1867 30c orange, canceled "HIOGO Japan" double circle in Roman letters, centered to bottom, small corner crease at top right and a tiny tear, scarce cancel, signed Jakubek, Richter, with 2002 Philatelic Foundation and ISJP certificates, cat. $1400 (Cat No. 100) (Image)

Cat. $1400, Est.US$500

1868 (26 Nov) FL from Yokohama, Japan to H.Hastings, Esq. in Boston, Mass., endorsed "Pr Great Republic", with red oval "China and Japan Steam Service" and San Francisco Dec.23 entry pmk, internal entry "Hastings & Co. Jan 16, 1869" pmk, franked with 10c green, which does not appear to have originated on this cover, 1989 Royal certificate notwithstanding. There is no dispatch pmk, but the cover did travel on the "Great Republic" from Yokohama in 1868 (earliest recorded use of Yokohama cds is July 1870, per Riddell). A fine cover from Yokohama, sold AS IS (Image)

Est.US$500

1869 1c, 2c and 10c, each with "HIOGO JAPAN" undated double circle pmk in Roman letters, minor flaws, fine appearance, 2c with 1988 PFC, cat. $1880 (Cat No. 112,113,115) (Image)

Cat. $1880, Est.US$500

1869 3c ultramarine, horizontal strip of three, stamps with split grills, canceled on piece by "Hiogo Japan" double circle undated pmks, rare usage, with 2016 PFC, cat. $1920 (Cat No. 114) (Image)

Cat. $1920, Est.US$500

1869 6c ultramarine, canceled by "Hiogo Japan" double circle undated pmks, fresh and fine stamp, pencil signed, rare, cat. $1725 (Cat No. 115) (Image)

Cat. $1725, Est.US$500

1870 10c brown, canceled by large undated "HIOGO JAPAN" cancel, creased, otherwise fine (Cat No. 150) (Image)

Est.US$150

1873 cover franked with 6c carmine (straight edge at left), bold "H" cancel, used with horizonal pair of 2c red brown, each stamp with identical bold "H"' cancels, one of which ties the pair at left, used on 1873 Blake correspondence cover from Hiogo, Japan to Boston, "U.S. Mail" manuscript endorsement at top left, red "San Francisco Paid All May 15" transit backstamp, with original contents headed "Hiogo 16th April 1873" (the letter deals with the estate of Frank Blake mentioning a plot of land in the "foreign concession" and the annual "police and municipality tax" and that "there are a good many lots in the concession held on speculation"), minor cover wrinkles, fine and most attractive rarity from Hiogo, Japan, paying 10c American Packet rate via San Francisco to Boston, carried on the Pacific Mail steamer "SS Japan" which departed from Yokohama and was in transit 21 days arriving in San Francisco on May 14th (The third postal agency to open in Japan was at the Consulate in Hiogo (now part of Kobe) on the island of Honshu, in March or April 1868. Prior to the introduction of a postmark with the Town Name, stamps on letters were canceled with a large "H". The "Blake correspondence" details the business travels and day to day activities in the Far East of Frank Blake, a U.S. businessman from Massachusetts. Starting in 1859, he did business in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Shanghai and Hiogo. In 1860 Mr. Blake was employed by the Augustine, Heard & Co. (a name, familiar to philatelists) and in 1863 was appointed head of their new operation in Bangkok. In 1869 he relocated to Hiogo, Japan which had been opened to foreign trade since January 1,1868. Mail service was started almost immediately by the United States Consulate with most mail sent via the Pacific Mail Steam Ship Company which began service to the Far East from San Francisco in 1867. Most significantly the covers from this correspondence and their contents confirm that the "H" cancelation was unquestionably used by the U.S. Post Office in Hiogo. There are a total of three of these covers in the Blake correspondence and only one other recorded on a printed circular) (Cat No. 146,148) (Image)

Est.US$2,500

1873 (6 Feb) FL franked with 3c green, canceled by bold 5-bar grid, with "Nagasaki, Japan, 16 Feb" cds, addressed to J. Raud & Co., Yokohama, sender's endorsement "Par Golden Age", tiny cover tear at top, otherwise fine and extraordinary inter-consular usage from Nagasaki to Yokohama (a similar cover from the same correspondence, ex-Magnolia collection was sold in 2022 for $2,400 hammer) (Cat No. 147) (Image)

Est.US$1,500

1873 cover franked with 10c brown, canceled by bold "H" of Hiogo, Japan handstamp on cover to Boston, with confirming original contents datelined "Hiogo 18 June, 1873"', endorsed "'U.S. Mail" at left, with San Francisco July 14 backstamp, some edge tears and cover wear, rare cancel used by the U.S. Post Office in Hiogo, Japan, ex-Christie's Robson Lowe Sale (Sept 27, 1995) (Cat No. 150) (Image)

Est.US$1,000

1873 cover from Yokohama to San Francisco, franked with single 10c brown, Foreign Mail cancel, with "Yokohama Japan" Sep 7 departure pmk alongside, San Francisco Sep 30 arrival, on reverse October 2, 73 docketing, minor toning at right (Cat No. 150) (Image)

Est.US$150

1874 (26 Apr) FL from Yokohama to Genova, Italy, franked with pair of 10c brown, Foreign Mail cancels, with "Yokohama Japan" departure pmk alongside, San Francisco May 19 and New York May 26 transit pmks, Verona and Genova arrival (10 June) on back, fine (The US postal service activities in Japan were to end by a postal convention between the two countries, ratified in April 1874. The Yokohama Agency was kept open until the end of 1875 because of problems with Hong Kong postal officials refusing to accept U.S. mail in the Japanese post. Japan started its own foreign mail service on January 1, 1875) (Cat No. 150) (Image)

Est.US$500

1874 (1 June) stampless cover ("Wachtels & Co. Japan" backflap imprint) endorsed "Via San Francisco Per Overland Route" to France, with local, carved out of wood "HIOGO JAPAN" around the dial cancel, "PAID" in the center, transit pmks of San Francisco (June 28), New York (July 8), "Ang.Amb. Calais" and "Paris a Clermont" (July 20), with St. Etienne (21 July) arrival on back. Diamond shaped British accountancy mark "G.B./3F60c" and charged "15" (decimes), indicate that the cover was treated as unpaid, in spite of the "PAID" Hiogo marking. A rarity, one of only two covers recorded with this locally made cancel (Image)

Est.US$1,000