A rare mixed franking cover to the US is among a number of important philatelic items auctioning at David Feldman in Geneva, Switzerland on December 13.
The auction will feature the sale of the Dr Raymond Casey Collection of Russian Post Offices in the Chinese Empire, which includes the Chinese Eastern Railway.
 The cover was sent from Tientsin, China to Cambridge, Massachusetts - a distance of almost 7,000 miles |
The cover was sent from Tientsin in northern China to Massachusetts in the United States in 1880, and features the complete set of three Large Dragon 1 cent through 5 cent stamps on the reverse, which have been cancelled by the rare Tienstin seal chop.
A "Customs/ Tientsin/2.6.80" and a "Customs /Shanghai / 6.6.80" circular date stamp also appear on the reverse along with a San Francisco transit stamp.
The Japanese 5 sen brown appears on the obverse with a black cork cancellation, in tandem with Japanese and American circular date stamps.
The cover has been opened out for display and despite some tearing and toning, is in excellent condition. It carries an estimate of $108,416-135,520.
A pre-first day cover from Vienna to Prague featuring the 1850 6 kreuzer brown is valued at $94,864-108,416.
The stamp was not technically issued until June 1 but the cover features a date five days prior - making it a significant first day rarity.
It features extra large margins in a rich red and is clearly tied by a "WIEN/ 27. MAI" datestamp, along with a Pest datestamp that shows its arrival date as May 29.
The auction is the third instalment of the Dr Raymond Casey collection, the first of which saw a 1916 Ulyasutai to Peking cover make $540,000 last year.
It will also feature the sale of The Roosevelt Block, one of the rarest items in all philately.
You can view our collection of rare stamps here.
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