1858 (December 1) Blue folded cover with intact red wax seal on back, mailed registered from Chatham to Halifax, NS franked with a sound example of the 1sh dull violet with well clear at left to full margins, tied by light oval grid in blue; overall light ageing not affecting the key One shilling stamp; clear backstamp Chatham DE 1 double arch dispatch in blue, partially clear Sackville DE 2 transit and oval DE 3 1858 (Halifax) receiving mark. An exceedingly rare single-franking of the One shilling, being THE ONLY KNOWN COVER to Nova Scotia paying a double letter rate (6 pence), plus 6 pence registration fee; a Fine cover bearing a Very Fine stamp (Unitrade 4)

Expertization: clear 2018 Greene Foundation certificate

Provenance: John F. Seybold, March 1910; Lot 662
Koh Seow Chuan, April 1999; Lot 73
J.R. Saint, June 2000; Lot 467

According to the census by Arfken and Firby we count only 7 covers bearing a single-franking One shilling (regardless of shade) as follows:

(2) double domestic letter rate + registration;
(1) quadruple letter rate to Nova Scotia;
(1) double letter rate + registration to Nova Scotia (offered here);
(1) double letter rate + registration to Prince Edward Island;
(2) double letter rate to USA (one of which resides in the Royal Collection). (Image)

Estimate 15000 $