Lot
1330 
1849 (Feb. 17) Philadelphia Pa. to Berlin, Prussia, blue datelined folded letter with partial blue Philadelphia cds and matching "Paid" octagon handstamp with pencil rating, black "New-York Feb 20" backstamp and matching "PART PART" straightline, carried as endorsed by Cunard Line Niagara from Boston Feb. 21st to Liverpool arriving Mar. 6th, black "AMERICA / ÜBER BREMEN" two-line handstamp, red "1 1/3." credit rating, magenta "5" rating, Very Fine. Estimate $500 - 750.
The "Paid Part" handstamp is a New York marking indicating that the letter was prepaid only to Bremen. Since most Bremen Treaty mails were carried by steamer directly to Bremerhaven, closed mails via England and Belgium are uncommon. Because there were insufficient voyages to Bremerhaven for all the mails which accumulated in New York, the New York postmaster augmented these trips with closed mails via England for a few years. With the inauguration of the Ocean Steam Navigation Co., the U.S. Government made its first postal treaty with an overseas government, Germany. The treaty appointed the Postmaster of Bremen as U.S. Special Mail Agent at Bremen. A special postmark for use by the agent was introduced reading "AMERICA / ÜBER BREMEN" in two-lines. The example struck here in black is quite unusual.
This sailing of "Niagara" was also the first Cunard sailing to carry British packet mails under the 1848 US-GB Treaty.
Realized: $850