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1885 (March 24), 10pa green & light green, perforated 11.5, tied to postal stationery card to Kazanlak by circular grid cancel, neatly-struck Tchirpan c.d.s. below, a lovely example of the 10pa inland postcard rate, sent from a small town on the Tekirska River.

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1885 (April 17), 5pa lilac & pale lilac, perforated 11.5, block of four, tied to back of cover by two bold strikes of circular grid cancel, bilingual Haskeuy despatch c.d.s. on front, Istanbul c.d.s. arrival backstamp (Apr 23), large piece torn from back flap, but a scarce franking to pay the 20pa rate to Turkey.

Get Market Data for [Eastern Rumelia Michel 11B] Visual Pricing Guide Sample Census

1885 (April 26), 5pa lilac & pale lilac, perforated 11.5, tied to cover to Adrianopel by circular grid cancel, blue Plovdiv despatch c.d.s. alongside, partial blue Constantinople c.d.s. transit backstamp, some light staining and surface abrasions near adhesive, but a scarce franking, paying the inland printed matter rate of up to 50g, this example further demonstrating that destinations in Turkey were at this time covered by the domestic rate.

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1885 (May 30), 10pa green & light green, perforated 11.5, two singles affixed to postal stationery card, tied by green grid cancels, matching Tatar Pazardjik despatch c.d.s., addressed to Vienna and endorsed "voie de Bulgarie”, with partial Sofia transit and Mariahilf-Wien arrival c.d.s. (Jun 15), redirected from there to  Vordernberg, with arrival c.d.s. (Jun 16) on front, a fine and attractive example of the 20pa foreign postcard rate.

Get Market Data for [Eastern Rumelia Michel 12B] Visual Pricing Guide Sample Census

1885 (June), cover franked with two 5pa perf 11.5, one each of 10pa, 20pa, and 1pi, perf 13.5, tied to reverse of registered cover to Kehl by circular grid cancels in blue, front with partial Plovdiv despatch c.d.s. and clear strike of boxed "U.P.U. / ROUMELIE / ORIENTALE / R”, reverse with Gabrovo (Jul 2) and Russe (Jul 5) transit backstamps, multiple Kehl c.d.s. receivers (Jul 20), three mostly intact wax seals remain, piece torn from upper right corner, 1pi adhesive discolored, but a most remarkable franking, paying the 2pi registered foreign letter rate, a late usage of the 1880/81 10pa and 20pa denominations, and an exceptional and iconic rarity of Eastern Rumelian postal history.

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1885 (July 4), 10pa green & light green, two singles, perforated 11.5, tied to postal card to Plovdiv by green circular grid cancel, Stanimaka c.d.s. despatch alongside, reverse with Sofia transit c.d.s., Plovdiv c.d.s. receiver in blue on front, an attractive example of the 20pa foreign postcard rate, showing strikes in the two typical ink colours used in Eastern Rumelia in this period.

Get Market Data for [Eastern Rumelia Michel 12B] Visual Pricing Guide Sample Census

1885 (August 5), 10pa green & light green, perforated 11.5, tied to inland postcard from Slivno to Stara Zagora, with green c.d.s. arrival backstamp (Aug 8), a fine example of this less-common c.d.s from Stara Zagora.

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1885 (August 7), 10pa green & light green, perforated 11.5, tied to postal card to Plovdiv by blue circular grid cancel, Poste Slivno despatch c.d.s. alongside, showing the inverted "7” date slug, light blue c.d.s. arrival backstamp (Aug 8), tone spots, but a scarce example of this cancellation variety, recorded only between August 5 and 7, 1885.

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1885 (August 23), post office document from the Tatar Pazardjik Post & Telegraph Office, to the Post Office in Sliven, struck with double Post Horn negative seal "East Rumelian Post / T. Pazardjik”, light filing folds, else fine.

1885 (August 28), three 1pi black & blue, perforated 13.5, two on reverse, all tied to registered cover to Arthur Maury in Paris by blue circular grid cancels, neatly-struck "Poste Yamboli” despatch c.d.s., black Constantinople transit backstamp and multiple Paris c.d.s., a scarce cover paying the 2pi foreign letter rate for the second weight class with 1pi registration fee, most attractive.

Get Market Data for [Eastern Rumelia Michel 9A] Visual Pricing Guide Sample Census

1885 (September 2), 5pa lilac & pale lilac, perforated 11.5 (4), 10pa green & light green, perforated 11.5 (2), and 1pi black & blue, perforated 13.5, tied to back of cover to Hannover, Germany, by circular blue grid cancels, front with blue Plovdiv despatch c.d.s., next-day Gabrovo transit, indistinct black c.d.s. arrival backstamp, some staining mostly confined to reverse, adhesives with some small faults, but a striking 1880/1 and 1884 mixed-issue franking, paying the foreign letter rate for the second weight class, sent only days before the Revolution, one of only a small number of covers recorded from this period.

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1885 (September 2), 10pa green on light green, perforated 11.5, tied to cover from Stara Zagora to Plovdiv, with green c.d.s. despatch and blue c.d.s. receiver (Sep 5) both struck on front, fine and attractive.

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Incoming Mail: 1885 (September 27), newspaper "Tirnova Constitution”, No. 171, franked with 1st lilac Lion of Bulgaria, tied by Sofia c.d.s., to Plovdiv, with c.d.s. receiver (Sep 29) alongside, a scarce incoming newspaper to Eastern Rumelia from shortler after the Revolution.

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1885 (December 15), cover to a member of the Eastern Corps in Sarambei, franked with 20pa rose on pale rose, tied to official cover by circular grid cancel on black, postmarked with neatly-struck Plovdiv c.d.s., alongside blue intaglio handstamped Lion cachet of the Plovdiv Military Command, some staining, but a unique franking, the only example recorded of the unissued 20pa.

Note: While Bulgarian stamps had already been issued by December, 1885, the sender franked the envelope with an Eastern Rumelian adhesive, which was nevertheless accepted.

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1885 (August 16), 5pa lilac & pale lilac, perforated 11.5, horizontal pair, tied to postal card with circular grid cancel, Kazanluk despatch c.d.s. at left, to Kotel, with blue c.d.s. arrival backstamp (Aug 20), sender’s message on reverse related to the U.S.S. Quinnebaugh’s arrival in Constantinople, and its  encounters with Bulgarian gunboats, some toning and light creasing, yet of historical interest.

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1886, three postal stationery covers to Freiherrn Adolph von Gissa in Plovdiv, with a 7k stationery cover from Libau (June 4),  a 10pf uprated Bavarian stationery cover from Bamberg, and 10pf Crown & Eagle stationery of Germany uprated from Dresden, the first two with Constantinople transit and c.d.s. arrival backstamps, the last transiting via  Orsova and Sofia, the Bavarian cover opened on three sides for display, a pleasing group to an important figure in the early study of the postal history of the period.

1885, 5pa lilac (2 singles and one pair), 10pa green, (2), 20pa black on rose (1), and 1pi (1), all overprinted Type I in black or blue, used save for one 10pa example, a small study showing contrasting overprint impressions caused by the use of standard or aniline inks, some small perf flaws, else a fine reference group for the specialist.

1885, 5pa black on olive, Type I, overprint in blue, affixed to postal card for local usage, with attached reply card, both unused, ink stain at lower right, else fine, handstamped Zagorsky, with his 1995 certificate.

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1885 (September 18), 5pa black on olive, perforated 13.5, overprint Type I, tied to local postal card by Poste Slivno c.d.s. in blue, a most unusual and scarce usage of the 1881 5pa value overprinted, fine; with 2022 Hitzler certificate noting the franking as "extremely rare.”

Note: the 1880/1 5pa was no longer available at the Post Office at the time the 1885 Provisional Lion overprints were prepared. However, individuals and commercial firms could continue to bring their stamps to the Post Office to be overprinted.  Usages of the 1880/1 5pa overprinted issues are correspondingly rare.

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1885, 5pa lilac (2) and 10pa green (2), perforated 11.5, overprint Type I in blue, with one of each denomination showing regular and aniline ink varieties, the odd trivial perf flaw, else a fine and useful reference.   

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