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;) | GIBRALTAR postal history 1880 wrapper per "Mongolia" to Malta with GB QV 2½d Plate 18 pmk'd "A26" duplex dated B/JY 11 80, top flap with E/JY 15 80 arrival, stamp crossed by filing crease along top. £48 |
;) ;) | B01 used ALEXANDRIA, Egypt postal history (Ex GRIFFITHS) 1869 entire with handstruck "POSTED AFTER/DEPARTURE OF PACKET" to Liverpool with pair GB QV 6d Plate 8 pmk'd "B01" with ALEXANDRIA JY 10 69 alongside, fine GIUSEPPE CAMPOS sender's cachet with Liverpool 27 JY 69 arrival on upper flap. Ex JOHN O. GRIFFITHS. £825 |
;) ;) ;) | North Africa BARBARY COAST and GB USED ABROAD combination, GIBRALTAR postal history 1871 mourning cover with unidentified blue Arabic-like origin cachet almost certainly originating in the Barbary Coast regions of North Africa, addressed with French salutation to Madame Isabella Wilson, Youngstown, Ohio with GB 4d, 6d pmk'd "A26" with GIBRALTAR A/NO 22 71 despatch showing London 7 DE 71 and New York Paid All (indistinct date) transits over red "2/CENTS" handstamp). No backstamps and smaller portion of flap missing. A currently unique and intriguing item. At that time there was no state postal system and foreign post offices were in only a few North African coastal towns. The Parmenter & Gordon handbook Page 1/5 states that "From 1st March 1858 mail from Tangier and other British Consulates in "Barbary" had to be prepaid in GB adhesives which were later cancelled in Gibraltar". The first TANGIER cds was sent from the GPO London on 16th March 1872 (some 4 months later than this cover, examples of use are TANGIER A/JU 29 73 and A/OC 15 73 placed below GB 6d, and GB 2d,4d each pmk'd "A26" on covers to Monsieur A. Boucard, London, Ex Glassco). Some irregular private couriers were also actively taking international mail to European Post Offices. The handstamp was probably carved from wood and the manufacturer chiselled it as he would see it but when struck it would appear in mirror image, ie reverse. It is also noted that if the third digit in the "date" were not inverted and reversed it might read 1871. (See also Kabyle Rebellion, Algeria) £4250 |
;) ;) | SAINT ANNS BAY, JAMAICA to SWITZERLAND postal history 1896 cover to Horgen, Switzerland with QV ½d, pair QV 1d (SG.16a,27) pmk'd SAINT ANNS BAY DE 7 96, reverse fine sender's cachet. £40 |
;) ;) | HY code used HACKNEY, British Guiana postmark (Proud D1 although his illustration thoroughly incorrect) dated HY/MY 24 82 (the year "2" being inverted) on DLR 4c blue CC wmk (SG.148), the instrument excised leaving wording "B. GUIANA" at about 2 o'clock (compare with GEORGE-TOWN D19, Proud Page 93). Part of a differing narrower double ring handstamp alongside. Probably the finest of the three known examples, scans (attached) of the other two dated HY/AP 25 without year, and HY/JY 1 82 kindly supplied by Paul Ramsaroop £425 |
;) | ST. JOSEPH, Barbados postmark (M3) dated 6/MY 8 99 on ½d D. Jubilee (SG.117). £5 |
;) | MAURITIUS postal history QV 9d brown/white PSE cut-out piece pmk'd blue oval of bars applied on arrival. £36 |
;) | MANGROVE BAY, Bermuda postmark dated A/OC 2 79 being the lesser seen cds portion of the K3 "4" duplex. £16 |
;) ;) | GRENADA postal history 1897 poorly opened three sides with tear across address panel reg. cover to Myerscough in London with QV ½d (SG.30) strips of six and three, top left stamp showing distinctive short left leg to "H" of HALFPENNY, pmk'd St. David's "E" for NO xx 97 (without day slug). £75 |
;) ;) | HRH Prince Alfred round-world-voyage ended by Fenian assassination bullet, Gibraltar postal history 1867 cover from Tinahely to W.H. Symes, HMS 'Galatea', Gibralter (sic) with pair GB QV 1d red Plate 84 and strip of three, single Plate 85 pmk'd Rathdrum "388" diamond numerals when Ireland was a part of Great Britain, Tinahely and Rathdrum backstamps for MR 16 67 with London MR 18 67 transit. Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria's second son (1844-1900) was never expected to be King and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman aged 12. In 1867 he commissioned and commanded the 'Galatea' for a voyage around the world which would include the first royal visit to Australia. On FE 26 1867 the 'Galatea' left Plymouth Sound for the Mediterranean with stops at Lisbon, Gibraltar (MR 14 to 26), Malta, a stay at Marseilles prior a crossing to Rio de Janeiro, returning via Tristan Da Cunha, staying at Cape of Good Hope prior onwards to Adelaide, South Australia with subsequent stays at Melbourne, Victoria and Tasmania. The tour was abruptly curtailed in Sydney NSW on MR 12 1868 when Henry James O'Farrell, a Fenian sympathiser, attempted to assassinate the Prince - the Duke fell forwards on his hands and knees exclaiming "Good God! I am shot; my back is broken". On board was surgeon James Young, M.D. and Assistant Surgeons William L. Powell and William H. Symes (1851-1933 of Tinahely), the two former names being mentioned as giving immediate assistance to His Royal Highness who was tended back to health by six recently arrived nurses trained by Florence Nightingale. Full details of the voyage can be found in the 487 page book entitled "The Cruise of H.M.S. Galatea" by John Milner and Oswald Walters Brierly. Prince Alfred was the first serious stamp collector in the royal family. He sold his collection to King Edward VII who shared his enthusiasm, who in turn gave it to his son King George V. Keenly expanded by the latter the two collections became the basis of what is now the Royal Philatelic Collection. £1250 |
;) ;) | M.O. OFFICE (Money Order), Barbados to Canada postal history 1902 reg. cover with 1d Seal strip of three pmk'd M.O. OFFICE */DE 5 02 to Phelpston, Ontario, Canada, reverse with fine ALL & PENETANG R.P.O. N/DE 20 02 cds. £75 |
;) | ANTIGUA, DOMINICA, MONTSERRAT stamps 1902-03 stamp-size master Die Proof on thick card for the KE7 5/- denomination with uncleared surrounds and country tablet as used for all three islands. £325 |
;) | K3a "14", Bermuda postmark on 1873 3d yellow-buff Crown CC wmk (SG.5), very rare on this issue. £225 |
;) | K3a "11", Bermuda postmark on 1883 QV 1d dull rose CA wmk (SG.22). £45 |
;) | K3a "12", Bermuda postmark on 1881 QV 3d yellow-buff CC wmk (SG.10). £65 |
;) | 119, Cape of Good Hope postmark on 1d (SG.59a). £7 |
;) | K3a "16", Bermuda postmark on 1866 QV 2d dull blue CC wmk (SG.3). £40 |
;) | K3 "4", Bermuda postmark on 1881 QV 3d yellow-buff (SG.10), perf. fault. £30 |
;) | 4 code used ST. GEORGE, Barbados postmark (M2-R) dated 4/MY 28 86 on QV ½d (SG.90), minor toning. £12 |
;) | K3 "3", Bermuda postmark on 1874 QV 6d dull mauve CC wmk (SG.7). £48 |