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The Customs Mail Matter Handstamps of China, 1883- 1886-1894 Imperial Province (Formosa)
Sale No: 34
Lot No: 2074
Symbol: C
1894 (July 18) printed "On Service" envelope from Anping to the Statistical Department of Customs at Shanghai, showing "Anping Customs/Mail Matter" oval handstamp in red, matching "Customs/Anping" double-ring origin datestamp, "Customs/Amoy" double-ring transit datestamp (7.24) in black, and "Customs/Shanghai" double-ring arrival datestamp (7.27) in blue on reverse, "Parcel Receipt Nos. 352, 373 + 396", a little roughly opened at flap on back, Extremely Fine quality for this immensely rare Customs Mail Matter handstamp.
Only five covers are recorded with the Anping Customs Mail Matter handstamp, one of which is in the China Postage Stamp Museum.
Reference Paul K.S. Chang, History of Postal Cancellations of China, Part I, p. 154.
Provenance Paul K.S. Chang, Zurich Asia (Hong Kong), May 10, 2001, lot 12. Est. HK$200,000-250,000
Est. HK$200,000-250,000
Opening HK$ 190,000.00
Sold...HK$ 620,000.00
Closed..Dec-15-2021, 10:54:32 EST
Sold For 620000
Sale No: 34
Lot No: 2075
Symbol: C
Cat No: Collection
1895 (Mar. 4) envelope from Tamsui to Boston, showing light strike of the "Tamsui Customs/Mail/Matter" oval handstamp in red, "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin datestamp in blue and "Customs/Amoy" double-ring transit datestamp (3.5) in black on reverse, and bearing on front Hong Kong 10c purple on red, canceled by "Hong Kong/B" c.d.s. (3.7), with "San Francisco Cal./Paid All" transit (4.2) and "Boston, Mass." arrival (4.7) c.d.s. on reverse, the Hong Kong adhesive has been lifted and hinged back to the cover in order to display the Customs Mail Matter handstamp and the cover opened out for exhibition, Fine to Very Fine, and an important commercially used postal history item for the Customs Post in Taiwan.
The only recorded Tamsui Customs Mail Matter cover sent overseas.
Believed to be only one of four recorded covers with the Tamsui Customs Mail Matter marking.
Two of these covers are 1894 (July 13 & Sept. 2) "On Service" printed envelopes to the Statistical Department of Customs at Shanghai via Amoy.
In his classic work, The Postal Marks of the Ching Dynasty (Beijing, 1984), Suen Jun Yi records the existence of this Customs Mail Matter marking on an 1894 registered cover bearing Small Dragons and an 1895 (June 25) cover. However, the whereabouts of these two covers are not known.
Expertization Signed Peter Holcombe
References Prize Selections from the Rocpex Taipei '81', p. 80. Customs Dater (1875-1913), p. 234.
Provenance and Auction Record "Ming", Corinphila (Zurich), Mar. 25, 1987, lot 5033. Zurich Asia (Hong Kong), Nov. 7, 2002, lot 21. Est. HK$200,000-250,000