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This is the reverse of an OHMS ship letter from Sydney (27 FE 1851) to Launceston. I'm familiar with the dated Launceston arrival stamp (15 MA 1851) but haven't seen the boxed marking before. Can anyone explain its meaning? Is it particularly scarce?

It’s a Hobart ship Mail inwards making which indicates the ship berthed in Hobart initially. Launceston did I not have a seperate Ship mail handstamp at this time and used the circular handstamp as a general purpose mark. If you know the name of the ship perhaps we could confirm its arrival from the references to Ship movements. Could you show an image of the front?

This handstamp was used between 27 .10.1846 and 21.09.1852. Id say its scarce to rare meaning examples are only seen from time to time but there are examles in quite a few collections.

Van Diemen's Land pre-ahhesive mail is rare in the 1820s, very scarce though the 1830s less scarce in the 1840s and becoming more common in the 1850s as a generalization.
While Ship Letters may be addressed to a specific Port, sometimes the vagaries of weather, commercial opportunities and availability of ships meant they did not automatically end up at the Port as per the address.

Pete

Thanks for the info. It being a Hobart marking explains why it is dated a day before the Launceston arrival back-stamp. I've attached some images of the sad front of this cover.

My earliest Tasmanian postal history item is 1836.

Regards, John.

Here is the sad picture of the front.

Thanks John,
While the front is a bit of a mess, anyone who collects Tas pre-adhesive markings would probably have an interest as the TAs markings on the back are pretty good and the Ship Mail boxed handstamp is not easy to find