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Auction: 9029 - West Africa Postal History, The John Sacher Collection
Lot: 216

Gold Coast Dixcove 1883 (19 May) envelope (complete with contents, being a letter asking for samples) from Alpheaus & Alpheaus to Joseph Pickering & Sons, Sheffield, sent unstamped and showing, on reverse, Liverpool Br. Packet (12.7), Sheffield (13.7) and "returned lr office/london" (14.7) c.d.s., the face panel with postage due "8" charge h.s. (twice the standard rate), marked "Refused" and "Dixcove" in the same red ink and showing "cape coast" return transit Code C c.d.s. (Type 2) alongside the charge h.s.; the envelope with some faults though very rare, there being only one other example of this refused mail thought to exist. Photo Estimate £ 250-300 Note: In the early 1880s several native boys in Dixcove conceived the idea of writing to firms in England, posing as prospective customers, and asking for samples. The letters were unpaid and posted aboard mailboats. Charged postage due on delivery most of these letters were refused and returned to Dixcove. Eventually the matter was the subject of an official complaint

Sold for
£480