(Discriminatory Rate) 1848 (Mar. 19) Liverpool, England to St. Petersburg, Va., folded letter with red Liverpool (3.19) origin cds and red manuscript "1/-" prepaid packet rating, red London (3.20) cds, carried by Ocean Line Washington from Southampton Mar. 21 to New York arriving Apr. 7, upon arrival in U.S. blue manuscript "34" cent due rating for 24¢ American packet fee plus 10¢ inland postage, slight bleaching along hor. fold, F.-V.F., a scarce discriminatory rate. Estimate  $500 - 750. The Ocean Line was awarded the first US Post Office contract for US mails under the Foreign Mails Act of 1845. Two steamships were built, the "Washington" and the "Hermann" and they operated the contact over its 10 year term between New York and Bremen with a stop at Southampton. The Washington inaugurated the service leaving New York June 1st 1847 arriving Southampton June 15th.The commencement of the service led to Britain imposing a "Discriminatory Rate" on mails landed at Southampton with all US prepayment ignored and the One Shilling Packet Rate charged to the addressee leading to the Retaliatory Rate period. $0 (Image)