Lot 72
Ship Letter. 183339 three entires from Cape...
Auction: 11 July 2021 at 01:00 BST
£120
Description
Ship Letter. 183339
three entires from Cape of Good Hope
to England, each bearing ‘INDIA LETTER’ boxed H/S in black for Liverpool (1833), Cowes, (1837) and Portsmouth (1839), filing creases as nearly always seen, nonetheless an interesting and scarce trio.
xxx italics please: The East India Company carried the bulk of mail between the Batavian Republic, India and the Cape of Good Hope to England. By 1799, the revenue was considerable and the Government sought to capture some of the revenue for the Postal service by passing the Postage Act 1879. The East India Company was powerful enough to largely circumnavigate the provisions of the act, moreover the Company obtained a concession in the following act which established the 4d India Ship Letter rate for letters not exceeding 3oz.xxx
0