Worldwide Stamps and Covers UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Sale No: 7
Lot No: 1389
Symbol: G
1879 Large Banknotes Perry 90c carmine Scott 191 pair, centred low, some uneven perfs and left-hand unit with minor stains, untidy cancels leaving most of the design clear, Cat US$750+. A very scarce multiple.
POSTAL HISTORY: 1860s Washington 3c Envelope (the embossing oxidised) with 'PAID/Wells Fargo & Co/OVER OUR CALIFORNIA AND COAST ROUTE' header, to San Francisco with the stamp cancelled with two strikes of the oval 'WELLS FARGO & CO/OCT7/VICTORIA' d/s in bright blue, a splendid strike of the undated-oval 'POST OFFICE/[coat of arms]/VICTORIA V.I.' cachet in dull blue at left. Philatelic Foundation Certificate (1991).
ALASKA: 1907 real photo PPC "Winter Scene Valdez Alaska" (man with wooden sled & dog-team negotiating snow drifts on Main Street), to Victoria with San Francisco machine transit & 'DOREEN/VICTORIA' arrival cds. The only pre-WWI item between Alaska & Australia we have seen. [Valdez was established in 1898 as part of a scam to lure goldminers to what was promoted as a shorter route to the Klondike Gold Rush. Notable for a 1907 shootout between rival railway companies, the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, and now as an ice-free terminus for the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline]
HAWAII - POSTAL HISTORY: 1900 (Nov 22) usage of Flower Sellers vignette-view Undivided Back postcard to Australia with USA Franklin 1c green strip of 5 tied by 'HONOLULU, HAWAII' duplex cancels, Sydney 'DE 10' transit and scarce 'MELBOURNE/11.12.00/1' small double-ring cds arrival alongside, a couple of minor blemishes. Paid the 5c UPU foreign postcard rate; carried by the Canadian Australian Royal Mail Line 'Aorangi' en-route from Vancouver via Honolulu & Brisbane to Sydney, then by rail to Melbourne. Ex Dr Tony Orchard.
