379th Auction

GREAT BRITAIN – GREECE: 1862, entire letter from London to Patras, short paid by 2½ d., franked with 1856/62, 1 d. red (2), 4 d. vermilion and 6 d. lilac, all tied by barred "12", and marked "INSUFFICIENTLY PREPAID"; at Trieste taxed with "15" new kreuzer sea postage and in Greece with a total due of "65" lepta (including 20 lepta internal postage), franked with Paris printing 5 l. green and 40 l. lilac and First Athens printing 20 l. blue, all tied by numeral "9" of Patras. One 1 d. affected by horizontal crease, the other one scissors cut at 2 sides, in total some minor transportation marks, otherwise fine. A rare 6 colour franking.

Provenance: Dr. Maurice Friend (Robson Lowe 1982), Michéle Chauvet (Corinphila 2017)

GREAT BRITAIN – GREECE: 1865, unpaid lettersheet from "LONDON MY 1 65" via Aachen and Trieste to Athens, showing on front large blue handstamp"35" (Austrian kreuzer), applied at Aachen, crossed and altered into manuscript "15/15/20". At Athens charged with a total of "170" lepta to be paid by the recipient, franked with 1862/68, 10 lepta and 2 copies 80 lepta, all with full margins and neatly tied by Athens cds.. A very fine and scarce letter.