1898 4k Stationery card addressed to Germany with manuscript dateline “Port Arthur 28 5 1898” (2 months after Russian troops had landed in the leased territory), placed directly on the ship and cancelled on arrival at the Russian P.O. in Shanghai with Type I canceller in blue dated 6 VI 1898, saving the sender a day of transit time transiting through Shanghai and Hong Kong as the previous lot which was despatched a day earlier, a few tonespots, otherwise fine, ex Casey Note: Date of opening of the Russian P.O. at Port Arthur: 16 IV 1898. Earliest known postmark of this office: 1 VI 1898 (Image)

1901 Cover registered to the USA with 1k pair, 4k, 10k pair and 14k tied by Port Arthur 15.10.01 cds (T&S type 1B), paying 3 lots plus 10k registration, via Russian and Chinese P.O. at Chefoo, then Chinese and Russian P.O. at Shanghai, thence via Yokohama, Seattle and arriving in New York, with Cyrillic “Z” type reg’d label contrary to UPU regulations, horizontal fold affecting 1k, otherwise a fine and attractive multi-colour franking, ex Casey (Image)

1903 Registered cover from Port Arthur addressed to Empress Maria Feodorovna franked on reverse 3 pairs of 7k tied by Port Arthur cds,s, cover flap (torn) sealed by 3 Red Cross labels, arrival mark of the Royal Chancellory St Petersburg, from Dr Balashev, head of Russian Red Cross in the Far East and Surgeon-general of the Russian Army, fine and desirable, ex Casey (Image)

RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR: 1904 Red band cover to St.Petersburg bearing at front “GLAVNAYA KVARTIRA POL.POCH.KON. b 8.11.04” (Mukden), sender: member of Manchurian Army, at back arrival marking “S.Petersburg 29.11.04” very rare (Image)

KUANCHENTSZY – MANCHURIA – CHINESE EASTERN RAILWAY 1907 Registered cover franked 20k blue & red 1884/1904 issue bearing KUANCHENTSZY * ST.KIT.VOST.ZH.D * 17.3.07 cds to the SKODA works at Plzen (Czechoslovakia, at that time Austria) This postmark was at Tchilinghirian’s time only known as an incomplete strike, The Dr. Casey collection included already a loose block of 6 and a pair of the Romanov issue with more or less complete strikes, while this cover now has for the 1st time complete AND superb strikes at front and back of march 17 and march 18, 1907 (also bearing at back arrival marking of Plzen) This cover is especially as a commercial registered cover going abroad. A unique and major Manchuria exhibition piece in fine quality (Image)

HARBIN WHARF: 1917 Double weight registered cover to Switzerland franked two 20k tied by HARBIN WHARF ‘zh’ 7 10 17 cds (= 20 10 17 new style), 2 registration labels alongside (1 in Latin as required by UPU regulations), opened and resealed by Military Censor in Petrograd (sealing slip partly lifted), Lausanne arrival backstamp of 4 1 18 reflecting delay in censor’s office and difficulty of wartime communications, fine, ex Casey (Image)

1920 South Manchurian Railway and Yamato Hotel illustrated envelope registered from Harbin 22 2 20 to Hankow, prepayment of postage in cash as the Harbin post office had run out of postage stamps due to civil war conditions, denoted by violet cachet on reverse: “FEE COLLECTED IN / AMOUNT OF RUB…KOP… / POST & TELEGRAPH CLERK” with ms fee “4(R)” and signed, with Harbin reg’d label and cds, Hankow arrival, very fine and attractive, ex Casey (Image)

1920 Stampless registered cover to NIKOLSK-USSURIISK from HARBIN WHARF16 6 20, on reverse framed red cachet denoting fee collected with 4 (roubles) inserted by hand and signed by POST-TELEGRAPH CLERK, registration cachet on obverse, rare, ex Casey Note: Cash paid markings were applied to meet stamp shortages during the Civil War. No previous record of use at Harbin Wharf. (Image)

1909 Picture postcard to England with 4k tied by Manchuli cds 2.1.09 (small format with serial letter “b”), minor soiling, fine, ex Casey (Image)

1912 Picture postcard of Vladivostok, written in Estonian, sent to Veisenshtein with 3k tied by Pogranichnaya 22.1.12 “a” cds (Casey Type I), fine, ex Casey (Image)