| Semi-Postals 1922-1945 |  Top |
| Item # |
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US$ | ||
229822 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
B20, 170 [1935 2-1/2m _ 25p Anders Chydenius Semi-postal; 1-1/2 Red M-30 Lion] (VF) on 8 September 1935 FLIGHT COVER from TURKU / ÅBO (special cancel) to STOCKHOLM, Sweden. Returned to sender with several nice Swedish markings. ACTUAL item. |
50.00 |
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400267 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #B35-8 Complete Set [1939 Red Cross Geneva Convention Semi-Postal. (Per Facit, pictures the "24 June 1859 battlefield scene at Solferino, in northern Italy, where the Red Cross idea was born."] (VF) on 14 January 1939 philatelic REGISTERED cover from JAKOBSTAD / PIETARSAARI (with Russian text removed cancel), to Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Marked "10 gr" [grams], which thus indicates that there was actual contents of this envelope; it may have been philatelic, but it did carry some contents. The foreign letter rate was 3.50 mk (1 Nov 1936 - 30 Sep 1942) and the registry fee was 2.50 mk (1 Dec 1931 - 31 Aug 1942). The additional postage (1.25 mk) in this set of stamps was NOT enough to pay any amount of airmail surcharge. (Since this was going to Florida, the rest-of-US airmail rate was 3.00 mk per 5 grams (thus 6 mk airmail surcharge franking needed for this 10 gram cover). Thus this is "only" an overpaid surface mail cover -- there are no markings or timing indications of airmail service . However, 13 days after mailing, THIS COVER TRANSITED WASHINGTON, DC, with two clear registry backstamps. (Jacksonville, Florida, markings were added on 28 and 30 January.) At this time, ocean liner transit speed from Europe to the U.S. was 5-7 days; from Finland would have added a few days to get to a major departure port. But there was no ship port at Washington, DC, to receive such mail. Before May 1939, there was no direct airmail service from Europe to Washington, DC. THIS COVER IS A MYSTERY! There is simply no obvious explanation why this letter received Washington transit markings. Just in case this letter piggybacked on an unusual sending of diplomatic mail from Finland (or Europe in general) to Washington, I consulted with an expert on U.S. diplomatic mail; he confirmed that there was no apparent (diplomatic) reason for this letter to have Washington DC postmarks. The only remaining (default) explanation for the Washington, DC, markings is that the letter was somehow misrouted via Washington (perhaps accidentally included in a Finnish mailbag containing mail bound for Washington). Perhaps somebody will be able to provide a better or more complete explanation. Unfortunately, this cover was NOT sent on the 2 January first day of issue; such covers are rare and valuable. Regardless, the stamps of this set are scarce on cover -- and this cover has both a great postal history story and the franking tells an important story of the founding of the Red Cross. ACTUAL item. |
44.00 |
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229780 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
B43 pair [1940 2m Fatherland, Coat of Arms Semi-postal] (F-VF+) on 22 February 1940 attractive Finnish-censored cover from BRANDO-VASA (as opposed to the Brando located in Aland), to the U.S. Excellent quality; extremely scarce war-time usage of semi-postal stamps to overseas destination. ACTUAL item. |
50.00 |
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229830 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
B50 [1943 5.50 + 35 Red Cross Semi-postal] (VF) solo use on 6 April 1943 cover from HELSINKI (machine cancellation promoting saving) to Sweden. Finnish censored. From one philatelist to another - on reverse has large red boxed hand stamp that appears (text is unclear) to signify PHILATELIC CENSORSHIP. Such philatelic censorship was also done in Norway and England, but I do not recall seeing any other Finnish examples. RARE! ACTUAL item. |
100.00 |