388th Auction

1863/64, Austrian Levante 15 s., tied by clear c.d.s. "GALATZ 22/2" (1866) to entire letter to Syros, franked upon arrival with 20 l. blue, tied by c.d.s. Fine and rare combination franking.

 

Provenance: 'Cihangir' (Corinphila, 2000)

"MACIN", all arabic double-circle, clear and complete strike in blue on 1869/71, 20 pa. green. Extremely rare. Certificate Nakri AIEP(2019). Ex Mellon.

ISMAIL: 1846, “ISMAILA OTPRAV MARTA 8 1846” Cyrillic two-line despatch handstamp, excellent strike to reverse of a free frank official letter from the Azov military regiment to Tavabeyuev, vertical archival fold of no importance. Very fine, and very rare

1861, entire letter with blue c.d.s. "GALATZ.." (beneath Greek stamps), via Triest to Athens, here franked with 1861, First Athens printing 5 l. and 4 copies 40 l., tied by no. "1". One 40 l. faint horizontal crease, still fine and fresh. A rare and attractive franking.

ISMAIL: 1843, “ISMAIL APRIL 2() 1843” Cyrillic two-line despatch handstamp (unrecorded in Tchilinghirian), fair strike on reverse of entire letter to Odessa with alongside cachet from the Vice Consul from Sardinia, dated inside “Ismail lo 14 Aprile 1843”, fine. Very rare

1876, unpaid entire letter from Galatz via Triest  to Athens, with circular "T" and Greek black handstamp "60", paid with postage due 1876/90, 60 l., tied by dotted "1". Entire letter roughly opened, otherwise very fine and fresh. 

1875, unpaid entire letter from "GALATI 18 JUL 75" via Bucarest and Syros  to Corfu, with circular "T" and Greek black handstamp "60", paid with postage due 1875, 60 l., tied by dotted "1". The stamp with very slight toning in the perforation, otherwise very fine and fresh. A scarce cover with the 1st postage due issue.

JASSY: 1851, Russian PO printed Receipt for a registered letter, struck with oval negative seal handstamp inscribed "From the Post Office Abroad at Jassy" with Eagle above, struck in black. Very rare.

BUCHAREST INCOMING MAIL: money letter with undated framed “BALTA” (Kamenets Podolsk province) despatch on reverse, sent to Bucharest and regarding the sum of 30 silver roubles and 90 kopeks, extremely fine. A very scarce usage 

1854, entire letter from Braila, privately carried to Triest and from here posted to Syros, with arrival mark. An interesting and scarce entire during the Crimean War.

1846, “V GALATZ 1846 MAIYA”, Cyrillic two-line (Tchilinghinrian Type 2, Dobin-Nr. 1.01), a very good strike in red on the reverse of a large part lettersheet to Bucharest, red crayon “30” rate marking; despite the minor part missing still fine Russian abroad mail from this Moldavian port on the Danube. A very rare handstamp with only a few recorded

1857, entire letter from Sulina, carried by private ship to Syros, with arrival mark. Taxed upon arrival with "10" lepta. Small ink erosion on front, still fine and very scarce.

SULINA: "5099", GC in blue, clear on Napoleon lauré 40 c. orange, light bend
 

"MECIDIYE", all arabic double-circle, clear and complete strike on 1870, postage due 20 pa. Extremely rare. Certificate Nakri AIEP(2019). Ex Mellon.

TULCEA: "5102", GC in blue, clear and central strikes on Napoleon perforated 10 c., 20 c. and 40 c. Small faults, 40 c. re-perforated.

1826, "BUKAREST" Cyrillic straight-line (Tchilinghirian Type 1), an exceptional strike on reverse of an entire letter written in Greek and addressed in French to “madame Alexandra de Soulzo la postelnitzesse à Kisnowe”. The letter disinfected with rastel marks, very fine. Probably the earliest recorded used of this elusive postmark, predating the Russian occupation of the city, and an early disinfected cover from the Danubian Principalities. Outstanding and very rare.  

Provenance: `Cihangir´ (121th Corinphila auction, 2000)

TULCEA: 1883, “R.O.P.i.T TULCHINSK. AGENTSVO 28 II (83)” (Tchilinghirian Type1), two fine strikes in blue on Russian Levant 1 k. black/yellow and 7 k. carmine/green to small mourning envelope to Livorno, Italy, with reverse transit cds. “ALEXANDRIE” and arrival. Envelope with missing black flap, small reinforced tear at top and minor soiling of no significance; the 7 kopek with one round corner. Overall very fine and attractive. A truly extraordinary cover of great rarity, being one of only three recorded from the Russian Post Office in this small port of the Danube Delta  (Michel-Nr. 12x, 14x)

Provenance: `Kurt Adler´ (455th Robert Siegel auction, 1974)

`Cihangir´ (121th Corinphila auction, 2000)

BRAILA: 1853, entire letter endorsed on front “Braila” and “Galazi”, written in Braila and routed via “GALATZ 1853 APRIL 8” (Tchilinghirian Type 4; Dobin-Nr. 1.03) to Odessa with double-framed “POLUCHENO 10 APR:” arrival marking. A very fine and attractive entire; the letter refers to the accompanying remittance of 1,500 Ducats (!) and kindly asks the recipient to wait for the next post for the remainder of the payment. A delightful entire showing the convergence of a rare origin and an uncommon Galatz postmark used as a transit marking 

CONSTANZA: 1875, entire letter with full content endorsed in Greek script on the inside “Constanza 15 sept. 1875”, sent by steamer franked with Russian Levant 3 k. green and 5 k. blue as (horizontal pair) all struck on arrival with cds “ODESSA 17 CEP. 1875” repeated alongside; the entire with light vertical archival fold of no significance, very fine. Extremely rare, signed and certificate Holcombe (1992)  (Michel-Nr. 7x, 8y)

Provenance: Cherrystone auction (2009)

JASSI INCOMING MAIL: 1842, lettersheet with two-line “KISHINEV 15 DECEMBER 1842” despatch marking on reverse and addressed to Jassi, fine. A scarce destination

KUSTENDJE: "5139", GC in blue, clear and central on Napoleon lauré 40 c. orange. Light horizontal crease. Signed Calves

SCULENI: 1856, Postal receipt issued by the “SKULYANI POST OFFICE" for a sending to St Petersburg. Lightly folded, with some minor faults and toning, otherwise fine. Following its cession to Russia under the Treaty of Bucharest, Skulyani was the principal border post and key locality for mail exchange between Bessarabia and the Danubian Principalities. Rare

JASSY: 1862, Postal receipt issued by the “JASSY POST OFFICE" for a money letter with an insurance value of 74 roubles and 2 kopek, dated 15 January 1862; light vertical archival fold, still very fine. A rare example of the small format receipt used in Romania

BUCHAREST: 1857, Postal receipt from the “BUCHAREST POST OFFICE" for a parcel sent from the Imperial Russian Consulate to Novocherkask, dated 29 November 1857; the receipt lightly folded as usual, very fine. Rare

JASSY: 1844, Postal receipt from “JASSY POST OFFICE" for a brief sent to Bucharest, dated 10 February 1844, alongside black negative official seal. The receipt lightly folded as usual; very fine and rare, signed and certificate Mikulski AIEP (1994) 

GALATZ: 1869, “GALATZ 19 MAI. 1869” (Tchilinghirian Type 6) in blue, fine strike (repeated on reverse) with additional blue dotted lozenge tying a Russian Levant 10 k. carmine/green to lettersheet to Taganrog via “ODESSA 20 MAYA. 1869”. Minor peripheral toning of no significance, very fine and visually appealing. Very rare and desirable combination, featuring both the Galatz cds. and the Retta cancel, from the known Svorono correspondence (Michel-Nr. 5)

Provenance: `Cihangir´ (121th Corinphila auction, 2000)

GALATZ: "5085", GC in blue, on Napoleon perforated 10 c. bistre, 20 c. blue, 40 c. orange and 80 c. carmine, on entire letter, written in Ibraila, with adjacent blue dotted c.d.s. "GALATZ MOLDAVIE 17 MARS 66" via Constantinopel to Athens. 80 c. with small corner fault (backed) and 40 c. light corner crease, otherwise fine and attractive. A rare colour franking.

1853, entire letter from Braila, privately carried to Constantinopel and from here posted to Syros, with arrival mark. Small sticky tape reminders on reverse.

1874, cover with blue c.d.s. "CALAFAT 27 AUG 74", via Orsova and Triest to Athens, here franked with 1872/76, 40 l. in horizontal pair and 1868/69, 20 l. blue, tied by dotted "1". Fine and scarce.

IBRAILA: "5087", GC in blackish blue, clear on Napoleon perforated 10 c. bistre and 40 c. orange, on letter sheet (2 side flaps missing) with adjacent blue dotted c.d.s. "IBRAILA 26 NOV 65", to Athens, with transit and arrival marks. Little stained, otherwise fine. A rare letter.

1839, “YASSI” Cyrillic handstamp in slanting capitals (Tchilinghirian Type 1, Dobin-Nr. 1.02), a very fair strike on reverse of an official entire letter from the Kharkov Court to Yassi, endorsed both inside and on the back flap “Kharkov 15 September (1839)”. From Jassi the cover was forwarded to Bucharest via the weekly mail service linking the two cities, with manuscript dockettings “6 October” (reverse) and “10 October” (inside), very fine. An exceptional redirection  and a noteworthy use of this rare Jassi marking 

1866, unpaid lettersheet from "GALATZ 9/2" (beneath Greek stamps) to Corfu with transit marks of Vienna and Triest on reverse. The letter taxed with "45" new kreuzer, plus Greek inland postage of 20 lepta charged with a total of "155" lepta in red crayon (somewhat faint) and franked with 2nd Athens printing 5 lepta green, 10 lepta orange, 20 lepta blue, 40 lepta mauve and 80 lepta carmine, mostly good margins, tied by clear cds. "KERKYRA 7 FEB.66" (Julian calendar). Top cover fold somewhat weak and fixed by hinges. the 10 lepta affected by vertical cover crease, but of only minor importance. An attractive and very rare 5 colour franking; PROFI has recorded just one similar item.

 

"TULCA", all arabic double-circle, clear and complete strike in blue on 1869/71, 1 pia. Extremely rare. Certificate Nakri AIEP(2019).

BRAILA: 1843, Entire letter to Constantinopel, upon arrival struck with all Arabic negative "An Canib Posta-i Deraliyye 257" greenish handstamp. Very rare; just 5 entires from this early period have been recorded.

KALAS (GALATZ), "AN CANIB-I POSTA-I KALAS", blue negative seal cancel, nice clear strike on tatar postal document from Shumnu, Bulgaria, to Galatz. Very rare.

IBRAILA: "101" in blue, clear on 1862/67, 40 l. mauve (small faults). Extremely rare