Lot
308 
Panama, Colombia 1881, Registration, 10c violet, used with Columbia 2c vermilion (2), 5c blue, all tied by three strikes of "Panama" oval handstamps on Nov. 1881 cover to Bucharest, Roumania, partial blue British Consulate of Panama imprint on flap, manuscript "294" registry number at top right, purple "Registered, Dec 2 1881, New York P.O." three-line postmark, blue "1674" registry handstamp, Bremen registry label affixed, partial Bucharest arrival backstamp; top edge tear, 5c and 10c with faults, apparently missing a 5c at top left for the double 7c letter rate plus 10c registry fee, Fine, One of the most important Panama registered covers in existence, ex-Helme. Scott No. Columbia F7 + 104, 105 Estimate $2,000 - 3,000.
THE EARLIEST RECORDED REGISTERED COVER FROM PANAMA, AND THE ONLY RECORDED 19TH CENTURY REGISTERED COVER TO ROUMANIA.
Columbia joined the U.P.U. on July 1st 1881. The 1881 was usually used on a special printed envelope created for registered mail. The registry fee was 10c and the foreign letter rate was 7c per 15 grams effective October 1st 1881.
Julius Popper (1857-1893) was a Romanian-born Argentine engineer, adventurer and explorer. He is responsible for the modern outline of the city of Havana, Cuba. He was known as a modern "conquistador" of Tierra del Fuego in southern South America, gaining fame during the gold rush there. On 7 September 1886, together with eighteen people, he as captain, chief engineer, mineralogist, journalist and photographer, started the "Popper Expedition." He succeeded in unearthing great amounts of gold and his Compania de Lavaderos de Oro del Sud realized enormous capital gains. He was a controversial but influential figure, responsible for the genocide of native Selknam people. He died at the age of 35 in Argentina.
Realized: $5,000