Lot
934 
1848 (Jul. 1) Vera Cruz, Mexico To Worcestershire, England Via New Orleans, folded cover with boxed "Vera Cruz, July 1" origin postmark and and matching "10" rating handstamp, carried by RMSP steamer Great Western from Vera Cruz on July 10th via Cat Island Miss., black "New Orleans JY 20 1848" British Post Office split ring postmark used as a transit, carried transatlantic by RMSP British packet, red London (8.20) entry cds on flap and manuscript "1/-" packet due rating, Waterbury (8.22) arrival split ring postmark on flap; no side flaps, Very Fine, ex-Hubert C. Skinner. Estimate $6,000 - 8,000.
ONE OF ONLY THREE RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE NEW ORLEANS BRITISH POST OFFICE SPLIT RING POSTMARK. THIS IS THE ONLY RECORDED TYPE IV EXAMPLE USED ON THE 1848 SERVICE.
The first British Post Office in New Orleans was started in 1842 when the British Consul, John Crawford, was appointed Packet Agent and established a letter office in the city where mail could be left for forwarding to the West Indies and Europe. Both a New Orleans two-line postmark and split ring cds were supplied by the British Post Office. The route of the packet was Tampico-New Orleans-Havana. The service ended by the end of 1842. There are only two recorded examples of the split ring postmark used during the 1842 packet service.
In 1847 the RMSP service between Tampico and Southampton briefly included a stop at Cat Island in the Mississippi Delta to service New Orleans. In 1847, a fresh handstamp of the split ring postmark was sent to New Orleans when William Mure was the agent. The service was suspended in 1849 after limited demand.
There is an unusual note on the inside of the cover: "N.B. The name underneath is all that was written -- which suppose to be, some post office Inspector" and with signature "O.A. Foster" below in another ink.
Illustrated: A.S.C.C. volume II on page 90.
Realized: $13,000