Lot
121 
1869, 10¢ yellow, rich color, tied by bold quartered cork handstamp on 1870 Phantom Rate folded letter sheet to Bordeaux, France, matching San Francisco, Cal., Jun 29 cds, red "New York, Paid All, Br. Transit, Jul 6" backstamp and front with matching "6" credit handstamp, London and French transit date stamps; portion of back sheet missing, Very Fine, carried on the Cunarder Aleppo from New York and arrived in Queenstown on July 18th.Scott No. 116 Estimate $750 - 1,000.
New York postmaster was aware that letters prepaid 10¢ could be sent fully paid to France in the British open mails. The public was unaware of the rate. This unannounced rate (sometimes referred to as a "phantom" rate) paid the letter to destination in France even though there was no treaty between the U.S. and France. New York credited 6¢ to G.B. and London marked the red circle PD to indicate the letter was properly paid from England to destination in France. This unannounced rate existed from July 1st 1870 to October 28th 1871, at which time the rate was published by the Postmaster General.
Realized: $550