| By Type - Town - Bridge - Thru 1924: M-S |  Top |
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US$ | ||
401703 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #50a, Facit #67 PAIR [1896 5 øre Posthorn, Knudsen Printing, Perforation 13.5 x 12.5] (VF) 10 øre franking on an UNDERPAID (overweight; the envelope shows wear lines from thicker contents) POSTAGE DUE 25 December 1897 CHRISTMAS DAY cover from "KRISTIANIA". The upper left corner of the envelope was torn off during opening, but it still looks quite nice. The cover was recognized as being underpaid (overweight for the 10 øre affixed postage); somewhere along the line this fact was recognized and documented with a large blue crayon "20 ab" (ab = at betale = to pay, as stated on first-issue postage due stamps of the era). Addressed to "Ulverud nedre Eker" ["nedre" is under or inside, defining in which area Ulverud was located]; Ulverud was a historic farm estate, located within the large regional municipality of Eker. (Eker was an area, not a town, and did not have a post office by that name.) The post office actually serving Ulverud was across the river valley at MJØNDALEN. It was there that the postage due was collected from the recipient: A total of 20 øre was collected: At this time, the postage due amount was the shortage of 10 øre plus the shortage amount again as a penalty, an additional 10 øre). By regulation, the postage due amount was to be affixed to the reverse of the envelope. Though postage due stamps had been in use in Norway since 1889, the MJØNDALEN post office either did not have the necessary postage due stamps or chose not to use them, thus a SUPERB PAIR of Scott #51a, Facit #68 [1896 10 øre Posthorn, Knudsen Printing, Perforation 13.5 x 12.5] was affixed to the reverse of the cover TO PAY THE POSTAGE DUE and canceled at MJØNDALEN on 30 December 1897. In this era, though postage due covers bearing proper postage due stamps are "scarce", in my experience, covers bearing ordinary postage stamps are "even scarcer". In my experience, this cover is remarkably unusual. Furthermore "interesting" (non-standard) covers bearing the Perforation 13.5 x 12.5 Posthorn stamps are quite unusual and sought after. In addition to showing the post office operating on Christmas Day (!!), this cover demonstrates interesting aspects of Norwegian postal history. This is also one of the earliest domestic postage due covers that I have had (in 53 years) with ordinary stamps paying the postage due. ACTUAL item. |
55.00 |
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204525 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
STAVANGER 1892 VF Town Double-Ring on Scott #40 F-VF crease. ACTUAL item. |
4.00 |