Danish West Indies

Printed matter postcard from Frederiksted 29 February 1912 to Gand, Belgium. 5 BIT green/green King Frederik VIII tied by FREDERIKSTED 29/2 1912 LAP2 and Gand 18/3 receiving mark struck on front. Printed matter rate 15.7.1905 – 31.3.1917.

Dated St. Croix 10 March 1837 to Toronto, Upper Canada. Transit “NEW-YORK / APL / 8” and red straight line “SHIP” in red struck on front and carried to exchange point Queenston north of Niagara Falls, NY and struck “QUEENSTON AP 14 1837” in greenish blue ink. Charged “27” cents in red ink, with 2¢ ship charge and 25¢ US charge, total 27US¢ due = Canadian 1/4½ shilling, plus 7d Canadian charge = 1/11½ Canadian due by addressee. From the content a mention of local mail coach service. The brig arrived in Bassin yesterday & the letters due brought over by the stage coach today, you must know that we have a regular stage every day between the two towns.

Privately conveyed entire St. Croix 26 June 1816 to Copenhagen, Denmark. British Packet’s resumed service from St. Thomas in early 1817, this letter sent with Mm. Mothy and endorsed ‘Mm. Mothy’. She was accompanying three children back to Denmark onboard of the ship ‘Europa’ under the command of Capt. Bödker. Any letter’s from DWI to Denmark prior to 1840’ies is almost unrecorded.

Bookpost letter (printed matter) from St. Thomas 6. October 1883 to St. Louis, USA. Pair of 1 cent bicolored IV printing pos. 77-78 (1880), cancelled with cds ‘ST. THOMAS 6/10 1883’ ANT 3 wide ‘O’, noted ‘pr. Bookpost’ = printed matter UPU rate 2¢ 2.4.1878 – 31.12.1901, routing instruction ‘French Mail via Havana’, minor signs of wear. A scarce postal rate with the bicolored issues.

Letter from St. Thomas 19 January 1903 to Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Provisional Copenhagen overprint ‘8 Cents 1902’ on 10¢ bicolored tied by CDS ‘ST. THOMAS 19/1 1903’. UPU letter rate 8¢ from 1.1.1902 – 14.07.1905.

Mourning envelope from St. Thomas 30 August 1888 to Colchester, England. 10¢ bicolored IV printing cancelled with cds ‘ST: THOMAS 30/8 1888’ LAP1 and receiving cds ‘COLCHESTER SP15 88’ on reverse.

Complete set of King Christian X bicolored issue in pairs on small cuts, all tied by datestamp “ST. THOMAS 13.3.1917”. Complete sets larger than single stamps in used condition are extremely rare.

Postcard posted at a ship in St. Thomas 7 October 1908 to Paris, France via San Juan, Puerto Rico. King Frederik VIII 10 BIT tied by straight line ‘Ship’s Letter’ alongside cds ‘SAN JUAN, P.R. TRANSIT / OCT 7 1908’. A most unusual cancellation on a DWI postcard/letter.

Local letter from Kingshill 6 October 1911 to St. Thomas. 10 BIT King Frederik VIII cancelled with cds ‘KINGSHILL 6/10 1911’ LAP1 type, transit cds ‘CHRISTIANSTED 9/10 1912’ and receiving cds ‘ST. THOMAS 10/10 1911’ on reverse. Domestic letter rate 10 BIT from 15.6.1905 – 31.3.1917, correct postage.

Registered letter from St. Thomas 22 February 1914 to Copenhagen, Denmark. King Frederik VIII 25 and 40 BIT tied by cds ‘ST. THOMAS 20/2 1914’ alongside boxed registration mark ‘ST. THOMAS / R / 2269’. UPU 2nd rate 40 BIT plus 25 BIT registration fee, correct franking. Fine and excellent quality.

2 CENTS single postal card sent from St. Thomas to Port of Spain, Trinidad. 2 CENTS with 5 text lines (PC4A4a – FG3Ha) with 1st text line ”ENPOS” blurred, imprint type 3. Cancelled with cds ‘ST. THOMAS 19/2 1902’ and receiving ‘PORT·OF·SPAIN TRINIDAD / MR 5 1902’. Adressed to Kapitän von sms ”VINETA”. UPU postcard rate 2¢ from 1.1.1902 – 1.4.1917.

Envelope from St. Thomas to Petersburgh, New York, USA. Great Britain 4d Queen Victoria vermilion plate 14, duplex 'C51' 'ST-THOMAS - PAID - A MR4 76' and postmarked on arrival 'NEW-YORK / DUE 5 CTS. / MAR 18', unusually sharp and clean postmarks, postal rate 4d with RMSCP.

2 CENTS stationery envelope from St. Thomas 31 October 1893 to Copenhagen, Denmark. 2 CENTS blue envelope watermark I with detached apple from arches (Engström E1A), buttom flap under side flaps, additional franked with 1 CENT bicolored VIII printing and 7 CENTS bicolored II printing tied by LAP1 'ST:THOMAS 31/10 1893', London transit mark and Copenhagen receiving mark 18/1 1893. Envelope with a few light stains.

Registered letter from St. Thomas 7 March 1907 to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. 5 BIT, 10 BIT and 50 BIT King Christian IX issue tied by LAP “ST. THOMAS 7/3 1907” and boxed registration mark “R / St. Thomas D.V.I. / No 2561" in purple in and New York transit and Milwaukee reception mark on reverse. Letter rate 40 BIT UPU rate to US 15.7.1905 – 30.9.1907 plus 25 BIT registration fee, correct 65 BIT postage paid.

Postcard from St. Thomas 20 April to Dresden, Germany. Pair 5 BIT King Christian IX tied by LAP 'ST. THOMAS 20/4 1906' and with German HAPAG steamer purser mark 'DANIA' and date stamp 'APR20 1906'. Used on a postcard with a HAPAG steamer on reverse 'HAMBURG=AMERIKA LINIE'. Scarce purser mark in superb quality.

Unpaid letter sent from Christiansted 28 April 1856 to Copenhagen, Denmark. Canceelled ANT1 “CHRISTIANSTED 28/4 1856” alongside ANT1 “ST. THOMAS 29/4 1856” struck in blue ink. Charged manuscript “51/9” on reverse, total “60” Skilling due by the addressee noted on face, with 9 sk. Danish share, 51 foreign share = “16” Schilling Courant” = “12” Silver Groschen, of which the British share is “10” pence = 9 Silver Groschen, leaving German share with 3 Silver Groschen (12 less 9).

Uprated 3 CENTS orange stationery envelope watermark IV (Engström E8) from Fredeiksted 15 November 1902 Copenhagen, Denmark. 12 CENTS bicolored II printing tied by LAP 'FREDERIKSTED 15/11 1902' alongside boxed registration mark 'Dansk Vestindien / R No 728', transit mark LAP 'ST. THOMAS 17/11 1902', LONDON 4/12 1902 and reception mark 'COPENHAGEN 6/12 02' on reverse. 8 cents UPU letter rate 8¢ (1.1.1902-14.7.1905) plus registration fee 5 cents (1.1.1902-14.7.1905), total rate 13¢, overfranked by 2 cents.

Picture postcard from St. Thomas 28 December 1914 to Copenhagen, Denmark. 10 BIT King Frederik VIII red and local CHRISTMAS SEAL 1914 tied by LAP 'ST. THOMAS 29/11 1914'. 10 BIT is the UPU postcard rate.

5 BIT King Christian X single postal card (Engström PC17B) from Christiansted 26 January 1916 to St. Thomas. Cancelled with four ring cancel no dot when arriving at St. Thomas post office by the mail boat. On reverse origin mark large 'C' struck and datestamp 'ST. THOMAS 27/1 1916', large 'C' rarely found and this is a clean and clear strike.

Transition letter. Letter from Frederiksted during the transition period 1.4.1917 - 30.9.1917 to Copenhagen, Denmark. US 5 cent stamp tied by US datestamp 'FREDERIKSTED ---/21 1917 / SAINT CROIX'. 5 Cents equals 25 BIT UPU single letter rate. British re-sealing tape 'OPENED BY CENSOR. / 542'. ODENSE reception mark 20.8.1917.

Envelope from Frederiksted 26 April 1917 to New York, USA. 2 cents US stamp cancelled with the Danish type LAP 'FREDERIKSTED 26/4 1917'. 2 Cents correspond to 10 BIT domestic rate, from 1 April 1917 DWI was US territory. Transition period from 1.4.1917 - 30.9.1917.