Tasmania-Dublin cover 1868

[Marcus]

Hello,

Long story short - a couple of years ago I discovered a quite decent stamp collection in my grandparents' house, built up by my great-grandfather. He was Northern Irish, collected all world (though Britain and British Empire is what remains, rest of the world was inherited elsewhere), so Britain and Ireland are the main strengths. There are 2-3 pages of Tasmania, I don't think much out of the ordinary except for this cover, which may interest you:



I don't have a picture of the reverse right now, but it arrived sometime in January 1869. Do let me know what you think.

[admin]

Marcus,
Thanks for showing us your cover. I am not the most qualified person to offer any comments on your item, but I can tell you the large circular handstamp, struck in red "General Post Office Hobart Town" was an outwards ship letter canceller. Originally it had the initials "VDL" just above the date but these were struck out , as the Colony changed its name to Tasmania in 1856. Early date for this is 25.05.66, late date, 14/9/1870.
Reference: The Courier no 44, December 2007, p 13
The 6d stamp is cancelled with one of the dumb cancelers of Hobart. I dont believe either marking is scarce, but they are nice clear examples.
An interesting cover and similar to many seen during this period

[Marcus]

Thanks, that certainly all fits. I think the scarcer component is the destination - I've seen a line in an auction catalogue that pre-UPU (1874) Tasmanian covers to foreign destinations are scarce, and Ireland is that much more unusual than England.