Lot 40194 – 1897 10pf postal stationery card with paid reply combined with Customs cds’s pf Tientsin and Shanghai

1897 (Jan 15) 10pf postal stationery card with paid reply (without text) to Neustettin, bearing blue « CUSTOMS/TIENTSIN » (15.1) and brown « CUSTOMS/SHANGHAI » (28.1) cds’s, cancelled by German « SHANGHAI » cds, with blue « POSTAGE PAID » straight-line hs adjacent which was into use from 1st January to 20 February 1897, this being a very rare usage of this Chinese postmark denoting postage paid in cash; cert. Steuer (2000).