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Sale 70: The Skywalk Collection

Table of Contents

Postal Relations with the United States - Ship Letters

Lot 185    

1855 (c., Oct.) Halifax N.S. to New York N.Y. via St. John N.B., orange cover endorsed "via Windsor", entered mails with "Colonial Express Mail. St. John. N.B. Oct 13" cds and matching "10" cent due handstamp; some docketing, Very Fine.
Estimate    $750 - 1,000.

In September 1845, the U.S. Post Office Department appointed steamboat letter carriers to handle the mail on the Boston-Portland-Eastport steamer route. In 1853, the U.S. Post Office extended their steamboat letter carrier system to St. John. The Rates of Postage chargeable on letters thus forwarded are the same as by the land route: 6d cy. or 10¢ per ½oz. Prepayment will be optional and may be made by affixing Postage Stamps but no less than the whole postage. It must be borne in mind however that loose letters forwarded cannot be prepaid in money, they must either be prepaid by affixing Postage stamps or be forwarded unpaid. When loose letters, either unpaid or prepaid by stamps, were handed to the steamboat letter carrier, they were struck with Express Mail circular datestamps. As such letters did not go through the Post Office, they did not bear any New Brunswick postmark but only those applied on board the steamers.

The Nova Scotia Post Office Department found that mail sent from Halifax to the United States via the British packet to Boston was costly to the public. Beginning in 1856, the Nova Scotia Post Office gave an annual grant of £100 to Colonel Favor to carry mail from March 1st to December 31st by his express from St. John to Boston via Eastport and Portland (where closed mail to Canada changed to the railway to Montreal). The subsidy to Favor continued until December 31st 1861. Nova Scotia letters to the United States and Canada that were to go by "Steamer "Emperor" and Favor's Express" and later "per Express Steamer Express" were to be marked so and these were made up in special bags by the post office at Windsor, Nova Scotia.

Realized: $800

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