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Auction: 16USA - The Frederick R Mayer Collection of Costa Rica
Lot: 8

1797-1864 Colonial, State and Republic of Costa Rica pre-stamp postal history massive collection of over 600 items, the vast majority being folded letters or entires, although about 10% - 20% of the items are either cover fronts or documents, this absolutely amazing assemblage is a fascinating and comprehensive documentation of the postal markings (a small number are manuscript) of the various post offices that existed from the Colonial period until stamps were issued in 1863, the vast majority are internal usages, but we do note a few marvelous international destinations as well, essentially every known pre-stamp postal marking is included in this lot (only a very few have been lotted individually in the auction), ranging from early Colonial period markings, to elaborate and fancy markings from obscure towns, every town listed in the Frajola/Mayer handbook is represented here: Alajuela, Bagaces, Cartago, Esparta, Grecia, Guanacaste, Heredia, Liberia, Moin, Nicoya, Puntarenas, San Jose, Villa Nueva and Villa Vieja, many similar markings are found, but in several instances they were collected as they are the first and/or latest known usages, an impressive number of markings are unique or nearly so, we even note some official mail handstamp markings as well; there is far too much material to individually enumerate here, suffice it to say that this represents the largest single assemblage of the pre-stamp covers of Costa Rica ever formed and will never again be duplicated; examination is essential to fully appreciate the rarity and beauty of this breathtaking collection. Estimate US$ 25,000-30,000

Sold for
$50,000