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here a very special one from my collection:

A letter from UNIFIL from a soldier who served for german mil.-hospital at Cyprus on the ship "Frankfurt" took the time to cancel the cover with cachets of ships in the harbour of Limassol:
S78 Ozelot (german marine, speedboat)
Tender Elbe (german marine, tender boat)
FDB Oste (torpedo-boat)
EGV Frankfurt (tender boat with hospital)
Royal norwegian Navy
Lenkwaffenboot VIBEN (danish marine, torpedo, missile)
ML01 (swedish marine)

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Albune,

Some fantastic cachets on the Cyprus cover.

A great example of someone going to a lot of trouble.

Very nice.

Here's a wonderful busy cover with an Olympics theme. Love the 'DEAD LETTER OFFICE' CDS on reverse in red ink.

I thought i would add my latest acquisition to this thread,
and ask if somone would be kind enough to explain what a california clipper is/was.

Also, being unfamiliar with the postal rates of 1941, why would this cover have a franking of 5 Shilling 10 pence?

The California Clipper was a seaplane: a flying boat built by Boeing and operated by Pan American Airways from 1939 until 1946(?). There were 12 in all with each designated a name mostly ending in 'clipper'. For example, there was the China Clipper, Yankee Clipper etc.

The California Clipper initially serviced the Atlantic, flying to Europe, before going on to service the Pacific.


Check out the following link for the history of these planes or Google the name for further information/links.

The Air Mail rate for this service was 4/- for 1/2 oz.

Hi parryone


The rate from Australia to US was 4/-, but the rate from Australia to the UK was 5/10 and so your cover has the correct franking. The route was Australia to NZ by TEAL, then NZ to USA by PanAm, US airmail to New York, trans Atlantic to Lisbon and then from Lisbon to UK.

Here is another cover to the UK, franked with 5/10.



The California Clipper handstamp was applied in Australia.

The next cover is to the US and so is franked with 4/-. It was flown on the last trans Pacific flight before Pearl Harbor.



Initially, the rate from NZ to the UK was even higher and cost 6/3, but was reduced later to 5/9.

Hope this helps.
Bob

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My website: "New Zealand Stamp Images", at www.nzstamps.org.uk describes New Zealand philately, postage stamps, airmails and postal history.

As a matter of curiosity, in the second cover, how did the stamps come to be applied over the Censor tape?

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'First I'll steal all the money, then I'll kill everybody, and then I'll go away', Père Ubu

Hi Bob,

Thanks for filling in the details - and for showing such a lovely cover

Sean.

Tony, looking closely, it appears that the censor tape has been carefully clipped back around the stamps.

Perhaps Bob could confirm

Tony and Gavin
Thanks Tony for noticing that the stamp appears to be over the censor tape. It had not registered with me before.

Gavin, you are correct. The censor tape has been cut back so that most of the stamp is showing although the top left and the bottom left are still covered.

Presumably, if the censor tape covered a stamp then it could lead to the cover being deemed to have insufficient franking.

I must update the description in my website. The relevant page is:
http://www.nzstamps.org.uk/air/panam/clipper.html

Cheers
Bob

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My website: "New Zealand Stamp Images", at www.nzstamps.org.uk describes New Zealand philately, postage stamps, airmails and postal history.

A busy 1929 cover from Estonia




Posted at Elva 17th July to an address in Tartu, received in Tartu 18th July and unable to be delivered, returned
to Elva 20th July and finally re-directed to correct address in Kudina 22nd July after five days

I started a thread at viewtopic.php?p=391899#391899 and it has been pointed out to me that this item may fit in here so here it is ...


.

The first acceptance of New Zealand air mail to Africa was on 30 June, 1932. Much of the mail, like this item to Stanleyville in the Belgian Congo, was philatelic and addressed 'Poste Restante' with the expectation that they would be returned to the sender.



It is postmarked on 28 June 1932 and went to Karachi by surface mail. It was then flown from Karachi on 27 July and joined the airmail service to Africa in Cairo on 31 July. It was flown to Juba in the Sudan arriving on 2 August. It then went by surface to Aba in the Belgian Congo where a transit mark was applied on 4 August. There is an arrival mark in Stanleyville on 7 August along with various retour, non reclame and rebut handstamps.

It was postmarked again in Stanleyville on 25 October and then in Elisabethville on 14 November. It then went by sea from South Africa to New Zealand and has a Wellington dead letter office handstamp on 28 December, 6 months after it set out.

There is a large black circular handstamp on the front that seems to have in white 'CA' above a large 'A'. Does anyone know the significance of that handstamp?

Cheers
Bob

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My website: "New Zealand Stamp Images", at www.nzstamps.org.uk describes New Zealand philately, postage stamps, airmails and postal history.

Hi Bob!

That is a long travelled cover indeed, 6 months! wow
I love the dead letter office postmark! Sure makes its point.

That black handstamp is something aint it; can it have something to do with either the dead letter office cancel, or a form of obliterator, but not a numerical one?

Or possibly, can it be what they call "dumb" cancellation?

Dumb cancellation:
An obliteration by hand stamp containing neither figure nor letter is called a dumb cancellation.
Very often these postmarks are made of cork and used for a variety of purposes including: cancellation of postage stamps, war time security cancelling, and postage census. These postmarks are usually very rare because they have been used only briefly.


Cheers!
Maria

A Couple of Busy Roo's!






Maria

There was only one Dead Letter Office and that was in Wellington. Its purpose was to try to determine the address to which letters should be returned. During World War II, the name caused upset when mail that had been insufficiently addressed to soldiers was returned to the sender. Receiving a letter from the Dead Letter Office made many people leap to an unfortunate and upsetting conclusion. The name was therefore changed in 1944 to the Returned Letter Office.

With respect to the black handstamp, the first airmail cachet is on top and so the black handstamp must have been added in Timaru or in Auckland.

Bob

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My website: "New Zealand Stamp Images", at www.nzstamps.org.uk describes New Zealand philately, postage stamps, airmails and postal history.

That's a great Living Together/Sports cover.

I thought this might be of interest due to the original comment about full of stamps.



I have not yet checked the pencil mark saying 17/1d. Nor have I yet checked the rate. 2 December 1939.

I just think it's pretty!

A little ragged, but busy.

From Britain to Germany - perhaps they sent it back because of the World Cup.



The back is a photocopy, but it isn't especially clear in the original,

Addressed to Braunschweig but undeliverable, and the main violet mark on the back was applied there, I think. The 'unknown at this number in stated street' line is checked. A new address on the front is the Panzer Barracks at Gadeland 2351, but this was crossed out and the letter was redirected to 235 Neumünster. The manuscript at the top of the back states 'Could not be found at Neumünster', and the cover was returned to England, where the large violet 'returned to sender' mark was applied on the front, tying the stamp. Of course with no return address it would then probably have gone to the dead letter office to be opened, and returned in due course. Not a bad journey for sixpence! [I've just noticed that the Leicester backstamp is 19 July, before the World Cup Final...]

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

It was July 1930 before New Zealand postage stamps could be used to prepay postage on overseas airmail routes. The Karachi - London service started in 1929, but below is an example sent on the first acceptance from New Zealand and postmarked on 1 July 1930.



The unusual thing about it was it is addressed to Gaza in Palestine and was off-loaded there having been flown from Karachi to Gaza via Persia and Iraq. The cover was sent by Alex Paterson and was clearly philatelic. However, the authorities made a real effort to trace him. It has a Gaza receiving mark on 7 August, and was later sent to Jaffa where there is a reciving mark on 28 September. In November, they decided that he was not going to turn up and there are further Jaffa, Haifa and Port Said transit marks when it started its return journey.



Finally, there is a Wellington postmark on 24 December, almost six months after the cover started its journey. Also two puple Return To Sender cachets within a hand which I think were added in New Zealand.
Cheers
Bob

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My website: "New Zealand Stamp Images", at www.nzstamps.org.uk describes New Zealand philately, postage stamps, airmails and postal history.

I only have a few:
USA to Australia,
USA to England

Nice covers Erik!

Hows this for Complicated and "Highly Postmarked" !

If you look carefully under the French Orleans cds, you can see the Hong Kong Registered cds !





From Hong Kong Registered to France, Registered from France to German Consulate in Penang Via Brindisi Italy where it was recieved "too late"!

If any one can tell me what exactly UPU regulations where in relation to the Use of Reply Paid "REPLY" sections, I would be very greatfull. I am told this item should have been returned to Hong Kong !! and thus contrived in its use to Penang.

If only that cover could talk...

Oh, and hkstamps, I noticed an error in your signature... it says you collect "Hong Hong" instead of Hong Kong, I misspell sometimes, too.

Guys,

There is already a topic devoted to covers that have more than their share of cancels/stamps on them. Click on this link:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5688&start=0&hilit=busy+covers

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Tony

PLEASE POST ANY NEW REPLIES ON THE LINK PROVIDED BY Lakatoi 4. Thanks

Mod Hat On

Threads merged!

Mod Hat Off

Here's one I posted elsewhere, for lovers of the Uglies, but it probably also belongs here. It's from Travancore, SG O108.

One side is fairly ho-hum



Though why someone thought to use 11 copies of the 8 Cash stamp when they could have replaced ten of them with single 1 and 4 Chuckram stamps is an interesting question. But the other side



has rather a lot going on. Essentially it's a court notice that was refused by the addressee - as one well might. It also has a large Refused label attached to the top left corner, which I didn't scan. One can have enough of a good thing.

Despite appearances, it dates from early 1948. The year dates shown are in the Malayalam (South Indian) calendar: adding 824 or 825 yields the CE year.

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'First I'll steal all the money, then I'll kill everybody, and then I'll go away', Père Ubu

I don't think your detective work is 100% correct, though I can't see the dates.

The writer is in Orleans, France, as indicated by the message on the back, and the return address at top left. The outward part of the card (this is the return part) should have originated in Hong Kong, although it's just possible that the HK card was being used legitimately from the Sraits for some reason.

RPPCs can only be used for surface mail basic rate; all additional services (airmail, though not in this case, and registration) must be paid for by stamps of the country of (re-)posting, hence the additional 25c of France. The routing via Genoa (deleted) and Brindisi to get to Penang (via Malacca) doesn't seem unreasonable. I don't know whether any of the rates (15c HK, 25c France) is correct for the services indicated, but that's my interpretation.

As for the HK Registered cancel (for which I can't see the date) it is not unknown for the originating PO to cancel both the outward half and (incorrectly) the return half when the RPPC is first posted. I have something similar from the 1960s. If this didn't happen, I don't see how the HK postmark was applied, unless the card was sent to HK from Brindisi and then on to Penang?

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

I've just found this scan of a quite busy cover that I sent to a customer in the US - you may recognise some of the places on the stamps!



9 of the stamps are from the UK-Australia Joint Issue* on World Heritage Sites, plus a couple of ships and a British Journey 'Old Harry'. Of course I should have left more room for the Airsure barcode label at top left. The key for me, though, was the white label with the AX designation for Airsure. Having sent it, I needed a scan for our webpage on these 'Horizon' labels.

*You might wonder why I used only Australian scenes: I used a great many of the UK scenes from the se-tenant pairs on maximum cards.

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

Sorry, I don't live in England! Nice cover, though.

. . . by REGISTERED MAIL from the Falklands

why use 1 when many will do . . . £4.32



Gus

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Gus

for Canadian postal history check out the PHSC website, http://www.postalhistorycanada.net

Most of the places shown are in Australia ! (Se Ayers Rock, for example). Shown here are the Australian stamps (I have the British in 4 separate images, but the Australian in 1):

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

Here's one from Egypt

Recent acquisition - A home made first day cover - Centenary of South Australia



They missed a bit on the back...

One from Gibraltar

AAT

Not quite in the hyperactive class, but this fairly busy Express Post cover from Hyderabad arrived today:



SG 42, 43 and 44 (from top to bottom)

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'First I'll steal all the money, then I'll kill everybody, and then I'll go away', Père Ubu

That's an interesting cover. Philatelic of course, non-collectors always tear the selvedge off. I try to collect stamps with corner margins including sheet numbers (why? I don't really know, because they're a nice complement to the basic stamp I guess).

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

Amazing!

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If it erupts, don't blame me!!

I bought this cover for the Queensland Postmark: BULIMBA POST DEPOT.



The cover appears to have been chasing a U.S. serviceman around the world during WW2.

The Bulimba Post Depot cancel is mentioned on the Premier site but has no details.

Bulimba was a large landing barge contruction base (amongst other things) during WW2. It is right on the Brisbane River, very close to Brisbane itself.

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/locations/bulimbaarea.htm

Probably not the place to ask, but does anyone have any information on the Bulimba Post Depot cancel?

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We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

Interestingly, if you read the postcard, it says "If the gentleman to whom it is addressed..." This would be the most politically incorrect thing to say nowadays, but back then, business was a pretty-much a "men's club"

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

Another "busy" cover - May 1931 FFC, Melbourne to London, registered:

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Tony

Every man and his dog has had a go at this refused registered cover from Travancore-Cochin



(SG O11 and O13)

and they had their way with the front of the cover too

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'First I'll steal all the money, then I'll kill everybody, and then I'll go away', Père Ubu

So much writing, what were they thinking

Perhaps it doubled as a blotting paper

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Tony

Maybe the recipient who refused to accept it felt the need to explain, at some length, why he didn't want the letter. Unfortunately, my Malayalam isn't up to it. Perhaps if some Stampboards member who can read it would help ...

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'First I'll steal all the money, then I'll kill everybody, and then I'll go away', Père Ubu