US Tax Stamps On Gold Coast Cover

Thought I would share this cover as it has an interesting mix of stamps

It is from the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in Africa to the USA and was posted n 1950

This link is a useful reference for more information re the Gold Coast http://crawfurd.dk/africa/ghana_timeline.htm

It appears to be a proper usage of postage stamps. The Gold Coast stamps were affixed to the envelope at the point of mailing, with local postal authorities noting the postage was underpaid (as evidenced by the "T" rubber stamp marking); the envelope was sent to New York, NY (USA) who confirmed the postage due equivalent of 40 cents was due (by means of the AMF New York Postage Due marking) and the envelope was subsequently forwarded onto Philadelphia, PA (USA) for delivery. The post office at Philadelphia then collected the 40 cents postage due from the recipient prior to delivery of the item, as evidenced by the four (4) 10-cent US Postage Due stamps appropriately cancelled with the double O-ring handstamp postmark on the US Postage Due stamps.

Still a nice cover that clearly shows the various steps in the handling of a piece of mail of that sort. Today, the postal authorities would never go through that effort, as that type of an envelope probably would have been returned-to-sender for insufficient postage at the point of mailing.

If you're interested in some history and a likely connection with the cover you posted, check out this link, in particular the top paragraph of page 81 and footnote 117, wherein there is reference to "James Nkansah in Anyinam" having corresponded with "Walter Troutman in Philadelphia" during the 1950's:

http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...&aid=8257462

hey wt1 thanks heaps for the information - very much appreciated - adds a lot to the cover