Lot 165
1858 (Feb. 2) Boston Ms. to Hong Kong, China, blue folded cover bearing 5¢ red brown (12) huge margins all around including right interpane center line and portion of adjacent stamp at left, 1857 3¢ dull red (26) and 10¢ green types III,II,III (32, 33) strip of three, tied by "Boston 2 Feb" circular datestamps, endorsed "Steamer via N York", red "New-York Feb 3" transit backstamp, red "London Paid FE 16 58" transit and "Hong-Kong 24 AP 1858" double arc receiving backstamp; refolded at top (originally folded through 5¢ margin), 10¢ strip couple nibbed perfs, 3¢ small faults, a Very Fine three-color franking, prepaid the 38¢ Prussian Closed mail rate, but actually sent at the 33¢ British mail rate. Illustrated in Frajola and Mayer, p. 127, fig. 11-3.
Estimate 10,000 - 15,000
AN EXCEPTIONAL THREE-COLOR MIXED ISSUE FRANKING TO HONG KONG.
Expertization: Signed Stanley B. Ashbrook, 1980 Friedl Certificate.
Provenance: Waterhouse, Krug, Haas
The cover is from the Augustine Heard correspondence correctly prepaying the 38¢ rate for carriage by Prussian closed mail. The cover was exchanged in New York City for carriage by the 33¢ British mail rate to China with magenta "28" cents credit to Great Britain. The cover was carried from New York by the Cunard Line steamer Europa, which departed on February 3 and arrived at Liverpool on February 15. The cover then caught the sailing of the Peninsular & Oriental Line steamer Colombo, which departed Southampton on February 20 and arrived at Alexandria on March 5. After an overland trip, the letter reached Suez and was carried from there on the steamer Nubia, which departed March 20 and arrived at Galle, Ceylon, on April 3. It was then placed on the P&O Line steamer Pottinger, which departed Galle on April 16 and arrived at Hong Kong on April 24, 1858.
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| Realized $62,500 |
