ROPiT, 1858: Early passenger ticket for a journey on the Parokhod Alexander II from Odessa to Constantinople. Excellent condition

Jerusalem II: 2 pia. in horizontal block of 24, tied by cds. "LUDD PM 2 AU 21" to Post & Telegraphs cover; some minor marginal staining, otherwise fine; a rare block (Bale 36)

1843, 'Bull's Eye' 90 reis black in horizontal pair, intermediate impression together with 60 reis worn impression, all in fresh colour and with good to mostly large margins, used on entire printed commercial letter, tied by cds. "CORREOS GERAL BA CORTE 26/9 1843" and addressed to Cattas Altas in the postal district of Ouro Preto. A marvellous letter with an outstanding combination; just one further letter with similar franking is recorded. Signed Alberto Diena in pencil
Provenance: Collection Berms (Robson Lowe, 1975)

"FLAMISOUL", superb strike on entire letter dated "Noville le 28 gbre 1750" to Luxemburg; very fine and scarce (Goebel AF4)

5 c. lemon-yellow, block of 4, unused with original gum, some split perfs strengthened by hinges, otherwise fine, scarce, sign. Goebel and certificate Böttger BPP (2016)

September 1920 Registered letter, private correspondence, sent from RAZEZD [railway siding] NOMZHA SVER ZH.D. 21 9 20 with Kholm Pskov receiver cancel on reverse and Mss notes confirming date of arrival. To make the correct 10rouble franking, the 7 kop stationery envelope has been revalued x 100 contrary to regulations which had invalidated all stationeries from 1st January 1919. This may have been done in response to stamp shortages or possibly as a philatelic favour

1734, entire letter dated "Bastogne le 25 juin 1734" to Bruxelles, manuscript tax "4" cancelled and replaced "3"; a rare letter, illustrated in "Catalgue spécialisé de Luxembourg" (Goebel AB1, 32 points)

1918, Värnamo 55 o. and 80 o., both quite well centered and nice fresh colour, unused o.g., vera fine, each stamp certificate Obermüller Wielen

ARNAVUTKOY: "ARNAVUTKOY", Arabic octagonal postmark in blue on 1877, 20 pa. with handstamp "LOCAL" on postcard 1882 to Galata; stamp applied with damaged corner and card with slight vertical fold, still fine

"JASK 18 AP ...", squared circle of the British-Indian PO on 1909, 1-6 ch. on cover to London; somewhat faulty but very scarce, only few similar items known

1967, 'Long live the invincible charmain Mao's thought' 8 f., cpl. set incl. both strips of 5 (lightly folded), mint never hinged,  fine

 6 Kreuzer braun, allseits breitrandig und farbfrisch mit gMR "181" und nebengesetztem Fingerhutstempel "LAUFEN 14/6" auf komplettem Faltbrief an den Anwalt der Ex-Kaiserin von Brasilien, Amelie, Herzogin von Braganza, nach München; ein sehr attraktiver Brief

20 pia., horizontal block of 24 (pos. 205-216/217-228) with margins at left and right, showing "Z"-error on pos. 205, "TRANSPOSED"-error on pos. 215, withdrawn type 13 on pos. 217 and withdrawn type 23b on pos. 227, unused with several hinge remainders; a very rare block of the 1st setting and possible unique, certificates Bale and Kaufmann (Bale 26Z, T, C, D) Provenance: Garfinkel

1200 m. on 2.25 rub., type 2, unused, tiny corner crease ar lower right, Soviet expertization signs

Quadratausgabe 1 Kreuzer rosa, 3 Einzelwerte, einer ganz leicht berührt, sonst voll- bis meist breitrandig mit gMR "479" und nebengesetztem Halbkreisstempel "SCHWEINFURT 16 2" auf kompletter Drucksache ohne Schleife nach Amsterdam mit rückseitigem blauem Dreiecksstempel "1½ C./AMSTERDAM"; da unzustellbar retour. Das Porto setzte sich zusammen aus 1 Kreuzer Vereinstaxe + 2 Kreuzer Weiterfranko

6 Pfg. (3) und 2 Pfg. (2) mit Bauten-Zufrankatur (1 Pfg. überfrankiert) auf Luftpost-Brief von "BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG 24.6.49" via Frankfurt nach Buenos Aires mit Ankunftsstempel, leichte Beförderungsspuren, Luftpostgebühr nur bis Deutschland frankiert, aber komplette Strecke bis Südamerika geflogen, seltene Kombination!

1859/61, 2 Silbergroschen karmin in Mischfrankatur mit 2 Stück farbig durchstochen 1 Kreuzer grün mit Nr. "134" und nebengesetztem EKr. "MAINZ 27 4" auf Briefvorderseite nach Oberschlesien; die Frankatur war gelöst, leicht gereinigt, unter der 2 Silbergroschen Marke befindet sich ein Vermerk "ungültig"; eine seltene Mischfrankatur, insbesondere zwischen der 2. und 5. Ausgabe, sign. Brettl und Fotoattest Sem BPP

1 Mark dunkelkarminrot mit Aufdruck "Specimen", rechte untere Bogenecke, postfrisch, Kabinett

1962, CEPT 2 fr. colour proof, imperforated sheet of 30 with cachet "Musée du Timbre-Poste..." on reverse, unmounted mint, fine

FULTON: Entire letter, personal communication of M. Rey, one of the managers at the Godard Balloon Factory, franked with Siège 20 c., tied by clear "P.LA.R." to Arcachon with arrival mark of November 4, scarce and very fine, certificate Robineau (1997)

SUMY (Ukraine): 10 kopeck brown and blue, clear to good margins, tied straight-line "SUMY" with additional manuscript notation (date), to letter sheet (docketed inside "Bobrick, 10 May ,1858"), to St. Petersburg. One of two recorded No.1-entires with this cancellation.  Certificate Buchsbayew (2017)

ROPiT, 1859: Early bill of lading sealed at Odessa

POSTAGE DUE: 1924, 4 m., proof in red on ungummed paper, horizontal block with 14 stamps (+ 4 damaged) with right sheet margin; some mostly light creasing and few stains; the lot also contains a more or less damaged block of 10 belonging originally underneath the block offered; a very scarce multiple of this proof

1858, Coat of Arms with single-lined margin 1 dinero slate-blue in horizontal strip of 4 with enormous margins on all sides, used on lettersheet from Chiclayo, dated 6 Juin 1858, to Lima, each stamp cancelled by clear central strike of red dotted "CHAICL.". One of the most beautiful covers of this issue and a great item of Peruan classic philately. Signed A. Diena and Holcombe with his certificate (1992) (Scott 3)

GRANDCHAMPS: "grinchamps" in manuscript on entire letter, dated "Martelange 17ste 1774", to Bruxelles; a very rare prephilatelic letter

5 c. lemon-yellow (upper right corner perf re-enforced) tied by cds. "LUXEMBURG 10 10 80" to printed matter wrapper to Tashkent, Turkestan, Russia with several transit marks on reverse and Russian censor mark on front; marginal tear and folds strengthened on reverse, still an attractive and rare printed matter to abroad with unsual and exotic destination, certificate Böttger BPP (2016)

February 1921 Registered letter, private correspondence, from Irkutsk to Petrograd correctly franked on the reverse at 10 roubles provided by a pair revalued 5 kop stamps. That Irkutsk was back under Soviet control at this date is shown by the destination and the use of a very scarce Field Post three triangle censor mark POLEV POCHT KONTORA LIT “C” on the front  

1762, "FLAMSIOUL", quite clear straight line on entire letter dated "Rollé 9 février 1762" to Bruxelles, manuscript text "4"; horizontal filing crease, otherwise fine, scarce (Goebel AF5, 29 points)

25 pia. salmon, unused with large part o.g., colour with very slight oxidation at left, still fine and very scarce

BATTAL cancellations: 1863, 1 pia. lilac and 2 pia. blue, the latter one with small paper fault in the marginal area, used on reverse of lettersheet 1863 to Syros, 2 pia faint vertical crease, otherwise fine, certificate ISFILA

"KAHRIZAK", positive seal, 2 good strikes on postcard with 1936, 15 d., 30 d. and 45 d. to Czechoslovakia, very scarce

1968, 'Long Live Chairman Mao' strip of 5, between one stamp lightly folded in the  perforation, mint never hinged, very fine

 6 Kreuzer braun, unten voll-, sonst allseits überrandig aus der linken oberen Bogenecke stammend mit ca. 2,5 mm Bogenrand links, mit sauber aufgesetztem oMR "325" auf Briefhülle der Direktion der bayerischen Ostbahnen mit L2 "MÜNCHEN 4 MAR 1858" nach Passau; ein sehr schöner Brief, sign. Stegmüller BPP

20 pia. and 2 pia. both with "Z"-error, neatly cancelled, each with certificate Dorfman, fine and scarce (Bale 26Z, 22Z)

1200 m. on 2.25 rub., type 3, unmounted mint

Quadratausgabe 1 Kreuzer gelb in Mischfrankatur mit geschnittener Wappenausgabe 3 Kreuzer karmin und senkrechtem Paar 6 Kreuzer ultramarin, die 3 Kreuzer unten voll-, sonst alle breitrandig, mit oMR "724" auf Faltbrief mit Aufgabestempel "RÜLZHEIM 19/9" (1867) nach Amsterdam, portogerecht frankiert mit 8 Kreuzern für Bayern + 2 x 4 = 8 Kreuzern für die Niederlande. Der Brief ist leicht gereinigt und in der Faltung gestützt; eine einmalige Farb-Mischfrankatur, Fotoattest Brettl BPP