Postal History Place: The Fryer Collection of European Letter Rates, 1840-71, Part 2 by John F. Dunn

In December 2006, in Zurich, Switzerland, Bennett International Auctions offered the Gavin Fryer Collection of European Letter Rates, 1840-1871. Continuing where we left off last month, we come to a Lombar- dy-Venetia, 1857-58, 15c vermilion rose Mi- lan postal forgery type I tied by a “Milano” c.d.s. (circular date stamp) on a March 8, 1858 folded letter to Mantua (received March 9) that was charged “6” (kreu- zer or 30 centimes) for the proper rate. A rare use of this postal forgery, it was estimated $12,000-15,000, but did not sell. Next we view a Naples 1858 2gr pale lake plate I and 20gr lilac rose plate I tied by framed “Annul- lato” handstamps on a November 30, 1859 folded letter from Ari- ano to Rome (received Dec. 3) via Naples (Dec. 1), the 22 grana (equivalent to 4.21 grams of silver) paying the triple rate for three sheets (by volume). The rates were assessed by number of sheets and by weight. The folded letter enclosed a document signed by

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 13 If you enjoy this article, and are not already a subscriber, for $12 a year you can enjoy 60+ pages a month. To subscribe, email [email protected] the Bishop and reassessed by weight in the Papal States at double rate “16” (bajocchi, equivalent to 3.88 grams of silver), with the extra to be paid by the addressee. Esti- mated at $500-750, it realized $900.

This next colorful lot is a May 31, 1859 folded letter from Rome to (received June 6) with a Papal/Ro- man States 1852 7baj blue pair and 8baj white, tied by grill cancels. It was carried on a private steamer of Com- pagnies Frassinet ou Valéry with circular “Civitavecchia/ Bastimenti/di/Commercio” cachet (to the right of the 8 baj stamp) and French T.P.O. (June 3-4) transit on the reverse. Upon arrival in London it was redirected to Marlborough, Wiltshire with a Great Britain 1d red tied by “W/1” in oval bars. The letter refers to the embarkation of Austrian troops and horses before successive defeats by the French culminating in the Battle of Solferino on June 24, 1859. Estimated at $2,000-2,500, it went for $2,600. Also in the Italian States section we find a September 10, 1859 folded letter from Bo- logna to Milan with a Romagna 1859 3baj black on dark green and 5 baj black on violet—an early use (tenth day of issue) of the stamps. The stamps paid the 8 bajocchi single rate under the Austro-Italian Convention of 1852 to destina- tions within the third distance (equivalent to 24 centesimi

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 14 as Milan came under the rule of the Kingdom of Sardinia when both were liberated in July, 1859). Shortly after the mailing of this folded letter, starting November 1, 1859, the Italian uniform rate applied. Estimated at $3,000-4,000, it went unsold. This January 3, 1863 folded letter from Sardinia to Bue- nos Aires bears the Sardinia 1862 5c deep green, 80c brownish orange and Kingdom of Italy 1863 15c dark blue tied by “S. Pier d’Arena” c.d.s. The cover went via Genoa- Turin T.P.O. (January 3 transit) and bears an “Italie/ Lanslebourg” c.d.s. in red and London (January 6) with unframed “P.P.”. The 1 lira French packet rate applied (as opposed to the 80 centesimi rate by British packet) as the cover was car- ried on the “Oneida” which left Southampton on January 9 and arrived in Rio de Janeiro on February 1, where it was then transferred to a British packet, which arrived in Buenos Aires on February 13. The attractive, three-color franking (on the third day of use of the 15c) to an exotic destination was estimated at $2,500-3,000 and brought $3,750. This June 25, 1859 insured folded letter sheet, from Messina to Francavilla, bears a Sicily 1859 1gr olive brown plate II and 5gr carmine rose plate I tied by ornamental frame cancellations. The cover shows an oval “Assicurata” handstamp. The stamps pay the 6 grana rate for about 50 kilometers

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 15 distance, being the 3 grana rate, doubled for insurance. Estimated at $750-1,000, it sold for $700. Tuscany comes next, with the 1851- 52 1s bister orange on greyish blue in the form of two hori- zontal pairs and one single, all tied by “Fol- lonica” double-ring datestamps on a June 1, 1856 folded letter to Grosseto (received June 2). The stamps pay the 5 soldi or 3 crazie rate for over 12 denari (1/2 ounce). Estimated at $20,000-25,000, it was hammered down for $20,000. Spain was repre- sented by a February 14, 1857 folded letter from Puerto de San- ta Maria round the bay to Cadiz, bearing “Jose Ballarde recoje plaza de S. Agustin n. 43” label for private carriage from port to town. A nice example of a private local service arranged by a collection agent on behalf of commercial firms in Cadiz, it was estimated at $250-300, but did not sell. In the Turkey sec- tion we have a July 26, 1863 folded let- ter sheet from Con- stantinople to Filibe (Plovdiv) with Turkey 1ghr lilac 3rd print- ing and 2ghr blue 2nd printing tied by “bat- tal” cancels, paying the 3 piastres letter rate stated on the cover for being up

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 16 to “100 route hours” (actually the rate was for 78 hours). Estimated at $1,000-1,200, it sold for $1,000. Next we have two usages, the first being this September 2, 1855 folded letter sheet to London “via Ostende” with an 1852, 10c black vertical strip of three tied by barred oval handstamps, the cover also showing a “Luxembourg” c.d.s. and “Ambulant Ouest/No. 1” c.d.s. (September 4) on the reverse. The framed “PD” to Britain is crossed out because this letter was sent at the 30 cen- times rate to Belgium for 7.5 grams. A 6 décimes charge was raised and the 6d (2.84 silver grams equivalent) was collected, being the rate for up to 1/4 ounce to London. Estimated at $2,000-2,500, it went for $2,300. The other Luxem- bourg usage was this January 16, 1867 from the Prussian Garrison in the fortress at Luxem- bourg to Wesel in Ger- many (received Janu- ary 17) with an 1859 37-1/2 green tied by a “Luxembourg” c.d.s. The cover also shows a small oval “Officier Brief, Luxembourg” origin cachet (lower left) and framed “PD” handstamp. It was described as “the best of the five examples recorded of this Prussian military use on cover from Luxembourg.” Estimated at $10,000-12,000, this cover did not sell. On page 18 we show a December 18, 1858 folded letter to Venice (received December 19) with an Austria 1854 3kr black type IIIa on machine paper strip of three tied by

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 17 “Triest” c.d.s. As explained in the lot description, stamps in the ‘old’ currency, withdrawn on 31 Oc- tober 1858, were ac- cepted for postage to serve for the ‘new’ 10 kreuzer rate for this distance. The silver equivalent of the old 6 kreuzer was 1.17 grams. The silver equivalent of ten ‘new’ kreuzer was 1.11 grams reflecting the 5% devaluation in the new money.” The multiple 2kr franking at the “old” letter rate for 10- 20 German mile was estimated at $750-1,500, but went unsold. This July 11, 1864 mourning cover from Pouillon to Count de Reiset in Hannover (received July 13), via Paris (July 12) was posted unfranked showing the origin c.d.s. It was taxed “5” (décimes) with a handstruck “5/Sgr.” for a single letter in place of the French charge, and a Hannover 1864 percé en arc 16 1gr carmine stamp was affixed for the forwarding charge, tied by a “Hannover” July 13 c.d.s. in blue. Estimated at $500-750, it was hammered down for $575. On page 19 is an October 8, 1857, cover from Würt- temberg to New York (received October 26) via Aachen with a Württemberg 1851 6kr black on green and 1857 9kr carmine tied by “Stuttgart” c.d.s. The cover shows an “Aachen/5 Cts.” and “30/N. York/Am. Pkt.” c.d.s. Per the auctioneers, “the sender apparently attempted to pay part of the postage with 15 kreuzer in stamps, which was not

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 18 permitted in the Prussian Closed Mail, so the letter was treated as completely unpaid in Aachen and charged 30 cents in New York with 5 cents (2 silbergroschen) credited to Prussia/Württemburg. Estimated at $4,000-5,000, and described as “A re- markable underpaid and, therefore, disallowed franking by the Prussian Post Office further highlighted by the rarity of a first and second issue mixed franking,” it went for $3,750. Next up is a May 10, 1873 cover from Finland to Lichten- steig, Switzerland (re- ceived May 14) via St. Petersburg with Finland 1866-67 8p black on green rou- lette III and 40p dull red on pale rose roulette I, four examples of former and pair of the latter, tied by “Finska Jernvägens Post Kupé Exped:” double-ring datestamps. The cover also shows a May 12 “Aus Russland/über Bur. XI Edk. Brg./Franco” double-ring datestamp (May 12) in red. Per the lot description, “The stamps pay the 112 penni double rate. The charge was calculated at 14 penni to 1 Prussian silbergroschen or 2x4sgr. A reduced 3sgr rate applied from 13 July 1872 for a letter of 15 grams to Germany. Assuming 6sgr split 3sgr each between Rus- sia/Finland and Prussia, then 3+2sgr claimed for Switzer- land, hence ‘5’ in red crossed through to show ‘2’ in blue,

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 19 possibly on transit in Berlin. In fact taking 14 penni to 1sgr would equate the whole charge to 8.87sgr equivalent to 4.94 grams of silver.” Estimated at $5,000-6,000, this cover realized $4,500. The Russia section included a very un- usual lot, a September 26, 1869, folded letter sheet from Warsaw to Trieste (September 28) via Granica (Sep- tember 26). It bears an 1866 1kop black and yellow vertical strip of four, tied by “BW” in concentric circles and shows “Ekspedycia/Poczt/Dworzeg/Warszawa” c.d.s. adjacent. However, the cover was originally franked with a 10kop as well, which made up the 14 kopeck rate. As it was probably uncancelled, the postal official at the border at Granica stole the unused 10kop stamp and replaced it with a previously used half 10kop stamp and applied an unused 1kop next to it to appear as an over- lap, then tied both to the cover with “175” canceller (up- per right) in order to conceal the fraud and sent the cover onwards to its final destination. Aptly described as “one of the most remarkable examples of a postal fraud ever perpetrated,” it was estimated at $2,500-3,000 and Estimated at $2,500-3,000, it soared to $4,500. Denmark included this cover with the 1854-57 2sk blue and 16sk grey lilac with dotted spandrels and 4sk orange brown with wavy line span- drels tied by “1” nu- meral cancels. The September 8, 1861 cover went from Copenhagen to An- twerp (September 10) via K.D.O.P.A. Hamburg returned September 12 to Copenhagen (September 13) by the same

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 20 route. The stamps pay the 30 skilling rate and are “be- lieved to be the only recorded franking of this combina- tion and one of very few letters returned from any foreign country to Denmark.” As explained in the lot description, “The manuscript ‘21.9’ indicates a split of 9 shilling to Denmark and 21 shilling for the foreign rate, as confirmed by the ‘5’ in red crayon of the Hamburg office representing 5 silber- groschen. On arrival, the addressee’s name was replaced by the sender’s name. The ‘PD’ for outward transmission was deleted and the letter returned. The ‘2’ for the Belgian internal 2 décimes letter rate (equal to 7 Danish skilling) was written on front and an inclusive 5sgr or 21 Danish skilling was endorsed on reverse, a second 30 skilling cost for the return. Estimated at $4,000-5,000, it fetched $4,250. From Norway, this October 20, 1865 folded letter sheet to Amiens, France (Oc- tober 26) bears an 1856-57 3sk lilac grey Oscar I and 1863-64 4sk blue and 8sk pale rose pair of the Arms type, tied by “Christiania” c.d.s. It also shows a “pr Kronpr. Louise par les postes de Danemark et de la Tour & Taxis” notation and “K.D.O.P.A./Lübeck” and “Lübeck/Th. & T.” c.d.s. (October 23) on the reverse and “Tour T./3 Forbach 3” c.d.s. (October 25) in red on the front. Per the lot description, “The 23 skilling was divided as follows: 8sk (1.68 grams silver equivalent) to Norway and sea post, 3sk (0.66 grams) to Denmark taken as 5 Dan- ish skilling, 12sk (2.50 grams) German and French Post per manuscript ‘4-1/2’ (2.50 grams) of which France took 2-1/2 silbergroschen or 7 Norwegian skilling, which is 30 centimes. “The Prussian closed mail rate cost 26 skilling (5.48 grams), so using the Thurn and Taxis Post yielded a sav-

Issue 46 - October 3, 2014 - StampNewsOnline.net 21 ing of 3 Norwegian skilling (0.64 grams). Estimated at $1,500-2,000, this lot did not sell. Another lot that went unsold is this July 13 cover to Paris with a Sweden 1858 30ö brown vertical pair Arms type and 1866 3ö brown type II Lion, tied by “Stock- holm” c.d.s. The cover also showed a framed “Franco” and red “P.D.” handstamp, a straightline “Stralsund/Berlin” datestamp (July 15 on reverse) in blue and “Prusse/4 Forbach 4” c.d.s. (July 17) in red. The 63öre franking was made up of 23öre per 1-1/2 ort (7.5 grams) beyond Germany plus 40öre per 3ort (equiva- lent to 4.5 sgr rate from Germany to Sweden; effective October 1, 1865) for the route through Germany. It was estimated at $600-800. To Be Continued

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