Foreign Post Offices

"Folded letter dated St. Thomas 29 August 1869, to Manzanillo, cuba. Prepaid with two French 30c. Empire for the 60c Caribbean rate, tied by anchor lozenge cancel and French CDS “ * LIGNE – D / PAQ. FR. *. No. 1 * ”, rarely used on mail from St. Thomas. I have recorded two no. 1 and one no. 2 and CDS "ST. THOMAS / 31/8 1869", vertical fold through stamps, Manzanillo 11 SEP, charged “2” reales fee in Cuba."

TEN CENTS HAPAG margin pair on piece with triple embossing of the white center on the stamp to the right in a pair with a normal embossed example, a world rarity of a private steam ship stamps. Double embossing is recorded in the literature, although a triple embossing a first time and what's add to the allure of the stamp is the combination of normal and triple embossing shown in pair, from pos. 1 and 2 in the sheet with full corner margin, on piece, cancelled with Danish West Indies 'ST. THOMAS 2/8 1875.

Letter from Sailor D. Lamont, S. Steward, on board HMS “Aboukir” on (29) September 1870 to Stoke, Devonport, England. Commanding Officer confirmed soldiers letter rate with signature, franked with 1d plate 122 cancelled with horizontal type 1b ‘C51’ St. Thomas. From St. Thomas with RMSPC steamer 'SHANNON' 29 august arriving Plymouth 12 September and backstamped 'DEVENPORT CO / SP13 / 70'. Sailors letters at favoured 1d rate from St. Thomas are scarce.

Printed matter from St. Thomas 23 October 1865 to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada. British 1d plate 74 cancelled with horizontal 'C51' St. Thomas, backstamped single-line arc 'ST. - THOMAS A /OC23 65' with code letter A. This postmark is extremely rare, four recorded examples in the DWI census, not listed in the publication 'GB Used Abroad: Cancellations and Postal markings by John Parmenter and Ken Gordon.

Letter from Caracas June 1867 to Bordeaux, France. Local ship letter stamp with all perforations intact, Dos Reales green SAN TOMAS – LA GUIAIRA – Pto CABELLO (FACIT LG17) tied by provisional handstamp ‘ 1¼ and on front senders cachet ‘MONTAMAT & DOUE / CARACAS’. Sent via ST. THOMAS, on reverse red LONDON JU 26 66 and reception mark Bordeaux 28 Jun, transit Paris. French due ‘20’ decimes. Arrived at Southampton with RMSPC steamer MERSEY.

Letter from Curaçao 19 July 1873 via St. Thomas to Havana, Cuba. Sent through the St. Thomas French Post Office, Caribbean 60c rate paid with two 30 C REPUB FRANC, tied by lozenge of dots and anchor, boxed PP (port partial), and the extremely rare consular St. Thomas octagonal ST. THOMAS 3 AOUT 73 and oval NA1 at Havana for mail arriving from Area de Norteamérica.

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.

Letter from St. Thomas 27 April 1873 to Paris, France. British 4d plate 12 and 3d plate 9 cancelled with duplex 'C51 ST-THOMAS / A AP27 73 PAID' alongside red 1-ring 'LONDON M / PAID / F 4 MY73'. From St. Thomas with RMSPC steamer 'ELBE' 28 April and arriving Plymouth 14 MAY 1872. Rate 7d to France from July 1875 - 31.12.1875. One round corner on 4d stamp.

Letter from Maracaibo 30 April 1873 via St. Thomas 16 May to Vera Cruz, Mexico . British 4d plate 12 cancelled with clear and clean duplex 'C51 ST-THOMAS A / MY16 73 / PAID', routing instruction 'Via San Tomas'. From St. Thomas with RMSPC steamer 'EIDER' 17 May and arriving Vera Cruz 27 May. British packet 4d rate within Caribbean Sea.

Share affixed with 1 Franc STEMPELMÆRKE paying the fee of 1 franc, stamped '14 MRS 10.08 / THE NATIONAL BANK OF / THE DANISH WEST INDIES', and manuscript of board member 'A. Tofft'. Share of 'The St. Thomas Icefactory - and - Cold Storage Company Limited'. Rare

Queen Victoria, surface-printed, large white letters, a small group of stamps cancelled with obliterator 'C51' and duplex C51 in various conditions.

Queen Victoria, surface-printed, large white letters, 5 shilling rose, plate 1 and 2, cancelled with obliterator 'C51'. One stamp plate 1 in very fine condition, plate 2 with round corners.

Letter sheet from St. Thomas 9 March 1877 to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Double rate letter 2x60c paid with three 40c orange Siège de Paris tied by octagonal ST. THOMAS / PAQ. FR. B. No. 4 / 9 MARS 77, cds ST. THOMAS 9/3 1877, and on arrival stamped 25 cts delivery fee. Sent with French steamer Ville Bordeaux, arriving from St. Nazaire via Fort de France, St. Thomas to Vera Cruz. A most attractive letter.

Letter from Nantes to St. Thomas 14 April 1866 to Carupano, care of St. Thomas agent. Routing instruction Voie d’Angleterre, stamped P.P. and London transit AP16, with receiving mark closed ring ST. THOMAS A MY2 66 on reverse. Charged 4d due, the letter has been forwarded to Carupano, Venezuela. From Southampton RMSPC SEINE arriving 1 May at St. Thomas. A most unusual mixed franking with French and British postage.

Unpaid lettersheet dated St. Thomas 30 January 1853 to Frankfurt, Germany sent onboard RMSPC „THAMES”, stamped with large arc “ST. THOMAS 6 FEB 1853” and arriving Southampton 7 March, stamped London 7 MR 1853, transit “AUS ENGLAND 8/3”. Routing instruction “Pr. Steamer via Ostende). Due to heavy gales from 15/2 delayed for more than a week. Charged 1/4 d for British postage, and German due (58 Rb. Sk.). Letters from DWI to Germany from this period considered a rarity.

Docketed St. Juan, Pto Rico 29 December 1853 via St. Thomas to New York. One 1/ paid and crowned circle struck “PAID AT SAN JUAN PORTO RICO” in black, via “ST. THOMAS JA 15 1854” on reverse, and “STEAMPSHIP 10” cents due at New York.

Letter docketered St. Thomas 30 April 1863 to Kingston, Jamaica. Crowned 1-ring “PAID AT ST. THOMAS” in red struck on front and 4d paid to Jamaica. Double ring, small type “ST. THOMAS MY 1 1863” and 1-ring “KINGSTON-JAMAICA MY 5 63” struck on reverse.

"Envelope with two letters inside, St. Thomas 5 March 1875 to Philadelphia via New York. Forwarded in St. Thomas, agents cachet "FORWARDED BY / G. W. SMITH & Co. / ST. THOMAS W.I." and sent through the British Post Office in St. Thomas "C 51" canceling a 4d plate 14. NY "DUE 10C U.S. CURRENCY MAR 18". A letter inside is dated s.s. „VILLE DE BREST"."

Stamped St. Thomas January 15, 1851, sent to Woonsocket Falls, U.S.A. Struck on reverse the small double ring type “ST. THOMAS JAN 15 1851” and forwarder cachet “FORWARDED BY / G.W. SMITH & CO. / ST. THOMAS W.I.”. Prepaid “1/” and stamped crowned double ring “PAID AT ST. THOMAS” and on arrival in US struck “STEAMSHIP 10” cents due, likely New York mark.

Unpaid letter docketed St. Thomas 13 May 1863 to Marseille via London. Sender’s cachet “SEGOND & LAFERRIÈRE / ST. THOMAS” struck on front, routing order – Par ”Atrato” RMSPC “Atrato” to London. On reverse British double ring small type “ST. THOMAS MY14 1864”, 1-ring “J M / LONDON / MY-28 / 64”, “PARIS / 29MAI 64 / 60”, “3 MARSEILLE 3 / 30 MAI 64 / (12)” and on front “ANGL. / 29 MAI 64 / AMB. CALAIS D” and struck accountancy mark “GB // 1F60C” and numeral type “8” decimes due by addressee.

Printed circular originating St. Johns, Porto Rico 31st December 1870, posted at the British post office at St. Thomas 2 January 1871 to Kingston, Jamaica. GB 1d plate 106 tied by “C51” vertical type and datestamped “ST. THOMAS / A / JA 2 / 71 / PAID” 1-ring in red ink and with Kingston receiving mark “KINGSTON / B / JA 5 / 71 / JAMAICA” and sent onboard RMSPC “Shannon”.