Lot 30254 – 1874, 30 sen grey syll. i (1) , horizontal pair, on cover

A UNIQUE 30 SEN MULTIPLE ON FOREIGN MAIL

1874, 30 sen grey, syllabic 1 (i) , horizontal pair displaying an intense impression, tied by two strikes of large negative cross cancel (Nishino-type YH75I) to 1875 cover from Yokohama to London, with double circle “Yokohama Paid All Sep 25” below. San Francisco (Oct. 18) cds, “15 Cents” two-line credit hs as U.S. credit and arrival cds (Nov. 8) on obverse, all struck in red, backstamped in transit at New York. Cover flap toned and filing fold away from stamps, of no significance for this extraordinary showpiece.

A spectacular and most infrequent sextuple overseas rate. Only five covers with a multiple of the highest Cherry Blossom denomination are recorded, this being unique used without additional franking on foreign mail. As a proof of the rarity of this stamp, about 14 covers are documented exhibiting this value.

Census of 30 sen multiples on cover:

-The example presented here

-30 sen pair on 30.1.1875 cover from Yokohama to London, uprated with Foreign Paper 1 sen & 2 sen (ex Takahashi P.T. of 2001)

-30 sen pair on 12.7.1875 cover from Yokohama to London (same correspondence), uprated with “Birds” 12 sen & 15 sen (ex Stanley Berman, today in the Ota Katsumi collection)

– 30 sen strip of three and two singles 28.11.1878, registered from Nagasaki to Hamburg, Yigal Nathaniel collection

– 30 sen pair, 10 sen, 2 sen pair, 18.7.1875, from Yokohama to London, ex Fukuhara Kazunobu collection