Lot
3294 
Austrian Offices in the Turkish Empire, 1869 Cover to Gravesend, England, franked with Danube & Black Sea Railway 1867 20 paras black & green in combination with Austrian Levant vertical strip of three 15 soldi brown, perf 9½ tied by "LLOYD AGENZIE / KUSTENDJE" (June 29) circular date stamps (Tchilinghirian fig. 844) in black, numerous transit markings including Wein & London transits & Gravesend arrival, Extremely Fine; signed Müller & G. Todd, with 1954 A. Diena certificate. Estimate $30,000 - 40,000.
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC COMBINATION COVERS OF THE DANUBE & BLACK SEA RAILWAY.
In 1864 the Danube and Black Sea Railway was founded and extended a distance of 46 miles between Kustendje, on the Black Sea, and Czernawoda on the Danube, thus forming a link between the mail boats of the DSNC at Czernawoda and the mail boats of the Austrian Lloyd Company at Kustendje. This local post officially begun its activity in 1867 following a Convention concluded between DBSR and Kustendje Harbor Company (enterprise working in Constanta harbor) regarding the transport of mail on DBSR railway, when the company put in use the stamp of 20 paras.
Complete images:
View gallery or Download PDF (6.1MB).