FIRST COVER FROM ITALY WITH A STAMP 1840 (Oct 23) Wrapper from Newcastle under Lyme to Dover with 1840 1d black pl.4 tied by red-brown MC, redirected to “Post Restante / Naples”, carried privately to Italy and posted back to England 6 months later via Sardinia (“TS” hs and cds), with faint “NAP 1841 / 5 MAG” claret ds on obverse, charged “1/7” overseas postage with “POSTAGE NOT PAID / TO LONDON” hs on reverse, cert. states that the cover has been cleaned and the stamp lifted for inspection. An extraordinary, well-travelled and attractive cover Expertise: Cert. BPA (2013) (Image)

FIRST DAY USAGE 1858 Folded entire from Naples to Francavilla, franked 1858 1 grano & 2 grana, both from the first plate, good to large margins, cancelled by boxed ANNULATO, with red 2-line NAPOLI 1858/2.GEN first day cancel on reverse, a wonderful example of this very rare usage (Sassone € 16’000 to € 20’000) Note: The certificate states that this cover is one of the most beautiful of all the known first day covers Expertise: Cert. Giorgio Colla (2006) Estimate: € 4’000 – € 6’000 (Image)

FIRST DAY USAGE 1858 Folded entire from Rosarno to Naples, franked 1858 2 grana, from the first plate, good to large margins, cancelled by boxed ANNULATO, with framed ROSARNO alongside, bearing red 2-line NAPOLI 1858/3.GEN on reverse, a wonderful example of this very rare first day usage (Sassone € 16’000 to € 20’000) Expertise: Cert. Giorgio Colla (2006) Estimate: € 3’000 – € 5’000 (Image)

FIRST DAY OF USAGE 1861 Folded cover from Napoli to Briatico, franked 1861 2 grana blue, clear to very large margins, tied by PARTENZA DA NAPOLI/14.FEB.1861 first day cancel, a very fine and rare first day usage (Sassone 20b, € 87’500) Expertise: Cert. Enzo Diena (1986), Giorgio Colla (2001) Estimate: € 8’000 – € 12’000 (Image)