USA-Grossbritannien

  • Hello everyone!


    Today we have what looks like a normal US to UK letter paying the 24 cent rate in 1867. The light New York 3 Paid marking indicates that it was sent on an American packet, so 3 cents were passed to the British post office and the remaining 19 cents were kept by the United States to pay for the 16 cent Atlantic voyage and five cents for US surface mail.


    The interesting part of this is the "R" in a "ring" marking. This mark indicated that the letter was forwarded to a new address for free because it did not leave the postal district.


    This is the only example of the R in ring I have found with a 24 cent stamp, but I wonder if there might be others.

    If you would like to read more, I do have a blog with much more detail.


    Best,

    Rob

  • Hello everyone!


    Today I will show a letter that weighed over 1/2 ounce and no more than one ounce. The rate would be 48 cents, which is paid by the two 24 cent stamps on this item.


    The red "6" represents the six cents passed to the British postoffice to pay for their surface mail (2 x 3 cents).


    This item got my attention because the exchange marking is on the back of this envelope, rather than the front. Yet, the credit marking is on the front, as is normal.


    This item went through the Boston exchange office, but it was forwarded on to depart on an Allen Line steamer at Quebec. While this was a normal procedure, it only happened for a relatively small subset of the mails to England coming through the Boston exchange. I have not yet determined if it was normal procedure to put the Boston exchange marking on the back for all Quebec departures because I have not yet identified other examples.


    If anyone comes across something of this sort, please let me know.


    Best,

    Rob

  • Hello Rob,


    looks like a jewish cancellation. I thought the US used a star with 5 and not 6 edges, but I can learn a lot here. :)

    Liebe Grüsse vom Ralph



    "Der beste Platz für Politiker ist das Wahlplakat. Dort ist er tragbar, geräuschlos und leicht zu entfernen." Vicco von Bülow aka Loriot.




  • Hello everyone!


    Here is a sneaky good item that may not look as pretty as some items I have shown from the US to the UK, but it is one that I value highly.


    The 24 cent rate is all as you would expect, with 3 cents passed to the British to cover their surface mail. The letter was carried by the Allen Line, which had a contract with the Americans.


    It is uncommon to have a Detroit exchange office, but that's not what makes this so interesting to me. The scroll marking is a Steamboat marking from the Great Lakes steamers. Apparently someone posted this on board one of these steamers - addressed to go overseas.


    The procedure was that a ship's captain could take mail entrusted to him to the post office at the next port and receive 2 cents per letter. The steamboat marking typically indicates that the 2 cents was paid for the origin of the letter on a non-contract steamship (this ship did not have a contract to carry mail). The marking was also an indicator that 2 cents should be collected from the recipient to pay for this letter. The problem is - there was no agreement for a foreign country to collect that fee.


    At this point, we can only speculate as to the actual process that was followed for this letter.


    The most likely explanation is that this letter and others were delivered by the ship's captain to the Detroit post office. He was paid 2 cents per letter, including this one. The receiving clerk dutifully recorded the amount passed to the ship's captain in the proper ledger and then that clerk passed this letter on to the foreign exchange office clerk, who prepared the letter for the proper mailbag to go to the United Kingdom. No record of the 2 cent fee was included in his ledgers because it did not matter. The 2 cent loss was eventually just written off on the balance sheet.


    I hope everyone has had a good weekend.

    Rob

  • Ralph,


    At one point in time, I collected the 1861 stamps. Ebay was new and a person like me could find decent copies of this series without spending too much money. Since then, I have decided postal history is far more interesting and rewarding. Some day, when I have time, I need to sell most of the stamp collection so I have funds to continue with the postal history.


    For now, I share these fancy cancels in response to your comment about fancy cancels. I know they do not quite fit the thread - but they do fit the conversation. :)


    Rob

  • Hello Rob


    thank you for there very nice and interesting examples of fancy cancels - I love letters, but like single stamps too, when they look interesting. :thumbup::thumbup:

    Liebe Grüsse vom Ralph



    "Der beste Platz für Politiker ist das Wahlplakat. Dort ist er tragbar, geräuschlos und leicht zu entfernen." Vicco von Bülow aka Loriot.




  • Hello all!


    Today I show a cover that looked like a normal US to UK item with a 24 cent stamp.


    However, the docket inside shows an origin of Lima, Peru. Allsop & Co had offices in multiple cities around the globe, including Lima and New York. This letter apparently was carried under separate cover to New York where it was then placed separately in the mail to go to England.


    It was not at all uncommon for letters such as this to be sent via the mail under a separate cover or to be carried by a private courier. There is no way to tell which of these happened, we can only say that the letter originated in Lima.


    Have a good week everyone!

    Rob

  • Hello everyone!

    Here is another interesting item that went from the US to the United Kingdom. It has been a while since I did some show and tell in this topic - so here's a new one!


    This one is very different. Somebody must have discovered an old envelope with two 12 cent stamps from the 1851 issue. They wanted to send a letter that weighed more than 1/2 ounce and no more than 1 ounce, so the total cost was to be 48 cents.

    Unfortunately for them, all of the US postage stamps issued prior to 1861 had been demonetized and were not eligible to pay the postage. so, the postmaster wrote "No good" to indicate that those stamps could not be used.

    Since the letter was not fully paid, it was treated as unpaid. The 24 cent stamp ended up doing nothing to get the letter to its destination and the recipient had to pay 2 shillings.


    Have a good day all!

    Rob

  • Hello Rob


    Postal history at its best. I wish I could find something like your bombshell-cover from/to Bavaria.

    Liebe Grüsse vom Ralph



    "Der beste Platz für Politiker ist das Wahlplakat. Dort ist er tragbar, geräuschlos und leicht zu entfernen." Vicco von Bülow aka Loriot.




  • Hello Rob,


    very interesting cover. I have posted here a letter from the North German postal district to a naval officer, which was handled through Stevens: RE: ... ins Ausland


    I have still two questions:

    How many of theses covers coming from the North German Confederation are known ?

    How did Stevens knew where the navy ships were ?


    Kind regards from France


    Martin

  • Hello Martin!


    The item you show is the only one I have seen from the North German postal district to BF Stevens. But, that does not mean much as most of my concentration has been US origin to BF Stevens. However, it is logical to assume there are many fewer from North German postal district than US. By my count, there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 covers in the 1865-69 period from the US (and there could be more). There are more in the early 1870s. Most of the covers I have seen come from three correspondences. Yours is from another I was not aware of.


    I will keep my eyes open to see if I see others like your very interesting cover.


    Stevens had an interesting connection to the US government and military and was aware of the projected movements of the fleet. It is my guess that movement was telegraphed to the consulate in London and Stevens was able to collect that intelligence to forward mail. I will continue to research that point because I don't have solid evidence.


    Best,

    Rob

  • Here's a double weight letter from San Francisco to London in 1864.


    It is interesting to note the docket "via Panama." By this time, overland was the default route for letter mail, including letters destined for Europe. However, I keep finding letters where the sender directed the post office to send the letter on steamship to Panama. I have some theories, but need to keep researching to find better evidence.


    Have a good day all!

    Rob