Lot 20746 – 1920 An extremely rare and exceptional carriage exclusive of the first dispatch from the Italian contingent.

1920 (March 20) Postcard from Marienwerder to Milan from one member of the Italian contingent to control the plebiscite. As it was the case in Allenstein and Upper Silesia, there was uncertainty on how to handle the first dispatch of mails from these territories, and some delay occurred; following the example of Upper Silesia, the sender initially used a local stamp to frank the correspondence, but the first dispatch in Marienwerder was distinctive by applying additionally the Italian franking, as required for its onward transmission through a civil P.O. in Italy (Verona) and not a military one (in contrast, Allenstein and Upper Silesia used the base military P.O. of Bologna). The sender wrote “a 1/2 (mezzo) corriere militare” (through military courier), applied a marginal first issue 20pf, tied by “Commission Interalliée Gouvernement et Plebiscite/Marienwerder” cachet in violet, and an Italian “Leoni” 15c alongside, and both were tied by “Verona ferrovia” cds on 13.4 when it entered the Italian domestic mail. An extremely rare and exceptional carriage exclusive of the first dispatch from the Italian contingent.