[EST. $100–$150 | START BID: $19.99 | NOTE: | BEIRUT FRENCH P.O. LOZENGE #5072 ON BI-COLOR FRANKING TO ENGLAND]
FRANCE OFFICES IN THE LEVANT 1864 20c BLUE & 40c ORANGE NAPOLEON III ON COVER BEIRUT SYRIA #5072 TO SHEFFIELD ENGLAND WITH BOXED PD WITH SHEFFIELD RECEIVER
1864 (Jun.), Second Empire Maritime Mail Cover from Beirut, Ottoman Syria (French Post Office), to Sheffield, England. Addressed to solicitor "John Chambers Esq. / Solicitor / Sheffield / Angleterre", with lower left pencil notation "Beyrouth". Franked with bi-color combination of 20c blue Napoleon III alongside 40c orange Napoleon III, paying the 60-centime treaty rate to Great Britain via French packets, tied by dotted numeral lozenge cancellations #5072, accompanied by partial circular dispatch datestamp of Beirut, small boxed black "PD" (Payé jusqu'à Destination), and framed red exchange mark. Reverse exhibits circular English arrival datestamp "SHEFFIELD / JU 28 / 64"; rear envelope flap cleanly removed, light peripheral edge wear, sound commercial cover on light blue paper.
Dispatched from the French consular post office in the Ottoman Syrian port of Beirut (now Lebanon) to an attorney in Sheffield, England. The 60-centime postage correctly prepays the bilateral rate established under Anglo-French postal conventions for Levant packet mail, cleanly cancelled by the scarce #5072 Gros Chiffre lozenge of the Beirut bureau. Conveyed across the Mediterranean aboard a Messageries Impériales mail steamer to Marseille, transferred across the French railway network, and delivered in Yorkshire on June 28, 1864.
Please examine lot scan carefully and please send any questions at least 48 hours before the auction closes. Please note that cover condition usually includes normal wear and tear to cover edges, opening tears and some creases and wrinkles. Only exceptional or extreme condition issues will be mentioned.
Legend:
PS - Postal Stationery
FL - Folded Letter
SFL - Stampless Folded Letter
RPO - Railway Post Office
CDS - Circular Date Stamp
DPO - Dead Post Office
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