Lot 30468 – 1884 Official courier mail, cover with badge of horses imprinted in black on the reverse

1884 Official courier mail, cover with badge of horses imprinted in black on the reverse, very fine and very rare with only 4-5 of these covers recorded (two in vermilion and two in black, ex “Kondo Grand Prix Collection” (the opening page of the collection, David Feldman 1994, lot 50000, realised CHF12’000).Note: Until 1884, the official courier mail service was run exclusively for military and official communications. Ki-Bai on horse and Bo-Bai on foot came into operation in 1597 and MA-PAE badge of horse imprint was used on official mail.