| Registered Covers |  Top |
| Item # |
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US$ | ||
215321 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
117, 148 (Fine, VF) [1920 15 aur Violet Christian X, 1925 50 aur Landing the Mail] on 1927 registered cover to the U.S., transiting the United Kingdom (blue cross and Edinburgh transit postmark). ACTUAL item. |
140.00 |
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229353 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
148 (VF) on 13 May 1930 registered rate cover to Norway with ESKIFJORDUR cancellation and printed registry label. Stamp originally applied with glue, otherwise would be much more costly. Correct 50 aur rate (letter 20 aur, registration 30 aur). ACTUAL item. |
125.00 |
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401055 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #148 x2, 171, 182 [1925 50 aur Landing of the Mail; 1931 20 aur Gulfoss Waterfall; 1931 25 aur brown and green Christian X, Redrawn Portrait] (VF, one #148 has a couple short perforations) on 3 September 1934 registered heavy cover (measuring 238 x 135 mm) from REYKJAVIK; via HULL, England, with registry transit postmark on reverse; to New Rochelle, NY, U.S., with receiving postmarks on reverse. Reykjavik registry label and blue crossed lines added to the envelope by the British as they did for all registered mail. Slightly rumpled appearance, but this is normal and expected for a heavy cover. The 145 aur franking is correct for a FIFTH WEIGHT CLASS 80-100 gram (115 aur) registered (30 aur) letter, to countries outside Scandinavia, 1 Oct 1925 thru 31 Dec 1939. Heavy covers were seldom saved; in my experience, an example such as this is "rare". I have not recorded having been able to offer, in the last 52 years, an Icelandic fifth weight class cover to any destination! ACTUAL item. |
125.00 |
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244927 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
209-11 [1938 Reykjavik University set] (all VF) on 21 December 1938 registered philatelic cover from REYKJAVÍK to the U.S. with transit and receiving postmarks. Light blue frame registration label. A quantity of similar envelopes were mailed to Mr. Vilhjálmur Thor, Commissioner General Icelandic Commission to the New York Worlds Fair 1939. It is my understanding that these were sent to Mr. Thor to be used as gifts to Icelandic supporters in the U.S. and/or to be sold at the fair (which opened April 30, 1939). Nice postally used examples of these stamps (which are hard to find actually used) -- a Used VF set of singles sells for $56.50 -- VF centering is hard to find. I actually currently need Used VF singles for stock! Even though this is philatelic, the registration and backstamps make it exhibitable. Very attractive and a nice 1939 Worlds Fair item! ACTUAL item. |
59.00 |
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400979 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #208 (plus 1 or 2 missing stamps) [1938 50 aur "Geysir"] ca. 2 December 1939 REGISTERED cover from Iceland to Denmark, heavily DAMAGED BY SEAWATER -- VERY LIKELY THE RESULT OF A GERMAN SUBMARINE OR AIRCRAFT ATTACK. Registered business mail sent from the Siglufjörður Saving Bank to a bank in København, Denmark. With a Siglufjörður registry label and Scott #208 with a partial (SI)GLUF(JÖÐUR) cancellation. On the reverse is a neat REYKJAVIK "4.1.40.12" (4 January 1940, 12 noon) transit postmark. The cover originally bore at least one, and probably two, other stamps, but they have been lost to the seawater. When this envelope was rescued, it was obviously badly damaged. Close examination of the typed address shows that it had been wet. The envelope was dried out and cellophane tape was used to put it back together -- that tape degraded and stained over time. The taped areas are NOT sticky now; the old adhesive dried out and most of the tape fell away long ago. The surviving stamp was taped down by the rescuers (the line of tape goes over, not under, the stamp -- I HAVE CAREFULLY HINGED THE STAMP INTO THE PROPER LOCATION. A tiny trace of the tying cancellation can be seen on the envelope at the upper right of the stamp. The rest of the postmark(s) was (were) on the adjacent stamp(s) -- there is a trace of another postmark at the extreme right edge of the cover, in line with the stamp. PRIOR to taping, the envelope was handstamped in violet "Beskadiget af Søvand" [Damaged by Seawater]. SUCH MARKINGS ARE "RARE". The reverse of the cover bears very neat docketing, handwritten in Danish, [translated]: "Sent 2 December 1939 / Received 5 March 1940". We do not know who wrote that, but it is reasonable to presume that it was written at the receiving Danish bank. I do not know if the Reykjavik postmark on the reverse was applied before or after the likely sinking of the ship carrying this envelope. However, since the violet handstamp is in Danish, I suspect that the Reykjavik marking is from before the sinking. The 2 December to 4 January transit time to Reykjavik can be explained by the fact that there was no (or no practical) overland route, thus DURING WARTIME and DURING THE WINTER IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC (!!), with u-boats attacking at will, a month transit time, by fishing boats, etc., is not unreasonable from Siglufjörður (in the extreme north of Iceland) to Reykjavik (in the extreme south-west of Iceland). There is extensive information on the Internet about the submarine and air war in the North Atlantic with hundreds of ships lost to German u-boats and aircraft. With logic and some patience, it may even be possible to determine the most likely specific ship on which this envelope was carried. To put the scale of losses into perspective, one source states that, for JANUARY 1940 ALONE, the "monthly loss summary" was "64 British, Allied and neutral ships of 179,000 tons [just in!!] in UK waters." [If the purchaser of this cover determines the name of the ship and the details of the sinking, I would be happy to add information to this description for reference purposes, displayed here.] It is highly likely that this cover was on a ship sunk by a German submarine (or perhaps a German aircraft if the event occurred closer to continental Europe). It is RARE for such mail to survive in any form. The fact that this letter was registered probably meant that it was placed in a special, secured, FLOATING mailbag, in anticipation of exactly such a problem -- I have heard of floating mailbags being used in general. If this had not been a registered letter, it is extremely unlikely that it would have survived. Regardless of the exact details of what occurred, this is a great example of a rare category of postal history. ACTUAL item. |
325.00 |
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244916 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
207 3-STRIP [1940 45 aur Geyser] (VF) on 23 November 1942 registered commercial U.S. CENSORED business-size cover to the U.S. 135 aur postal rate is for a triple-weight (>40 to 60 grams) surface mail cover to worldwide countries outside Scandinavia: postage 95 aur, registration 40 aur (both elements 1 Jan 1940 - 31 Dec 1942 inclusive). Very fresh and attractive example of commercial mail that was critically important to Iceland during WWII. ACTUAL item. |
24.00 |
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229396 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
208Ac x3 on 8 August 1947 Registered air cover to Austria with Austrian censor. ACTUAL item. |
55.00 |
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244925 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
B7-11 [1949 Charities Set] (F-VF, VF) on 20 August 1949 registered airmail philatelic cover from REYKJAVÍK to the U.S. with transit and receiving postmarks. Light blue frame registration label and violet airmail handstamp. Nice postally used examples of these stamps (which are hard to find actually used). Even though this is philatelic, the registration and backstamps make it exhibitable. Very attractive. ACTUAL item. |
16.00 |
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400980 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #278 x3, 279 x3, 280, 281 [1953 10 and 70 air, 1.00 and 1.75 kr Old Manuscripts, Bible, Saga] (VF) on 24 October 1983 AIRMAIL REGISTERED cover from the postal headquarters in REYKJAVIK to the U.S., with receiver. Slight wear at the top edge which is typical on covers from this sender because their envelopes were slightly taller than typical. The total franking of 5.15 kr which correctly pays the 3.15 kr 5-10 gram (2nd weight level) airmail letter rate to the U.S. (1 Oct 1953 - 30 June 1958) and the 2.00 registry fee (1 May 1950 - 30 June 1958). The stamps were issued on 1 October 1953, thus this is a very timely use. In this time period, exactly correct frankings of airmail letters is a bit unusual (often there is a convenience overpayment) and the SAME-SET combination of stamps is remarkably unusual. This cover is a "bottom of bundle" cover -- the backside has some soiling which naturally occurs on the backsides of the covers that were on the bottoms of bundles. Interesting and attractive; also with tremendous topical appeal! ACTUAL item. |
32.00 |
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400720 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #C23, C26 [1947 75 aur and 3 kr Airmails] (VF) on December 1954 surface-rate, registered cover to the U.S. The cancellation is faint, but the receiving postmark on the reverse is dated December 13, 1954. The envelope itself was originally created in 1952 for FDCs and memorial covers for Scott #274-7 [Death of Sveinn Björnsson, First President of Iceland]. However, this use several years later is just using the envelope for philatelic-business mail, addressed to Van Dahl Publications (Albany, Oregon), then the publisher of Stamp Collector magazine/newspaper. I suspect that this registered use was sending payment for a subscription or advertising and is a proper "non-philatelic" use, even though within the philatelic business. The 3.75 total postage exactly paid the 1.75 surface letter rate to all countries outside Scandinavia [1 October 1953 - 30 June 1958], and the 2.00 registration fee [1 May 1950 - 30 June 1958]. The 1947 airmail stamps were still in regular use at this time. An attractive cover that represents an unusual use. ACTUAL item. |
12.00 |
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