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Auction: SW1020 - Maritime Mail of Spanish Colonies in America
Lot: 117

CubaIncoming Mail1837, Dec. 2. Ship's register envelope accompanying the "Nueva Zafiro" frigate in its journey from Cádiz (Spain) to Havana, bearing two strikes of dispatch c.d.s. in blue, with red wax seal on reverse as required for this correspondence, alongside stating the anchorage at Havana at 9 in the morning of January 23, 1838. Very interesting heading on front, handwritten and signed by the postmaster in Cádiz: "Pagó el franqueo de 120 rs. en esta oficina pral. de correos" (120 reales franking paid in this main post office), thus clearly demonstrating the involvement of the ship's registers with the Spanish mails, this service being contemplated as a sealed correspondence subjected to pay postage. To be noted the manuscript notation on reverse "3 ø - 120 rs"; this being an exceptional instance of overpayment of the required fee for the 3 oz weight, 40 reales instead of 17 reales per oz; an explanation for this anomaly would be that this fee also included the cost of the revenue paper that it was contained inside the envelope, thus featuring an unusually high rate further enhancing the rarity of this showpiece. Usual rust spots and erosions caused by the ink. One of only six transatlantic ship's register covers known between 1818 and the introduction of postage stamps; paradoxically, these six items originate from Spain, with no transatlantic examples recorded from the American colonies.

Estimate
€1,500