Lot 176
1858 (Mar. 23) Freeport Ill. to Hamburg, buff envelope bearing 5¢ red brown (12) ample to large margins including part of adjacent stamp at bottom, and 10¢ green type II (14) intense color, four margins, tied by crisply struck "Freeport Ill. Mar 23 1858" c.d.s., red "N.York Hamb. Pkt. 'Paid 5' Apr 15" exchange office c.d.s., magenta "15", Hamburg "29 Apr. 58" backstamp, slight edge wear, Very Fine, prepaid the 15¢ rate to Hamburg via Bremen mails, actually handled via the 10¢ per ½ ounce direct mail rate by the HAPAG line steamers. Illustrated in Frajola and Mayer, p. 117, fig. 9-13.
Estimate 5,000 - 7,500
Provenance: Lehman, Haas
The cover was prepaid at its origin for the 15¢ Bremen Convention rate to Hamburg. The total amount prepaid is restated in manuscript below the adhesives. The cover is an example of the poor performance of the Vanderbilt European Line of steamers. (See Hargest, page 116; Hubbard & Winter, p. 164, note 10, and p. 173, note 5.)
After the expiration of the Ocean Line contract in July 1857, the United States postmaster general awarded a one-year temporary contract to the Vanderbilt European Line to carry the Bremen mails. When this cover, which had been mailed on March 23, 1858, from Freeport, Illinois, reached New York City, it was held for the next contract sailing of the Vanderbilt European Line steamer. However, the Vanderbilt steamer Ariel, which departed on April 10, did not sail to Bremen, and no contract mails were handled.
The Bremen Convention mails were held for the April 15 departure of the HAPAG Line steamer Hammonia, which carried the contract mails that had been slated for the Vanderbilt steamer. The New York exchange office marked the cover with its Hamburg packet Paid 5 datestamp, indicating a credit of 5¢ to Hamburg (4¢ sea and 1¢ Hamburg). The United States retained the additional 5¢ of the 10¢ rate as its internal postage plus the 5¢ overpayment.
The cover was carried on the HAPAG Line steamer Hammonia, which departed from New York City on April 15, 1858, and arrived in Hamburg on April 29, 1858.
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| Realized $7,500 |
