ALBANIA: 1931 surface-rate cover with KGV 3d tied by 'EDGEROI/NSW' cds, Athens slogan transit b/s & discernible 'DURAZZO' arrival b/s, small flap fault. [Durazzo, now Durres, is the second-largest city in Albania, and the country's principal port]
ALGERIA: 1920 (Sep 28) Jenolan Caves PPC with KGV 1½d brown tied by 'SANS SOUCI/NSW' cds, French 'SOUSCRIVEZ/a l'E...nt National' h/s in violet, the message in Esperanto, corner creases. [Philippeville, modern-day Skikda, is on the north-central coast of Algeria & is the port for the city of Constantine. In 1955, Algerian nationalists attacked Philippeville & killed about 120 mainly French. The reprisals resulted in thousands of deaths]
BERMUDA: 1916 (Mar) Empire rate with KGV 1d red tied by Brisbane machine, 'PASSED CENSOR/BRISBANE' cds in red, to the newspaper 'Weekly Colonist' at St George (b/s) forwarded to "Ham" with 'HAMILTON' machine b/s, central fold & grubby on the reverse. [The 'Bermuda Colonist' operated between 1866 & 1920]
BRITISH GUIANA: 1915 (Mar 5) double-Empire rate with KGV 1d red pair (the upper unit with Dot before '1' in R/H Value Tablet) tied by 'KEW/VICTORIA' cds & 'PASSED' h/s in violet applied at Melbourne, 'GEORGETOWN' arrival b/s of 22APR/1915.
BURMA: 1915 (Jan 20) Empire rate with KGV 1d red tied by 'GOOMALLING/WA' cds, to "Mandalay/Burmha" [sic] with 'TUTICORIN' transit & 'MANDALAY' arrival b/s, repaired opening-tear at the top.
CHINA: 1918 (July 4) triple-rate usage of Star 1d red Envelope uprated with KGV ½d green x3 & 5d brown + Kangaroos 3d olive all tied by 'SOUTHERN CROSS/VIC' cds & red/white R label on the reverse, to "Tsing Chow Fu/Shantung/North China", transit b/s of Koroit (duplex), Melbourne, Hong Kong & Shanghai and another indistinct probably an arrival, minor blemishes & some light spotting. [Shantung, now Shandong, is on the Yellow Sea]
COLOMBIA: 1942 (March 3) Brisbane censor cover to Bogota, re-censored by the Americans with plain brown-paper label & circular Censor h/s, Bogota machine b/s; also 1946 to the "Tropical Oil Coy/Barranca-Bermeja", which is known as Colombia's "Oil Capital".
(Qty 2)
CYPRUS: 1941 Empire rate to an Armenian doctor with KGVI 2d largely obscured by '[arms]/OPENED BY CENSOR' label with 'PASSED CENSOR/ 30 /CYPRUS' h/s in rosine below, 'NICOSIA' transit & 'KYRENIA' arrival b/s.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: 1937 (Oct 26) airmail cover to Czechoslovakia with Victoria Centenary 3d & 1/- plus Small Lyrebird 1/- tied by Sydney cds, blue/white R label, Athens transit & Prague arrival b/s. [The all-up air rate was 2/- + 3d registration]
ESTONIA: 1928 Jenolan Caves PPC to "Tallinn (Reval)" with KGV 1½d scarlet & unnecessary 1d green tied by 'ORANGE/NSW' machine cancel & superb large-part 'TALLINN' arrival cds, two strikes of an unusual Estonian h/s in red at the base, the message apparently in Estonian (?).
FINLAND: 1930 foreign rate with KGV 1d & 2d tied by 'NETHERBY/VICTORIA' c ds, to 'RANTASALMI' with superb large-part b/s, redirected to Helsinki then to 'LAPUA' (b/s) with very fine 'RIIHIMAKI' transit cds on the face, a little shortened at left. [Rantasalmi is a lightly-populated rural area in south-central Finland. Riihimaki is a railway junction & home to a famous glassworks. Lapua is in the north-central zone close to the border with Sweden. Quite a journey!]
JAPAN: 1912 (Dec 8) usage of WA 1½d blue/green Postal Card (rather faded) to Osaka with 'BROOME/WESTN AUSTRALIA' cds & 'KOBE/4.1.13/JAPAN' arrival cds on the face, the message in Japanese also on the face. A rare postal card: fine examples have sold for more than $1000. [Broome was famous for its pearl industry and the card is probably from a Japanese pearl-diver]
JAPAN: 1919 (May 13) foreign rate + ½d war tax with Kangaroo 3d olive tied by Sydney machine cancel, addressed in English & Japanese with 'TOKIO/28.6.19/JAPAN' arrival b/s in blue. With the enclosed 2pp letter in Japanese on Mitsui Bussan Kaisha Ltd (Sydney) stationery. [In 1959, there was an amalgamation of several companies including MBK to form the great trading company Mitsui & Co Ltd]
(Qty 2 items)
LEBANON: 1920 (Nov 22) cover to "Beyrouth/Syria" with Third Wmk 6d ultramarine tied by 'RUNDLE STREET/STH AUST' cds, red/white R label, Colombo, Port Taufiq & Port Said transits & bilingual '.../BEYROUTH' arrival, redirected to Damascus with bilingual '.../DAMAS' arrival b/s, minor defects. A rare destination. [From 1.10.1920, the war tax was absorbed into the foreign letter rate of 3d]
MAURETANIA: 1919 (June 30) underpaid PPC with KGV 1d red only on the viewside & 'SUBIACO/WESTERN AUSTRALIA' cds, taxed "10c", on arrival in Mauretania corrected to "Senegal" & from Podor forwarded to "Louga", nasty diagonal crease. A very rare destination from Australia. [Podor is the northernmost town in Senegal on an island in the river dividing Senegal & Mauretania. Louga is a cattle-market centre close to the coast in the NW of the country. The card was taxed only for the postage deficiency of ½d but it should also have been taxed the same amount for the war tax not having been paid]
MONACO: 1939 (Mar 1) foreign surface rate with Queen 1d green horizontal strip of 3 tied by 'FOOTSCRAY/VIC-AUST' cds, on arrival forwarded to Nice with simple 'T' h/s, French Postage Due 30c carmine pair tied to the reverse by cds. With the enclosed letter proving penpal correspondence between two 17 year olds. [3d was the rate to both destinations so no forwarding fee would usually be required. However, to take advantage of that regulation, the letter needed to be reposted within two days]
(Qty 2)
NIGERIA: 1956 (Dec 3) Empire surface rate to "Onitsha/British West Africa" with Olympics 4d tied by Hobart slogan cancel, manuscript notations, small & huge 'UNCLAIMED' h/s & superb strike of a large boxed 'RETOUR' h/s in violet. [Onitsha is in Nigeria and boasts a major trading port in the lower reaches of the Niger River. Onitsha was devastated in the 1960s Biafran conflict but recovered after the discovery of oil]
NORWAY: 1915 foreign rate cover from the Norwegian Consulate at Sydney (endorsed on the flap) with Kangaroo 2½d (corner fault) tied by very fine 'THE EXCHANGE' machine cancel, minor blemishes. [Mail to Norway is much scarcer than to any of the other Scandinavian countries. Mandal is the southernmost part of the country]
PALESTINE: 1923 (March 3) foreign-rate to Jerusalem with scarce franking of KGV 4d ultramarine (corner fault) tied by 'CLEVELAND/QUEENSLAND' cds, repaired tears where roughly opened on arrival. [Confusion over the status of mail to Palestine. Considering the southern portion was occupied by the British, who had been granted a mandate over the area in mid-1919, the mail should clearly have been paid at Empire rates]
PANAMA: 1913 (Dec 28) foreign rate to a ship's captain endorsed in pencil "SS Guatemala" with scarce combination franking of Tasmania ½d + Kangaroos 1d red vertical pair (one with a small fault) tied by Hobart machine cancel, poor arrival b/s. [NB: the Republic of Panama is a much scarcer destination than the Canal Zone]
PANAMA: 1927 (July 21) to "Colon/Panama/South America" endorsed "Per USA/Airmail" with scarce franking of KGV 2d brown (torn) & Kangaroos Third Wmk 9d tied by 'WEST MAITLAND/NSW' cds, red/white R label with Rat's Tail, sent via New York (b/s of 8-14/1927) with boxed 'AGENCIA POSTAL/RECOMENDADOS/AGO 24 1927/ R /COLON' arrival b/s in blue, held for 6 months then boxed 'REBUT/Non Reclamé/No Reclamada' h/s applied in violet but then forwarded via Seattle (!; b/s of FEB/3/1928) to Los Angeles with arrival b/s of FEB/6/1928 where it was apparently delivered, repaired peripheral tears, opened-out for display. The rate was 3d + 3d registration + 5d US internal airmail, presumably New York-Miami but with no southern b/s. [NB: the Republic of Panama is a much scarcer destination than the Canal Zone]
PERU: 1930 (July 7) cover with 'CONSULADO GENERAL DEL PERU/MELBOURNE' imprint at L/L & superb cachet in blue across the flap, Kangaroo SMult Wmk 6d plus blue & black/white R label, Buenos Aires transit b/s (why?) & large boxed 'POSTES ET TELEGRAFOS/CALLAO/SET 9 1930/PERU/Certificados y Expedientos Judiciales' arrival b/s in violet, light vertical fold & minor blemishes including a light stain below the stamp.
PERU: 1942 (June 20) with ½d Kangaroo pair & 5d Ram paying foreign rate + registration + ½d war tax, 'BALWYN NORTH E9/...' R label but stamps cancelled at 'KEW/VIC', censor label across the flap & damaged on opening but leaving most of the oval 'CERTIFICADOS/AGO 14 1942/LIMA - [PERU]' d/s, a bit aged.
PHILIPPINES: 1929 (Jan 14) 'TICK-SLIT BAG' envelope to the island of Davao "per RMS Changte" with KGV 1d green & 2d brown tied by 'ENMORE/NSW' cds, superb rubber 'STA CRUZ DAVAO PI/FEB/15/1929/REC'D' arrival b/s in violet.
POLAND: 1926 (Apr 12) use of 4½d Registration Envelope apparently with no adhesives affixed or removed so underpaid but not taxed, Brisbane cds & red/white R label, London transit b/s in red & 'WILNO/21 V 26/ b ' arrival b/s, blemishes.
PUERTO RICO: 1916 (July 28) use of Department of Agriculture advice card with KGV punctured 'OS' ½d green & 1d red x2 tied by Melbourne machine, 'PASS[ED' h/s in violet. [Despite having a population greater than 20 American States, Puerto Rico remains an Unincorporated Territory of the USA. Rio Piedras is a suburb of San Juan, home to the University of Puerto Rico and the Botanic Gardens]
REUNION: 1925 (July 3) use of 'FOURPENCE/HALFPENNY' on 5d Registration Envelope with KGV 1½d red tied by 'ROSE BAY/NSW' cds, red/white R label, oval transits of Durban (JU29/1925) & Mauritius (16JY25) and 'SAINT DENIS/17-7/25/REUNION' arrival b/s, a bit aged/stained & a couple of borer-holes. A very rare destination: the only 20th century cover we have seen to the island.
RUSSIA: 1916 (Apr 17) underpaid PPC with KGV 1d red only tied by Sydney machine & shield tax h/s, various poorly struck Russian markings including a large-part boxed instructional h/s in violet, a couple of creases. [See also Soviet Union: Lot 295478]
SEYCHELLES: 1916 & 1918 PPCs with KGV 1d red or 1d red + ½d green for the war tax, poor 'HINDMARSH ISLAND/SA' squared-circles, 'VICTORIA/SEYCHELLES' cds & the latter with 'ANSE ROYALE/...' arrival cds, minor blemishes.
(Qty 2)
SINGAPORE: 1915 complete parcel tag with 'The Eastern Extension Australasia and China/Telegraph Company, Limited' imprint, KGV 1d red + Kangaroo 2d grey vertical pair tied by 'DARWIN NT/AUSTRALIA' cds, scarce red & black/white R label tied by SINGAPORE/25NO/1915' arrival cds, light creasing affects the stamps. A very attractive & rare item. [Probably sent at the Printed Matter rate of 1d per 4oz x2 + 3d registration]
SOVIET UNION: 1935 (Sep 16) at foreign rate with KGV ½d orange pair & Jubilee 2d tied by 'NARROGIN/WESTN AUST' cds, five Moscow cds including one tying Esperanto 'CIVILSACAO ?' label to the reverse, rather grotty but full of character & opened-out for display. Russia in the pre-WWII Soviet period is a tough destination.
URUGUAY: 1917 (Feb 23) foreign postcard rate of OHMS 'Central Weather Bureau' advice card with punctured 'OS' KGV ½d green & 1d red tied by Melbourne machine & 'PASSED' h/s in violet, 'CARTEROS/28ABR 39 [!!]/MONTEVIDEO' arrival b/s, minor faults including a small spike-hole through the ½d.
