Lot 52
A Remarkable pair of Transocean covers from San Francisco, two 1851 folded letters, one to London, the other to Bordeaux, postmarked San Francisco on Aug 1, first with red "25" rate handstamp, the other with "22", both being non-existent rates to these countries, yet each is handstamped "Paid", London cover with "19" credit and receiving c.d.s. with integral paid, Bordeaux with British transit and "8" decimes due, Very Fine.
Estimate 750 - 1,000
The clerk's confusion may have stemmed from the dramatic changes in the transcontinental rate on July 1, 1851. In addition, the West Coast surcharge on British treaty mail was reduced from 35¢ to 5¢. Sailing from New York on the Collins Atlantic (Bordeaux) to the Cunard Asia (London), the rates should have been 26¢ and 29¢ respectively. Even more remarkable than these anomalies is the survival of two such covers on the same day from two different correspondences.
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| Realized $2,100 |
