One of the important items of Indian and early Straits Settlements postal history is up for grabs again.
The well-known 1867 Singapura to Langnau im Emmental cover (ex-Tay Peng Hian, ex-VT Nathan), the only recorded so-called first day cover of the SS 1867 surcharged issue on Br. India stamps (officially released on Sep 1,1867), has been put up for auction in Lot 134 in Spink and Son, London, England Sale 21014 of
Stamps and Covers of South East Asia on Feb 23,2021 with estimate
£20000-
£25000.
It comes with a BPA Experizing Limited Certificate (No. 74265) dt. May 12,2009.
The cover is franked with a block of 4 of Straits Settlements 1867 8c surcharge (SG type 2 ovpt.) on Br India 1865 2A Vic. yellow typograph (SG 6) with a triple elliptical gray blue Hooglandt & Co., Singapura company chop, canceled with 4 clear strikes of Proud type K5 septuple octagonal
B172 obliterator of Singapura.
The obverse side has unframed
P.D. (Payé à Destination) mark in red and the reverse has Proud type D2 double circular datestamp of Singapura dt. Sep 1,1866 (the last year slug erroneously inserted/unchanged from previous year) in red,
MARSEILLE À LYON double circular datestamp dt. Oct 7,1867, Lyon double-circular transit ds dt. Oct 7,1867, Ganz type V
PONTARLIER-N-BERNET(rain).51 ds dt. Oct 8,1867 (indicating the TPO route Pontalier, France to Bern via Neuchâtel, Solothurn and Herzogenbuchsee),
Bern double-circular transit ds dt. Oct 8,1867 and Langnau im Emmental double-circular arrival ds dt. Oct 8,1867 (one datestamp indistinct).
The cover was superscribed to get it carried by Messageries Impériales mail steamer via (Marseille), France.
What is inexplicable though is the total amount of postage paid i.e. 32c.
From Sep 1,1867 to Jan 31,1876, the postage rate from Singapura to Suisse was uniform 20c per 7.09gm (¼oz). So, with the P.D. mark, the cover was evidently overpaid by 12c. Perhaps the clerk at the Singapura GPO did not have the complete chart of newly enforced postage rates to (not-so-common) foreign destinations.
As a member of peanut gallery, I will only be following the auction.
Posted 02/20/2021 1:37 pm
