Lot 90160 – 1875, 10 sen dull blue, syllabic 4 (ni), wove western paper, on printed US “Tennessee” cover

1875, 10 sen dull blue, syllabic 4 (ni), wove western paper, tied by small-size “golfball” foreign mail cancel (Nishino-type YH76D) on cover to Salem, Massachusets, USA, paying the double weight letter rate to U.S., introduced on 1st April 1876. On front red “Yokohama Paid All Apr 23” and “San Francisco May 14 Paid All ” cds’s. Corner imprint “U.S. Flag Ship ‘Tennessee’./Asiatic Station.”. Perforation a bit irregular, otherwise an attractive and clean cover with very fine strikes.

Note: The “Tennessee” was a screw frigate built of wood, which entered in service in 1865 as “Madawaska”, refitted and enlarged in 1869 and renamed “Tennessee” (3,281ts). Between 1873 and 1877 it became the flagship of the Asiatic Squadron under the Rear Admiral William Reynolds, with Captain William W. Low being in command.