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Sale 89: The John Barwis Collection of Philadelphia Postal History

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Philadelphia Foreign Mail: 1853-1859 US-GB Treaty to UPU

Lots 3165-3174 Lots 3175-3184 Lots 3185-3192

Lot 3185    

1858 (Jun. 22) Philadelphia Pa. to Malvern, England, cover bearing 12¢ black, plate 1 (36) pair tied by circular grid cancels, matching "Philadelphia Pa. Jun 22" cds, red "Phila. Br. Pkt. '19' Jun 22" credit exchange cds for 16¢ packet plus 3¢ inland, carried by Cunard Line Asia from New York Jun. 23rd to Liverpool arriving Jul. 4th, red "Paid in America, Liverpool, 4 JY 58" tombstone handstamp, Very Fine.
Estimate    $300 - 400.

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Lot 3186    

1858 (Jul. 16) Cape May N.J. to London, England, blue folded letter bearing 12¢ black, plate 1 (36) pair, perfs trimmed at left, tied by "Cape May N.J. Jul 16" cds prepaid 24¢ for the treaty rate, red "Phila. Am. Pkt. '3' Jul 16" with 3¢ credit to U.K. for British inland, carried by Inman Line City of Washington from New York Jul 17th to Liverpool arriving Jul. 29th, red London Paid (7.30) arrival cds; some edge wear, F.-V.F.
Estimate    $200 - 300.

Realized: $180

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Lot 3187    

1858 (Aug. 24) Philadelphia Pa. to Malvern, England, blue cover bearing 12¢ black, plate 1 (36) vertical pair, pos. 14-24R1, light corner crease, tied by circular grid cancels prepaying the 24¢ treaty rate, "Philadelphia Pa., Aug 24, 1858" octagon d.s. red "Phila. Am. Pkt. '3' Aug 27" credit exchange cds for 3¢ credit to U.K. for British inland, carried by Inman Line City of Washington from New York Aug. 28th to Liverpool arriving Sep. 10th, red America Paid (9.9) entry cds, Malvern (9.11) arrival backstamp, forwarded with Malvern (9.13) cds to Clifton, red London (9.13, 9.14) backstamps and matching "POSTAGE NOT PAID / TO LONDON" framed handstamp, Clifton (9.15) arrival backstamp with manuscript "1" pence due, Very Fine and scarce forwarded use.
Estimate    $300 - 400.

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Lot 3188    

1859 (Feb. 1) Philadelphia Pa. to Cape Palmas, Liberia, orange buff cover to Rev. Jacob Rambo with bold red "Philadelphia Pa. 'Paid' Feb 1" cds and matching circled "Paid" handstamp with magenta "33" cent prepaid rating, carried by Cunard Line Europa from New York Feb. 2nd to Liverpool arriving Feb. 14th, red London Paid (2.15) and Liverpool (2.16) transits, then by African Steam Ship Co. Armenian from Liverpool Feb. 24th to Cape Palmas arriving Mar. 12th; no flap, opened on three sides and line indent in address, otherwise Very Fine and rare.
Estimate    $1,000 - 1,500.

THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF MAIL TO LIBERIA DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.

Cover was prepaid 33¢ for 5¢ inland, 16¢ transatlantic and 12¢ Br. packet to Liberia.

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Lot 3189    

1859 (Jul. 20) Philadelphia, Pa. to Grimstad, Norway, folded letter with red "Phila. Am. Pkt. 'Paid' Jul 22" exchange cds with matching circular "Paid" handstamp with magenta manuscript "33" rating and "French Mail" endorsement for 33¢ treaty rate via French mail, carried by Havre Line Arago from New York July 23rd to Southampton arriving Aug. 4th, London (4.4) transit and red manuscript "1" shilling credit to Prussia per U.K.-Prussian convention, Hamburg (8.8) backstamp with "Franco" straightline and red crayon "6" sgr. credit indicating transit fee prepaid, Very Fine, ex-Winter.
Estimate    $750 - 1,000.

AN EXCEPTIONAL USE MISROUTED BY PHILADELPHIA TO NORWAY.

Letter placed in the British mail bag at Philadelphia exchange office by mistake and not in French mail bag, so it was put off at Southampton. London sent the letter to Norway via Hamburg in U.K.-Prussian convention, crediting 1 shilling to Prussia. Hamburg showed that 6 sgr. transit fees beyond Hamburg were paid. Unusual transit resulting from postal error at Philadelphia.

Havre Line steamships sailed the New York-Southampton-Havre route on a monthly schedule. British mails were dropped at Southampton. The clerk in Philadelphia may have been misled by the via Southampton endorsement on the letter to Norway.

Realized: $475

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Lot 3190    

1859 (Dec. 9) London, England to Philadelphia Pa., blue folded cover with "London, DE 9, 59" duplex and two strikes of small "19/Cents" handstamp debit to U.S., carried by Cunard Line Asia from Liverpool Dec. 10th to New York arriving Dec. 22nd, "Philadelphia Br. Pkt. '24' Aug 22" exchange due cds, but insufficiently addressed, so passed to the Directory Section with "REC'D, DEC 23" framed handstamp and advertised the same day with "ADVD/1Ct." two-line handstamp, addressee did not respond so marked with bold strike of "Philadelphia, DEAD, Feb 1" cds backstamp and forwarded to the Dead Letter Office in Washington and returned to England, carried by Cunard America from Boston Feb. 8th to Queenstown arriving Feb. 20th, London red "Sent Back to England/Without a Reason/For Non-Delivery"; no net charges to either country; small edge tear and refolded, Very Fine.
Estimate    $400 - 600.

A SCARCE UNDELIVERABLE AND RETURNED TO SENDER TRANSATLANTIC USE.

The Philadelphia "ADVD/1Ct." two-line handstamp and "Dead" cds are the earliest recorded strikes.

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Lot 3191    

1859 (Dec. 16) Doylestown Pa. to Brussels, Belgium, cover bearing 12¢ black (36) vertical pair, tied by "Doylestown Pa. Dec 12" cds, red "Phil. Am. Pkt. '3' Dec 16" exchange cds, carried by Havre Line Fulton from New York Dec. 17th to Southampton arriving Dec. 30th, red London Paid (12.30) transit cds, British manuscript "2" pence debit, Bruxelles (12.31) backstamp and blue manuscript "4" décimes due rating; partial flap, Very Fine and scarce.
Estimate    $500 - 750.

This letter prepaid only for the 24¢ American packet rate to Great Britain. It was rated at Philadelphia as fully prepaid with a 3¢ credit to G.B. It was sent unpaid from Great Britain to Belgium.

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Lot 3192    

1859-66 (c.) Liverpool, England to Philadelphia Pa., cover bearing G.B. 1d deep rose-red (SG 41), horizontal strips of five and six plus a single, prepaying 1s packet rate, each tied by "A92" mail-boat barred ovals prepaying 1s packet rate, Liverpool red "5/Cents" credit to U.S. for inland postage, Philadelphia failed to apply an exchange datestamp per Treaty; with 1975 B.P.A. certificate.
Estimate    $1,000 - 1,500.

The British post office pioneered the establishment of shipboard mail-sorting offices. In the Atlantic, numeral handstamps were issued to clerks aboard Cunard and Allan Line steam packets from 1859-1870. Few examples have survived on cover. The "A92" mail-boat cancel issued in June 1859 to Mr. Nash, Marine Packet Service Atlantic Line, for use aboard Cunard packets
Asia and Arabia.

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Realized: $1,100

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Lots 3165-3174 Lots 3175-3184 Lots 3185-3192

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