See "BUY THE BEST" for records of postmarks, scans of covers with text, provenance, maintained over 45 years. BUY YOUR OWN DIGITAL PDF FILE ................... Knowledge puts you ahead in the game
| Country: All Subject: All | Sort: Newest listed first |
;) | CHATEAUBELAIR, St. Vincent postal history 1919 cover to Montgomery Ward, Chicago with KGV 1d pmk'd CHATEAUBELAIR C/JA 19 20, minor soiling. £90 |
;) ;) | C38 used CALLAO, PERU to JAMAICA postal history: A UNIQUE FRANKING TO JAMAICA combination cover with Peru 1868-72 1d green, GB QV 6d pale buff (assumed Plate 11), GB QV 1/- green Plate 6 (SG.Z43, Z53) tied Callao "C38" cancels addressed John Small, Port Maria, Jamaica with 3-line PANAMA/3 AP 1873/TRANSIT plus pencilled "2" on face, b/stamped A/CALLAO/MR 26 73, Kingston IIIA/AP 8 73 and Port Maria C/AP 9 73 cds. Cover soiled with peripheral base tear and GB QV 6d with pale colour. This Peru 1 dinero was cancelled "C38" from stocks held at the British Packet Agencies to comply with the tax on all outgoing mail. £1400 |
;) ;) ;) | Mail to St. George's DETAINED AT AMERICAN CONSUL FOR 13 YEARS, Bermuda postal history 1879 cover from P.D. Slocum & Co., Clothiers, New Bedford, Massachusetts to Mr. Holder B. Slocum, 1st Mate Brig V.H. Hill, Capt. Sylvia, Bermuda (showing "Care Am Consul" at lower left) with U.S. 5c blue Zachary Taylor tied New Bedford cork dated MAY 10 with Boston MAY 10 transit and ST. GEORGES MAY 20 1879 oval receiving backstamps (LRD on incoming mail), after 13 years marked in red manuscript "Remained at American Consulate until 23rd April 1892/Not called for" with presumed Consulate Dead Letter Office purple pointing hand "RETURN TO THE WRITER. D.L.O." handstamp and placed in the mail with ST. GEORGES B/AP 23 92 cds (H1, usually applied at a transit or arrival datestamp, Ludington Page 141) with DEAD LETTER OFFICE/S A triangle dated MAY 11-92 on reverse. A fascinating item. Previous history: The whaling schooner Varnum H. Hill of and from Provincetown, was captured by the rebel steamer "Florida" on 27 June 1863 and released on bond of $10,000 on condition that she would take prisoners belonging to the destroyed ships "Southern Cross" (June 6, burnt same day), "Red Gauntlet" (June 14, kept in company as carrying coal and burnt on the 26th), "Benjamin Hoxie" (June 16 carrying silver bars valued at £500,000, sunk June 27) into Bermuda. Some 54 seamen were landed at Hamilton on 4 July and were taken in charge by the American Consul, and on 7 July Captain Doe of the British brig "Henrietta" agreed to take the seamen brought in by the V.H. Hill to New York. (Research shows no further mention of the V.H. Hill allowing no explanation for this incoming letter of 1879, and it being detained at the American Consul for 13 years until released in 1892). The "Florida" was a highly successful commerce raider in the Confederate States Navy capturing 37 prize ships. £525 |
;) ;) ;) | BARBADOS stamps: SG UNLISTED 1855-57 diagonally bisected imperforate (1d) deep blue (SG.10a) tied to printed matter piece by Bridgetown "1" obliterator with matching ink colour BARBADOES AP 25 1859 double-arc alongside, further portion of another obliterator at right shows a full (1d) stamp removed for a triple rate, reverse shows (Page) 258. The missing adhesive adds to the authenticity of the piece, and the dbl-arc shows the dent at base as found on full covers for the period. (Listed under covers for convenience): The Edmund Bayley handbook (Page 27) states: There is only one recorded copy of the deep blue (1d) stamp bisected vertically joined to a whole stamp on part of a newspaper, which bears the "1" numerical cancellation and is dated OC 21 1857. This copy is in the Royal Philatelic Collection. (The bisected 1860 (1d) pin-perf. issues, without datestamps, are catalogued £750.00 on piece). £625 |
;) ;) | BIRCHGROVE, Grenada postal history 1900 wrapper(?) piece with folded side flaps lightly handstamped PRINTED PAPER to W.H. Allder Esq, C.S. Office with QV ½d tied BIRCHGROVE C/JU 7 00 cds. £80 |
;) ;) ;) | Code 4 used ST. GEORGE, Barbados postal history (M2-R, replacement cds with wording further away from outer rim) arrival dated (4)/JA 8 (87) both code and year not inserted (LRD) on QV ½d red-brown Post Card written "St. John's Jany 8th" and posted with Bridgetown open bootheel duplex dated A/JA 8 87 to His Honor, The Speaker, Greens, St. George. Confirmation that this is the Parish code 4 cds comes with the damaged rim at 8 o'clock as found on earlier dates on loose adhesives. The current ERD for the M3 series cds is only 10 days later, JA 18 87. The earliest strikes JA 18 87 to OC 23 90 also show no code 4, at some point thereafter the code 4 was inserted. £240 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | TITCHFIELD (two differing dates showing flexibility of handstamp), Jamaica postal history 1903 cover from The University of Chicago with 5c franking pmk'd Chicago APR 5 1903 to Prof. D.S. Johnson PhD, Chester Vale, Gordon Town, Jamaica variously forwarded with twelve differing backstamps including purple boxed TITCHFIELD (TRD 11) for both 16.4.03 and 17.4.03 (showing movement of "J" under "TC"), cover with corner fault. William Fawcett was the Director of Public Gardens and Plantations in Jamaica from 1887 to 1908, and having returned to Britain was the co-author of the first volumes of Flora of Jamaica. £180 |
;) ;) | T.P.O. BERBICE STR (steamer), BRITISH GUIANA postal history: 1919 cover to J.P. Wright, Croydon, Surrey subsequently re-directed Henley-on-Thames with KGV 2c WAR TAX tied both T.P.O. BERBICE STR cds dated NO 7 19 and boxed "CHARGE NOT COLLECTED/FRESH LABEL REQUIRED" handstamp with circled "T" and handstruck "2d F.B.A" with GB 2d Postage Due tied PURLEY SORTING OFFICE 12 DE 19 d/ring, backstamped New Amsterdam and Georgetown 8 NOV 19, vertical fold. £125 |
;) | 8 (used ISIPINGO), Natal postal history MISSENT to Scotland 1883 cover to Mrs. J. N. Leonard, Scotland, Massachusetts with QV ½d CC wmk, 1d, 6d CA wmk pmk'd "8" obliterators with two strikes circled "MISSENT" alongside address panel, reverse Durban 25 AU 83 shield, London SP 25 93, New York OCT 6 83 Paid All, Waltham OCT 6 1883 arrival. £175 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | Boer War Irreconcilable F.C. LAUNSPACH (carved wooden serviette ring fame), Bermuda postal history 1902 cover to F.C. Launspach, Burts Island, Bermuda with 2 x Transvaal 1d ovp'd "E.R.I." tied BRAAMFONTEIN, B.O. JOHANNESBURG 4 FEB 1902 9.30am and b/stamped JOHANNESBURG 4 FEB 1902 10.30am where PASSED PRESS CENSOR worn handstamp applied to face, on arrival b/stamped HAMILTON MR 15 1902/C with "Not Darrells" and directed "Hawkins" in red manuscript, the cover opened left edge and at top leaving tears through flap. Very few Bermuda Boer War POW covers can be matched to actual events. F.C. Launspach is listed as one of the prominent personalities amongst the Boer War prisoners detained at Bermuda, and as an irreconcilable was one of the last to leave on 20 August 1904 bound for the United States. Many of the prisoners occupied themselves by making handcraft which were sold in many of the stores in Bermuda. The POWs on Burts Island eventually formed the Industrial Association for Carvings and Curios, and some of these items are preserved in the South African National Museum of Military History including a wooden serviette ring with carved name F C Launspach (see photo of similar type serviette rings). £240 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | QUEENSLAND postal history 1871 foolscap official service cover with Royal Coat-of-Arms printed flap locally to Ipswich with Crowned oval buckled albino embossed PUBLIC LANDS DEPARTMENT cachet manuscript dated "19-4-71" and QV 2d tied QL obliterator, reverse with BRISBANE 4/AU 19 71 and IPSWICH AP 20 1871 and indistinct JU 16 1871 cancels, with ADVERTISED JU 30 1871 on address panel, some soiling. £175 |
;) ;) | A Fashionable Wedding, Leeward Islands (Antigua) postal history B/w ppc written "Buxton Grove Dec 21 1911" to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, USA with Leeward Islands KE7 1d tied small portion OFFICIAL PAID, ANTIGUA cds dated (DE) 21 11. Part of sender's text reads "Can you find the Rev. J.A. Sergeant on the picture? It's a Greenbay wedding". £48 |
;) | SOUTH AUSTRALIA postal history 1867 cover to the wife of the South Australian banker and politician Samuel Tomkinson at their home on Mount Lofty with QV 2d bright vermilion roulette (SG.26) pmk'd Adelaide 4/JA 23 67 with light same day Crafers backstamp. £95 |
;) ;) | 52 used LAUNCESTON, Tasmania with London 20 lines unframed circular CORRECTION HANDSTAMP 1870 cover to Islington, London with QV 6d tied "52" numeral with red LAUNCESTON 12 AU 1870 despatch, on arrival red LONDON PAID dated A/SP 10 70 mistakenly applied and obliterated with unframed circular 20 lines correction handstamp, and correct arrival of A/OC 10 70 applied alongside, re-directed to Stoke Newington some 2.7 miles away with small black crowned circle applied to show no further charge for delivery within London area, envelope with colourless embossed J. WALSH & SONS, HOBART TOWN & LAUNCESTON makers imprint under flap, no backstamps. £240 |
;) ;) | Kegalla, CEYLON to London forwarded Zurich and Bernina-Hospiz, SWITZERLAND postal history 1909 cover to London with KE7 6c pmk'd KEGALLA B/JY 15 08 forwarded with GB KE7 1½d pmk'd London AU 4 99 to ZURICH arriving 5 VIII 09 and re-directed Bernina Hospiz arriving 7 VIII 09. £140 |
;) | GREAT BRITAIN and CAPE OF GOOD HOPE "both ways" postal history 1902 mourning cover to De Beers, Somerset West, Cape Colony with Great Britain QV 3d Jubilee tied PADDINGTON AP 3 02, no arrival date but returned to the London Hospital, Whitechapel with strip of three, two singles ½d Hope pmk'd GPO Cape Town AP 23 02, no backstamps. 3d outgoing (presumed overpaid ½d) and 2½d return. £140 |
;) ;) | The GHOSTS of POINT ELLICE HOUSE, the most haunted house on VANCOUVER ISLAND 1898 cover to Mrs (Caroline Agnes) O'Reilly (1831-1899, thought to appear as an apparition in the grounds of her house) at Point Ellice, Victoria, Vancouver Island pmk'd KINGSTON AU 10 98 and then mysteriously spirited some 4,432 miles to DUBLIN (AU 24 98, husband Peter originated from Ballybeg, Co. Meath, only 45 miles from Dublin) before travelling a further 4,502 miles to VICTORIA, B.C. PM/SP 6 98 per b/stamp) with I/SP 7 98 and "10" cents tax due handstamp added the next day, some soiling. Husband Peter, former Indian Reserve Commissioner, is the subject of supernatural investigations at the house which went live on a YouTube video October 31 2020. Visitors and volunteers have had spooky encounters with lights switching on and off, a piano playing on its own, and apparitions chasing them away. In later years "a nice young lady in a blue dress" had shown visitors around the house giving many previously unknown facts, when questioned they went back inside the house and pointed to a blue gown lying across a bed, "that's the one she was wearing" in daughter Kathleen O'Reilly's bedroom. Kathleen had returned! For many years the whereabouts of the grave of Caroline Agnes was a mystery, but in her final year, being so ill, she made a last visit to her family in England, dying only a few days after arrival. Her remains lie in the cemetery at Cheriton, Folkestone (only 2.1 miles down the road, a 39 minute walk, from me!). £475 |
;) ;) | NEW SOUTH WALES postal history 1881 cover to Brooklyn, New York with QV 6d pmk'd Sydney JA 14 81 duplex with purple oval "PAID ALL" (seriffed letters applied Sydney), reverse San Francisco Paid All and Brooklyn AUG 16 arrival. £75 |
;) ;) | NEW SOUTH WALES postal history 1887 Wells & Leavitt, Sydney sender's cover to Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin with QV 6d tied Sydney MY 18 87 duplex, matching part purple CHICAGO cds and oval "PAID ALL" (sans-serif, applied at Chicago), very fine Fond Du Lac JUN 16 arrival b/stamp. £125 |
;) | To Captain of Ship "Achilles", NEW SOUTH WALES postal history 1861 cover from Newcastle to Captain Hurt, or present Captain, of Ship "Achilles", Sydney with QV 2d pmk'd "55", reverse Newcastle NO 15 1861 and SYDNEY A O/NO 16 61. £90 |