Lot 51310 – Early Papal States Mixed franked Transatlantic Cover to USA – Exhibition Quality – AT 38 Baioccchi rate:

1854 (May 23) Mourning env. from Rome to Philadelphia « Per steamer via Liverpool » with 1st-Issue Papal States 6b (near 4m) plus 2nd-Issue Papal States 8b (4; margins mostly clear) all tied by mainly fine 2-ring « ROMA » cds’s with French transit cds (« E. POST./2 ST. LOUIS 2 ») and « 5/N. YORK BRITISH PKT » cds on the front. Addressed to Joshua Francis Fisher (1807-1878) a prominent Philadelphian and once vice president of the Philadelphia historical society. A ridiculously rare incoming item to the USA, exhibition quality.