMAS JU 14 72" to lettersheet to Genua, taxed on arrival with "20" centesimi. The 3 d. at right with missing corner perf at top, otherwise fine; a very attractive and scarce 16 d.-rate cover (SG Z7, 10)

6 d. grey and 1 sh. green, pl. 8, tied by "C51" to envelope without dispatch mark to Portsmouth with arrival mark

1 sh. green, pl. 12 and 1½ d. lake-red, tied by duplex "C51/ST. THOMAS DE 11 76" to envelope via London to France with transit and arrival marks; a fine and quite scarce 13½ d. franking to France (SG Z30, 4)

1 s. green, pl. 12 and 2 d. blue, tied by duplex "C51/ST. THOMAS OC 30 75" to lettersheet to Marseille with transit and arrival marks, the entire with slight paper splits, still fine

FRENCH MAIL: "ST. THOMAS PAQ. FR. D No.2 / 26 MAI 80", clear strike in red on frontside of lettersheet franked with colonies general issue Ceres 25 centimes, tied by clear "PAQ. FR. POINTE-A-PITRE-GUADE 22 MAI 80" to Bordeaux with arrival of June 10. Stamp with small marginal faults, otherwise fine

"ST. THOMAS PAQ. FR. B. No. 3 / 30 ARIL 70", clear strike on reverse of envelope with original contents from "ST. THOMAS 30/4 1870" to New York, franked with Napoléon lauré 10 c. in pair and 40 c., tied by anchor cancel, adjacent "M.Y. STEAMSHIP 10"; one 10 c. corner perf missing, otherwise fine

1867, "COR. D. ARMÉES LIGN. B. PAQ. No.3 / 24 AVRIL 67" on front of envelope (backflap missing) to Dijon, franked with Napoléon 40 c. orange, tied by anchor cancel, certificate Behr (2001)

SPANISH MAIL: "So. TOMAS", straight line in red, clear strike on entire letter, dated "Sn. Tomas 14 junio 1844" to Manati, Puerto Rico. Vertical filing crease touching the first S in the handstamp, otherwise fine. One of the rarest items of DWI postal history and the only recorded strike of this handstamp in red

"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.

US MAIL: 1867, Envelope franked with 1861/66, 3 cents rose in horizontal strip of 6 and 2 cents black with adjacent "ST. THOMAS 16/12 1967" (tying two 3 cents), addressed to Maine, cancelled upon arrival in the US with cds. "N.YORK STEAMSHIP DEC 23". The franking with some marginal faults and slightly stained, still attractive and very scarce cover, transported by the first U.S. & Brazil mail steamship company

1869, Pictorials 10 c. orange used on small envelope with adjacent "ST. THOMAS 14/11 1869" to Washington with New York c/o-address; the stamp cancelled upon arrival "N.YORK STEAMSHIP NOV. 20"; one side flap of the envelope missing, otherwise fine

1875 (ca.), Envelope addressed to Machiasport, Maine, franked with US 1870, 10 c. brown, cancelled "N. YORK STEAMSHIP / MAY 20", showing on reverse blue "FORWARDED BY JAMES T. ABBOTT & Co. ST. THOMAS W.I.", fine

1875, Taylor 5 c. blue, tied by New York steamship cancel to fragment of cover with additional franking DWI 3 c. blue/red, tied by "missing wedge" ring cancel with adjacent "ST. THOMAS 20/11 1875" and encorsed "Pr. Carondelet" (merchant steamer). A very scarce combination, illustrated in 'Danish West Indies Mails' on page 94

1875, 10 cents blue-green/yellow/black in block of 4 from the right sheet margin, unused o.g., very fine

1875, 10 c. black/blue-green/yellow, tied by mute ring cancel to envelope from "PHILADELPHIA FEB 3" franked with US 1879, 2 c. vermilion and 3 c. green, 2 copies each, addressed to a member of the US coast survey steamer 'Blake' at St. Thomas and re-directed to St. Vincent. The Hapag stamp 2 clipped perfs at upper left and one 3 c. perforation cut away at right, otherwise fine. a very attractive and rare combination cover, just 2 other combination covers of Hapag and US stamps are recorded. Certificate Philaltelic Foundation (2017)

Puerto Cabello Steam Ship Co.: 1866, 2 r. green tied by Caracas double circle to entire letter 1866 via St. Thomas and England to Bordeaux, very fine (Facit LG11)

1869, Jesurun issue ½ real green, perf. 10 vertical marginal pair, precancelled with violet ink, used on envelope to Curacao with frontside arrival mark of 5.2.1874 with blue due notation "30". A rare franking, certificate C.A. Møller AIEP (2007) (Facit LG21)

2 reales with pen cancel used on cover with adjacent manuscript "pr. Packet" to Curacao. The stamp with somewhat rounded corner due to the difficult perforation, otherwise fine; a scarce cover, certifiate C.A. Møller AIEP (2007) (Facit LG22)

½ cent on brown, vertical block of 15, unmounted mint, the left row partly touched/cut into, otherwise very fine and fresh. A very scarce multiple, certificate C.A. Møller AIEP (Facit LG35)

II. PRINTING: ½ cent on brown, horizontal block of 10 with all transfer types, unmounted mint; 4 stamps slightly touched/cut into, otherwise very fine and fresh (one stamp natural paper bore); a rare multiple, certificate C.A. Møller AIEP (Facit LG35)

ANTIGUA-NOVA SCOTIA: 1867, Printed matter envelope franked with 1867, 1 d. vermilion (slightly rounded corner at upper right, tied by clear "A02" from "ANTIGUA DE 12 67" via "ST. THOMAS DE 14 67" to Annapolis, very fine (SG 7)

ANTIGUA - UNITED STATES: 1862, Small envelope with clear crowned circle "PAID AT ANTIGUA" and adjacent "ANTIGUA OC 11 62" to NEW YORK, transported via "ST.-THOMAS OC 14 1862" and in closed mail to Halifax and finally to New York, here marked with "STEAMSHIP 10" and "ADVERTISED 1 CENT"; very fine and scarce

ANTIGUA-UNITED STATES: 1869, "PAID AT ANTIGUA", clear strike of crowned circle handstamp on envelope from "ANTIGUA MY 27 69" via "ST. THOMAS MY 29 69" to Boston with frontside "N.Y. STEAMSHIP 10 / JUN 11", prepaid with "4" d.

ANTIGUA-UNITED STATES: 1872, Lettersheet franked with 1867, 1 d. vermilion, vertical strip of 4 and single, tied by "A02", from "ANTIGUA AP 2 72" via "ST. THOMAS AP 4 72" to New York with "N.Y. STEAMSHIP 10 / APR 19" on front, vertical cover crease affecting one stamp of the strip and another one damaged at top, still attractive, opinion Holcombe (SG 7)

BARBADOS-JAMAICA: 1862, Lettersheet from "BARBADOS OC 10 62" via "ST. THOMAS OC 14 1863" to Kingston with arrival mark on front, franked with 1861, 6 d. rose-red, tied by numeral "1"; slight age marks, still fine and scarce (SG 29)

BARBADOS-UNITED STATES: 1853, "PAID AT BARBADOES", crowned circle, good strike on small envelope via "ST. THOMAS JU 14 1853" to Philadelphia with frontside "STEAMSHIP 10", prepaid with 1/-"

BRITISH GUYANA-JAMAICA: 1863, Entire letter, franked 1862/65, 12 c. dull purple, tied by "A03", from "DEMERARA OC 23 63" via St. Thomas to Kingston with arrival mark on front; a fine letter (SG 47)

COLOMBIA-UNITED STATES: "PAID AT SANTA MARTHA", crowned circle in red on entire letter 1854 to New York via "ST. THOMAS OC 30 1854" and "KINGSTON JAMAICA NO 6 1854", prepaid with "1/-", very fine

COLUMBIA-UNITED STATES: 1853, Entire letter from Barranquilla to New York, showing on front clear "RECD. & FORWD. BY M. PRETTO & Co. ST. THOMAS" and red "PAID AT ST. THOMAS" (CC1) with adjacent manuscript "1/-", on reverse clear dispatch mark "ST. THOMAS OC 18 1853"

CUBA-ARGENTINA: 1871, Lettersheet docketed "Matanzas agosto 16 1871", addressed to Buenos Aires, prepaid with US 1870, 10 c. brown for the USBMC steamship rate, "FORWARDED BY J. NILES & Co. ST. THOMAS W.I." and posted at "ST. THOMAS 1 10 1871"; on front rated "2/4" (pesos/reales) in blue crayon. A fine and rare ship mail cover, one of 3 USBMC letters with only US stamp