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Auction: 24011 - Stamps and Covers of Great Britain and the World
Lot: 2213

France
1849-52 First Issue
The Remarkable "31st of December, 1848" Cover
20c. black, close to large margins (just touching at right), tied by "amiens/31/dec/48/(76)" datestamp to single weight entire addressed to Aumatre, Oisemont, with additional Amiens datestamp of the same date to face, overstruck with corrected 01.01.49 date, and, on the reverse, "oisemont/1 janv 49/(76)" receiving d.s. with "2" (decimes) charge mark in pen, applied in error and deleted. A remarkable usage of supreme rarity and importance, the ultimate item for the knowledgeable collector and the ideal frontispiece of any classic France exhibition collection. Signed Robineau and Calves with his Certificate (1996), as well as Scheller and Behr Certificates (2009). Spink Maury 3

Notes:
This being the first day of use it may be assumed that the postal clerk, unfamiliar with the new postage stamps, had mistakenly used a datestamp of incorrect date; credence is leant to this theory by the deletion of the manuscript charge mark, which had also been given in error.
The 20c. Adhesive postage stamp, the first to be issued in France, came about after a decree of the National Assembly issued on 24 August 1848. The stamps being printed from the 4th of December 1848. The decree also stated that new postal rates were to come into effect of the 1st. of January 1849, to coincide with the issue of stamps, including the 20 centimes single weight rate of up to 1.5 grammes between different offices.


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Estimate
£15,000 to £30,000

Starting price
£15000