1848 (Mar. 21) New York, N.Y. To Montpelier, France, no datestamp but presumably originated in New York and prepaid 24¢ for the American packet rate to France, carried as endorsed on Ocean Line Hermann arriving at Southampton Apr. 11th, upon arrival in England, the American mail agent, William Iselin, arranged for the transport of this letter directly to France, without passing through the London Foreign Office. As such, this letter did not receive the usual COLONIES/ &c.ART.13 handstamp, but instead, was struck with the "Outre-Mer, Le Havre, Avril 13" entry cds as ship letter and manuscript "21" decimes was required to pay the 1 decime ship letter fee plus the French internal postage on a letter weighing 10 grams, Very Fine, Carried on the Maiden Voyage of the Ocean Line Hermann. Estimate  $400 - 600. Beginning 1 June 1847, the United States provided its first contract steamship service for carrying mail to and from Europe, via the Ocean Line. The fee associated with this service was 24¢ per ½ ounce, plus the U.S. internal postage to New York (5¢ for distances less than 300 miles, or 10¢ for greater distances). The 24¢ prepayment represented only the transatlantic portion of the transit, so that all such letters were considered unpaid beyond the British port of arrival. Note that only the letters from voyages two through six of the Ocean Line were never placed into the British Mails, and entered France as private ship letters. $0 (Image)