North East Provinces. 1947 $22, $65 and $109 in mint blocks of four, no gum as issued, very fine and scarce multiples of these difficult values from this issue. (Image)

Yunnan. 1932 Yunnan overprint on Dr. Sun Yat-sen first London printing 1c to $5, mint lh, very fine and fresh. (Image)

1878-83 Large Dragon. 1878 Large Dragon 3ca brown-red, 2 1/2mm spacing on thin paper, mint hr, very fine. (Image)

1897 Dowager Empress 1c on 1ca, second printing wide spacing, in mint left marginal block of 8, very fine multiple. (Image)

1897 Dowager Small Surcharges. 1897 Empress Dowager, first printing, small figure, 8c on 6ca brown in vertical strip of three with error IMPERFORATE HORIZONTALLY IN BETWEEN mint left marginal, very fine and scarce (Image)

1897-1911 Imperial Post. 1897 Tokyo printing 1/2c to $5 mint set of 12, some short perfs as usual and some a little heavily hinged, part to large part og, fine to very fine. (Image)

1902 (Mar 8) CIP 1c postal stationery card from Canton to Brussels, showing Tombstone postmark at top centre, uprated with 1898-1909 1c pair and 2c, tied by Canton cds, in combination with Hong Kong 4c tied in transit and French Ligne N octagonal d.s., a scarce combination with Tombstone hs. (Image)

1906 (Aug) "Red band" envelope from Paoting to the New Modderfontein Gold Mine at Benoni, bearing China C.I.P. 10c, with French P.O. Shanghai, Shanghai bi-lingual, Colombo and Benoni arrival datestamps, envelope split open along seem, very scarce destination mail from China. Note: Due to the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer War, most of the gold mines were taken out of production. After the war, the highest economic priority for the new Transvaal Colonial government was to get the mines producing gold again. For this purpose Chinese labourers were imported. (Image)

1948-49 Gold and Silver Yuan Issues. 1949 Silver Yuan Domestic Unit stamps for West Szechwan, set of 26, unused without gum as issued, very fine. (Image)

Chinese Republic. 1913 London Printing 1/2c to $10 mint set of 19, mint lh or mint hr, the $2 with part gum, very fine and fresh. (Image)

1932-34 Martyrs of the Revolution, Peking printing, 40c orange showing major re-entry with much of the design doubled, particularly visible in the 'sun' above Gen Hsing's head, Shanghai cds, fine and scarce (SG 420a £250). (Image)

British Post Offices. 1899 (Nov 20) Postcard to Dollnstein (Germany), franked by China 1898 1/2c (6) and 1c, tied by 'Pa-kua' hs, Shanghai Local post and Hong kong cds's at tight, additionally franked with Hong Kong 1884 2c carmine (2) tied by Br. Shanghai cds, arrival at base, some toned perforations but an interesting Local Post usage. (Image)

French Military Mail. 1871 (April 15) Cover to Bourg-sur-Gironde franked by 1863 20c, tied by "5118" lozenge with "CORR.D.ARMÉES/YOKOHAMA" cds in centre, a very fine cover rarely sent during the period of the "Commune" uprisings in Paris; ex Max J. Mayer. (Image)

1874 (Feb 13) Incoming envelope from Paris addressed to Captain Lebon (Chief Artillery Instructor of the Military Mission to Japan) in Yedo (the old name for Tokyo before the Meiji Restoration), and sent by his mother, bearing perf. 'Cérès' 5c, 15c (bistre) & 80c, tied on dispatch, struck in transit on reverse with "YOKOHAMA/BAU FRANÇAIS" cds, scarce; ex Max J. Mayer. (Image)

French Post Office. 1866 (Feb 1) Single rate envelope to Bordeaux, bearing 1862 40c vertical pair cancelled by "5118" dotted lozenge, showing "YOKOHAMA/BAU FRANÇAIS" and red French entry cds's alongside, two vertical creases clear away of the franking, a rare mail in the year of the Great Fire of Yokohama; cert. Roumet (2002), signed Calves; (Yv €700); ex Jun Ichi Matsumoto and Max J. Mayer. (Image)

1866 (Feb 28) Cover to Lyon, paying the single rate with 1862 80c, tied by "5118" dotted lozenge, with superb "YOKOHAMA/BAU FRANÇAIS" and red French entry cds alongside, bs on receipt, very fine, carried by the British mail with involvement of the "Cadiz", "Baroda", "Delhi" and the "Tanjore" ships, sent some months before the Great Fire of Yokohama; cert. Roumet (2002), signed Calves and Pothion; (Yv €1'000 for the franking); ex Jun Ichi Matsumoto and Max J. Mayer. (Image)

1878 (Feb 4) Envelope via Brindisi to Offranville carried at single GPU rate, bearing 'Siège' 40c, tied by "YOKOHAMA/BAU FRANÇAIS" cds, repeated alongside, red French entry cds, a couple of toned perfs., scarce; ex Max J. Mayer. (Image)

French Post Offices. 1895 (April 19) Cover to England franked by overprinted Sage 25c, tied by "SHANG-HAÏ/CHINE" cds, redirected from Dover to Canterbury with application of 1881 1d violet tied by Dover "258" duplex, with receiving cds on back, an unusual combination. (Image)

1899 (Nov 24) CIP 1c postal stationery card to Charlottenburg (Germany), uprated with China 1898 1c and 2c, tied by bilingual Hankow cds, transferred to the French mail with overprinted Sage 10c type II, tied by French Shanghai cds, German receiver at lower left and bilingual Shanghai cds on back, very fine. (Image)

German Post Offices. 1898 (Jan 4) Envelope from Kiang Yin Forts to Bethel bei Bielefeld (Germany), showing Shanghai Large Dollar dater on reverse, franked on front by 1897 Empress Dowager redrawn design 1/2c on 3ca (Chan 82) in two vertical pairs, including one stamp with"2" of the "1/2" denomination almost completely missing, cancelled by "Pa-kua" hs of Shanghai, in mixed franking with 1894-98 10pf pair and two singles, tied by "SHANGHAI" cds's; a very rare combination franking with the sender only paying the single 2ca internal rate with Chinese stamps in order to make the cover more attractive for the addressee, who was a stamp collector (see "Markenfreund" in the address). Provenance: 1. Merkur (Stanley Gibbons) auction in Frankfurt (May 1972, lot 569), and Max J. Mayer. Expertise: Signed Mansfeld (active in the 1958-1970's) and Horst Pröschold (1922-1989). (Image)

1892 (March 22) Cover to Dresden with German "GESANDTSCHAFT DES DEUTSCHEN REICHES/PEKING" paper seal on reverse, where also the "I.G OF CUSTOMS/PEKING" (22.3), violet "CUSTOMS/TIENTSIN" (23.3, faint strike) and "CUSTOMS/SHANGHAI" (28.3) cds's where applied, with Chinese 3 candarin stamp missing besides the area where a blue barred oval hs is visible, with the franking on front incl. 1890-96 10pf in pair, tied by "KAISERLICH/DEUTSCHE POSTAGENTUR SHANGHAI" cds, three vertical folds not affecting the stamps, a rare combination franking; ex Max J. Mayer. (Image)

German Post Offices » Kiautschou. 1905 (March 6) 5c postal stationery card with rare printed illustration of the first international art exhibition in Tsingtau (25.2.05) on reverse, sent to Hamburg and cancelled by "DEUSTCHE SEEPOST/SHANGHAI-TIENTSIN/b" oval ds, arrival cds at left, very fine. (Image)

1956 Olympics 20h and 55h imperf mini sheets, faint handling bends, very fine and rare (Mi. €8'000) (Image)

Shanghai. 1865 4ca yellow-bister, printing 57, a magnificent example with large balanced margins all around , extremely fine. (Image)

1865 4ca yellow-bister, printing 57, very fresh with large margins on all sides, extremely fine. (Image)