Lot 40277 – 1865 (Oct 17) Entire letter from Yokohama to Vienna, an extraordinarily rare postage-due letter sent to a destination outside of France

1865 (Oct 17) Entire letter from Yokohama to Vienna, bearing very fine “YOKOHAMA/17 OCT 65/BAU FRANÇAIS” cds, charged “1f20” in ms to pay the single rate per 7.5 grams to some European countries, embarked on the “Duplex” to Shanghai, where it was passed to the “La Bourdonnais” to hong Kong, the French rate being cancelled and converted into “48” kreuzer in ms on destination, one of the few second earliest known covers from this post office, and an extraordinarily rare postage-due letter sent to a destination outside of France; cert. Roumet (2002).

Note: In accordance with the regulations, the french P.O. could not accept unpaid letters to destinations other than France. On another subject, the first mail from the French P.O. at Yokohama was dispatched on 13.9.1865, and only one cover has survived; this item belongs to the second dispatch of 17.10.1865.

Provenance: Ryohei Ishikawa and Jun Ichi Matsumoto