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Photo |
Description |
Lot 1475 |
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Danish West Indies, 1851 (Jan. 30) St. Thomas to Carupano, Venezuela, datelined folded letter bearing crisp strike of "Foreign Letter Office, St. Thomas" oval handstamp on flap, green "Gruner & Co." merchant oval on front, endorsed "pr la Bernarda"; docketed as received Feb. 6; clean and Very Fine.
Estimate $300 - 400
Merchants in St. Thomas maintained a Foreign Letter Office from 1846-1860. Mail was bagged and shipped by private packets to avoid high charges of inconvenient schedules.
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Lot 1476 |
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Danish West Indies, 1855 (Sep. 14) St. Thomas to Caracas, Venzuela, datelined folded letter bearing "Foreign Letter Office, St. Thomas" oval handstamp on flap, endorsed "pr Isabel"; Venzuelan arrival c.d.s. and matching "2" due rating for inland postage, Fine.
Estimate $200 - 300
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Lot 1477 |
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Danish West Indies, 1862 (Oct. 7) Caracas, Venzuela to New York via St. Thomas, folded letter bearing bold strike of large "St. Thomas, Express Office" oval in blue on reverse with manuscript "2/10/62" dating, flap with blue "Forwarded by James T. Abbott & Co., St. Thomas, W.I." forwarder's oval, New York circled "5" rating handstamp; file fold, Very Fine and scarce.
Estimate $750 - 1,000
The St. Thomas Foreign Letter office was closed in 1860. Simons Tisal and Co. founded the St. Thomas Express Office in January 1861 to forward letters mail abroad due to the lack of an established St. Thomas postal service. Most of the 29 recorded letters went to New York City.
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Lot 1478 |
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Danish West Indies, 1863, St. Thomas to Curacao, folded cover bearing bold strike of large "St. Thomas Express Office" oval in red, red "Curacao, 20/9, 1863" arrival c.d.s.; cover refolded to show markings, Fine and scarce strike in red.
Estimate $500 - 750
Provenance: Schnell
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Lot 1479 |
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Danish West Indies, 1865 (Dec. 9) Caracas, Venezuela to Bordeaux, France, docketed folded cover bearing Venezuela-La Guaira 1864 3r green local issue tied by "Correos * Caracas" postmark, sent via St. Thomas where connecting with the RMS trunk line to Southampton, red London (12.31) backstamp, Calais (1.1) entry c.d.s. with framed "GB / 1F 60c" debit and "8" (décimes) due handstamps, Bordeaux (1.2) arrival backstamp, Very Fine.
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500
In November 1863, Captain R. Todd acquired from the Venezuelan Government the right to carry mail to St. Thomas. Local stamps were produced and used by the St. Thomas-LaGuaira Packet Company. This arrangement continued until 1873, when competition from the British Post Office in Venezuela brought it to an end.
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Lot 1480 |
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Danish West Indies, 1866 (Feb. 23) Puerto Caballo, Venezuela to Bordeaux, France, datelined folded letter with blue merchant oval bearing Venezuela-La Guaira 1864 ½r red vermilion local issue, strip of three, cancelled and tied by three strikes of "1/4" handstamps, sent on the Robert Todd to St. Thomas where it connected with the RMS Seine trunk line to Southampton, red London (3.16) backstamp, Calais (3.17) entry c.d.s. with framed "GB / 1F 60c" debit and bold "20" (décimes) due handstamps, additional manuscript "21" rating", Paris (3.17) and Bordeaux (3.18) backstamps; Very Fine.
Estimate $3,000 - 4,000
Expertization: 1988 Paaskesen Certificate.
Provenance: Schnell
Puerto Cabello did not use a circular datestamp and therefore used the numeral "1/4" handstamps as killers.
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Lot 1481 |
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Danish West Indies, 1870 Venezuela to Lubeck, Germany, folded cover bearing Venezuela-La Guaira 1864 2r orange local issue (Facit LG13) tied by "Correos * Caracas" postmark, sent via St. Thomas where connecting with the RMS trunk line to Southampton, red London (5.12.70) backstamp, manuscript "1/3" rating, reverse with blue "Aus England per Aachen" (5.12) transit and (5.13) arrival c.d.s., blue crayon "16" due rating; Very Fine.
Estimate $3,000 - 4,000
ONE OF ONLY 8 RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE 2R ORANGE USED ON COVER.
Expertization: 1989 Holcombe Certificate.
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