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VERY FINE. A RARE COVER PREPAID AT THE 24-CENT RATE TO ROME BY BREMEN-HAMBURG MAIL. THIS RATE WAS IN EFFECT FOR ONLY ELEVEN MONTHS.
This remarkable cover was the subject a Chronicle article by George Hargest in August 1972 (No. 75, pp 151-153). In the article, he notes that during this time the Papal States were not yet a part of the Kingdom of Italy. Uprisings, led in part by Garibaldi, had reduced their territory to Rome and a narrow strip of coastline which also contained the port of Civitavecchia. Napoleon III of France sent a contingent to help protect Papal interests. A majority of mail sent during this time was fully prepaid to destination and sent via French Mail. The Bremen-Hamburg route was only in existence from February 1, 1867, until January 1, 1868. It was compulsory that letters sent by this route be prepaid by stamps, with the final postage to destination collected from the recipient. In 1870, at the start of the Franco-Prussian War, the French troops were called home and after a short battle the remaining Papal States territory was incorporated into Italy.
Hargest also quotes from the U.S. Mail and Post Office Assistant for March 1867, which discusses the general state of affairs of the Italian postal system: "But, with all these improvements, the postal system of Italy is still very far behind the English and American systems... Our clerks could hardly, with impunity, fail to find a pile of letters of letters that had been in the office for many weeks, or to destroy others for the sake of making a stamp album. They do so in Italy yet. It is rather desirable to be forewarned that a rare American stamp on a letter will probably ensure its being stopped by the post office. Report says the wives of certain postmasters in Italy have the richest albums in Europe."
Accompanied by letter from Hargest to Ray Vogel explaining the cover. Illustrated and described in an article by Hargest in Chronicle No. 75. (Image)
VERY FINE. A COLORFUL AND RARE MIXED-ISSUE COVER TO ROME, SENT FULLY PAID TO DESTINATION BY NORTH GERMAN UNION CLOSED MAIL.
Rome at this point was still part of the Papal States, defended in part by French troops and not yet incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. The most common route for mail from the U.S. to Rome was via French Mail. The cover offered here is the subject of an article by George Hargest in Chronicle No. 45. At the time of mailing, Baltimore was an exchange office for some foreign mails. This letter was routed through New York where it went by Closed Mail via England to Ostend, then by the travelling post office from Verviers to Cologne, where the bag was opened and an accounting was made. It was then likely exchanged with the Italian railway post office that carried the letter to Rome.
Accompanied by letter from Hargest, and the subject of an article by him in Chronicle No. 45 of July 1963. (Image)
EXTREMELY FINE. A PHENOMENAL 1861 ISSUE COVER TO ITALY WITH 12-CENT AND 30-CENT STAMPS PREPAYING THE DOUBLE 21-CENT FRENCH MAIL RATE AND TIED BY THE FAMOUS UNION SOLDIER'S HEAD FANCY CANCELLATION OF NEW YORK CITY.
The 42c postage pays the double 21c rate to Italy by French Mail, and the stamps were cancelled at the New York foreign-mail exchange office with the Union Soldier's Head fancy cancellation. This is reportedly the only known example of the 12c 1861 on cover with this fancy cancel. Its creation and use in 1866 coincided with the return of soldiers from the Civil War. It is known on at least one domestic cover, but apparently the cancelling device migrated to the foreign-mail exchange office, where it was used to cancel stamps on mail to foreign countries. This explains why it is found on high values of the 1861-66 Issue, including the 10c, 12c, 15c, 24c, 30c and 90c denomination stamps off cover. Covers with this cancel are very rare, probably because European stamp collectors removed the high-value stamps from covers.
Ex Knapp, Emerson and Eno (Image)