Lot 90190 – 1877, « Old Koban » 10 sen blue, two covers from Yokohama to France

1877, « Old Koban » 10 sen blue, two covers from Yokohama to Lyon, France, paying the rate to France from 1st April 1876 to 19 June 1877. Both bearing attractive single frankings and endorsed « p. Oceanic », carried via United States and tied by mute cancel, with alongside postmarks including red « Yokohama Paid All Feb 10 » and blue Brest entry cds also tying the franking in one cover, the the other with violet trial type « Yokohama Japan Aug 16 1878 » cds and red French entry. A superb duo.

Note: Both covers originate from the March-September 1878 period of Yokohama post office foreign mail cancels, when no specific types are known. Covers from this period are in general rather scarce.