384. Auction

1885 (September 22), 5pa lilac on pale lilac, perforated 13.5, overprint Type IV, horizontal pair, tied to postal card to Plovdiv by blue Poste Slivno c.d.s., with next-day c.d.s. arrival backstamp, a fine example paying the 10pa inland postcard rate, handstamped “Rossl”

1885 (September 23), 5pa lilac, perforated 11.5, overprinted Type II in blue aniline ink, scarce as such, tied to locally-used postal card by blue Plovdiv c.d.s., some staining mostly confined to reverse, lightly around edges in places, else fine, certificate Hitzler (2022)

1885 (September 24), 5pa black on olive, perforated 13.5, overprint Type I in blue, tied to postal card to  by Plovdiv c.d.s., attached reply card similarly franked and also cancelled in Plovdiv, the sender’s message inquiring regarding the recipient’s intention  to pay a debt, with the reply disclaiming any plans to do so, some minor separation between cards, else fine and scarce, handstamped Zagorsky, with his 1993 certificate, and 2022 Hitzler certificate, noting the card “with the 5paras is most probably the only recorded.”

Note: the 1881 5pa issues were not officially overprinted; however, individuals could bring their stamps to the Post Office and have them handstamped with the Provisional overprint.

1885 (September 24), 5pa lilac, perforated 11.5, overprint Type I in blue, tied to local postal card by neat Plovdiv c.d.s., the sender writing to invite the recipient to a meeting of the Revolutionary Committee, a fine usage of historical interest, handstamped Friedl.

1885 (September 24), 5pa lilac, perforated 11.5, overprinted Type I in blue, tied to postal card by neatly-struck Plovdiv c.d.s., paying the correct local postcard rate, with message on reverse inviting recipient to a meeting of the Revolutionary Committee, fine.

1885 (September 24), 10pa green on light green, perforated 11.5, overprinted Type I in blue, neatly tied to postal card by blue Plovdiv c.d.s., to Sofia, some adhesions to reverse and light edge wear, else a fine single franking, correctly paying the 10pa inland postcard rate, which applied to Bulgaria after September 6.

1885 (September 24), 20pa rose, perforated 11.5, Type II overprint in black, diagonally bisected and affixed to cover to Paris, tied by superbly-struck Poste Yamboli c.d.s., likely of philatelic origin, nevertheless striking and scarce; with 1959 RPSL certificate.

1885 (September 27), 1pi black, overprint Type I, 10pa green pair and 20pa rose single overprint Type IV, all tied to cover by Plovdiv c.d.s., to Galata, Constantinople, with blue Burgas c.d.s. transit backstamp and partial black c.d.s. receiver, cover has been repaired along top, the pair with some corresponding flaws, yet an exceptional three-colour franking, correctly paying the 2pi foreign letter rate for the second weight stamp; a major rarity, arguably the most attractive commercial usage of this issue, and one of the most important covers of Eastern Rumelia; with 1975 Buhler and 2022 Hitzler certificates.

1885 (September 27), 20pa rose, perforated 11.5, overprinted Type III in black, paying the 10pa inland postcard rate plus 10pa registration, tied to postal card to Sofia by blue Poste Slivno c.d.s., handstamped “Recommandee” in blue, reverse with c.d.s. arrival backstamp (Sep 29), a scarce registered stationery card.

1885 (September 27), 20pa rose, perforated 11.5, overprint Type I, tied to registered postal card to Sofia by blue Poste Slivno c.d.s., faint blue “Recommandee” straight-line, a fine and rare usage, Bulgaria then being subject to the 10pa inland postcard rate following the revolution of September 6.

1885 (September 27), 20pa rose, perforated 11.5, Type II overprint in blue, tied to cover to Constantinople by Plovdiv c.d.s. in blue, underfranked for the 1pi foreign letter rate and thus struck with “T” due mark, backstamped with Burgas (Sep 29) transit in blue and Constantinople c.d.s. receiver, piece torn from back flap, else a fine and unusual cover, particularly scarce with the rare Type II overprint in blue; with 1934 Friedl certificate, to famed collector Konsul Weinberger, and 2022 Hitzler certificate.

1885 (30 September), 20pa rose on pale rose, perforated 11.5, overprint Type II in blue, tied to postal card to prominent philatelist J.B. Moens in Brussels by Plovdiv c.d.s., Sofia (Oct 1) transit and Brussels c.d.s. receiver (Oct 18) both struck on front, a scarce card, postmarked on the final day of validity of these provisional overprints, certificate Senf (1937)

1885 (30 September), registered cover to Gabrovo, franked with 1pi Type I, overprinted in black, paying the 20pa inland letter rate and 20pa registration fee, tied by Plovdiv c.d.s. (Sep 27), further free strike of September 30 above, handstamped “RECOMMANDEE” in black, reverse with next-day Gabrovo c.d.s. receiver, the odd small stain, trivial given the tremendous rarity of this cover, being the unique example postmarked on the final day of validity of the provisional frankings.

1920, Coat of arms 25f.  vertical pair and single 1m. together with two fiscal stamps 1m. tied by cds “WILNO 16 12 20” to registered Poland postal stationery card 25f. to Brest with arrival mark, some minor transportation wear, otherwise fine

1920, Coat of arms 25f.  vertical pair and single 1m. together with fiscal stamp 5m. tied by cds “WILNO 16 12 20” to registered Poland postal stationery card 25f. to Brest with arrival mark, some minor transportation wear, otherwise fine

1920, Coat of arms 25f.  vertical pair and singles 1-2m., tied by cds “WILNO 16 12 20” to registered Poland postal stationery card 25f. to Brest with arrival mark, some minor transportation wear, otherwise fine

1920, Coat of arms 25f.  vertical pair and singles 1-2m., tied by cds “WILNO 16 12 20” to registered Poland postal stationery card 40f. to Brest with arrival mark, some minor transportation wear, otherwise fine

1921, 10m. tied by cds. "WILNO 16 7 21" to registered cover to Warsaw with arrival mark, small part of backflap missing, a rare stamp on commercial mail, certificate Petriuk PZF (2021)

1920, President Masaryk unissued 50h., three imperforated colour proofs in red (pair), green and blue (horizontal strips of three), together with a large colour die proof of the issued 500h. in blue, fresh colours, mostly very fine group

1000h., three imperforated colour proofs in red, green and blue with coloured frames, together with a large die proof in black on thick glazed paper, the latter minor bend away from the frame, still a very fine and scarce group

1934, hymn minature sheet 1 kc. and 2 kc., unused without gum, complete with folder, slightly creased and small thin in the margins, otherwise fine

1854/57, 8 sk. green, with 1864/70, 16 sk. olive, horizontal strip of 3 and three single stamps, and two copies 3 sk. lilac, tied by numeral "1" and partly by faint Kopenhagen cds., to lettersheet (side flaps missing) to St. Croix, Danish West Indies. A horizontal filing crease broken and thus one 3 sk. damaged, 2 further stamps small (filing) hole and some usual transportation marks. An outstanding franking.

1921, 5 ö. brown and 10 ö. green in blocs of three with se-tenant "CHEVROLET", GMC", "OAKLAND" and "BUICK" advertising labels, tied by cds. "NAKSKOV -2.3 29" with 1 ö. , 7 ö. and 12 ö. to registered cover to Frankfurt am Main, reverse arrival cds. and "FEMERN RUTEN" colourfull vignette, some toned perfs, fine

1885, 1c. brown-red and light green, sheet of one hundred, showing varieties including a “broken C” (pos. 6), “filled C” (pos. 65),mostly never hinged, save for a small number of stamps at lower right which have been reinforced, two stamps having been re-affixed to pane with hinges, tear in right margin and other small margin flaws as expected, extremely scarce.  (Facit 5e). 

1885, 1c. brownish-carmine and light green, sheet of one hundred, all with inverted frame and showing varieties including a “filled C” (pos. 35), large white dot to the left of big “1” (pos. 69),hinged only in margin, the stamps being never hinged, two small pinholes in margin and small pencil marks at top, a remarkably fresh and scarce sheet. (Facit 5g).

1878, 3c. carmine-rose and grey-blue, sheet of one hundred, showing the striking “white wedge to the left of crown” (pos 6) and “line through R of OER” varieties (pos. 67), hinge reinforced at bottom, some separation in places, diagonal crease and adhesion impacting 11 stamps in rows 3-5, G.A. Hagemann handstamp in upper selvedge and some pencil notations in margin, but a scarce sheet of impressive appearance. (Facit 6c)

1887, 5c. dark grey and light green, sheet of one hundred, showing varieties “T and I connected,”colour and gum remarkably fresh, separation between rows 4-5, 7-8, and 9-10, and elsewhere, repaired tear in right margin, two small pinholes in selvedge, despite it’s fragility, of bright appearance.

1878, 12c. yellow-green & lilac red, sheet of one hundred, showing the “foot on big ‘2’ filled” variety (pos. 50), some perforations hinge reinforced in bottom selvedge, small piece torn from lower right margin, with some perf separation to surrounding stamps, other trivial edge flaws, else a remarkably fresh and bright pane, scarce and fine. (Facit 11b)

1893, 10c red brown & grey blue, sheet of one hundred, showing the “white dot between T and S” in various positions, “white spot at foot of R of OER” (pos 71), bright colour but significant perf separation in several places, stamp in position 80 separated and re-attached with hinge, margin torn beside, fragile, yet quite scarce. (Facit 10g)

1897, 1c light green & lilac rose pair, 5c green & grey, and 10c light blue & brown, all with inverted frame, tied to registered cover to Boston, Massachusetts, by St. Thomas c.d.s. (17 Apr), with New York (27 Apr) transit backstamp, slightly reduced at right well clear of adhesive, else very fine, a lovely three-colour franking, particularly desirable with the scarce 10c inverted frame.

“PAID AT ST THOMAS”, Crowned type in red (Parmenter CC1) on mourning envelope to Ploen, endorsed “via Ostende”, alongside italic “franco”, reverse “ST-THOMAS 1855” and arrival, fine and scarce

1860, folded letter from the firm of G. Nunes & Gommez, datelined St. Thomas, 14 September, reverse with St. Thomas double-arc despatch  (15 Sep), struck on front with fine “PAID AT ST. THOMAS” Crown Circle, to Port Au Prince, Haiti, rated “1/-“ in red manuscript, horizontal filing fold, a fine entire to an uncommon destination.

1861, folded letter, datelined St. Thomas, 28 September, to Carupano [Venezuela],  with oval “Gruner & Co” (forwarding agents) sender’s handstamp, ship endorsement at lower left, reverse with fine strike of large oval “ST. THOMAS / EXPRESS / OFFICE”, horizontal fold and small stain on back clear of postmark, a rare marking, with only seven examples recorded on mail originating in St. Thomas.

1862, folded letter datelined October 26, struck on reverse with St. Thomas double split-ring despatch in black (28 Oct), to Lubeck, front with blue oval handstamp of forwarding agents Schon, Willink & Co, carried via London (14 Nov), Ostende, and Aachen (15 Nov), British “10” in black at upper left, Prussian “12” (silbergroschen) converted to “16” (schilling) in Lubeck, some light edge wrinkling and crease to back, but a scarce entire.

1866, 8 p. black on thick grey-green paper, roulette C, used with blue cds. “WIBORG”, very fine, certificate Schwenson BPP (2016)