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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  Stamps & Postal History
• Sale Date:
  05 Mar 2015 ~ Session 1 (Lots 1 - 176) - 1pm
  05 Mar 2015 ~ Session 2 (Lots 501 - 647) - 3pm
• Lot #:
  78
• Lot Description:
  1856 entire letter headed 'Launceston/4 Feb 1856' & signed 'Richd Green' to London 'p Hellespont' with very fine Star Wmk 4d blue SG 18
  (full margins, with a fragment of the adjoining unit at left) tied by fair BN '60' cancel, diamond 'POST OFFICE/LAUNCESTON/[crown]/6FE6/VDL/1856' d/s in red alongside, London arrival b/s of 5MY5/1856 in red & rated '10'. A quite superb Classic cover. Carried by Bass Strait vessel to Melbourne; then per 'Hellespont', departed 18/2/1856, via the Indian Ocean & arrived Singapore 16/3/1856; per P&O 'Norna' to Galle; 'Bombay' to Suez; & 'Pera', arriving Southampton 4/5/1856.
  Symbol: C Grade: A+
• Notes:
  [4d paid postage to Melbourne only. The 10d charge was 4d Singapore-Bombay + 6d packet rate to London. The letter concerned the insolvent estate of the late Stuart Harvey] During the Crimean War many P&O ships were pressed into naval service & mail services became infrequent & reliant upon private shipping. The 'Hellespont' was a coastal steamer that was sent to Singapore to be sold. This is a famous voyage, from which little surviving mail is recorded. This is the only recorded 'Hellespont' cover from Tasmania. Colin Tabeart at page 168 states '...the one letter seen via Southampton - this item? - was stamped at London on 5 May'. See also Lot 105.
• Estimate:
  A$4,000 - 4,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Numismatics

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.