Sale #44 - China and Other Asian Countries

China, 1892 (25 Jan.) Hong Kong 3c. postal stationery card to Ingolstadt, Germany (7.3) via Hong Kong (29.1.), showing "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. (month and day inverted) in blue, the indicia cancelled by "A/Amoy" c.d.s. (26.1), written in Esperanto, fine and one of the rarest Customs daters of China.
Estimate HK$ 250,000 - 300,000
References: Census of the "Customs/Tamsuy" Double-Ring Datestamp on Cover
-- 1878 (3 Jan.) envelope to London, showing "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in red, and bearing Hong Kong 16c. yellow cancelled by "D27" barred obliterator of Amoy. Ex William Kwan.
-- 1879 (15 Aug.) envelope to London, showing "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in red, and bearing Hong Kong 12c. cancelled by "A1" barred obliterator. Ex Ryohei Ishikawa.
-- 1879 (27 Nov.) envelope to "William Hancock, Esq., I.M. Customs, Shanghai", showing "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in red (day and month inverted), and bearing China Large Dragon 3ca. cancelled by "Customs/Shanghai" double-ring d.s. Ex Bernard Stoloff, and Anna-Lisa and Sven-Eric Beckeman. Huang Ming-Jeng collection.
-- 1882 (21 Mar.) envelope to Lurgan, Ireland, showing "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in red, and bearing Hong Kong 10c. mauve vertical pair cancelled by "A1" barred obliterator. From the Hancock correspondence. Ex Ryohei Ishikawa, and Anna-Lisa and Sven-Eric Beckeman.
-- 1891 (22 Mar.) envelope to Philadelphia, showing "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in blue (day and month inverted), and bearing Hong Kong 10c. cancelled by "Amoy/A" c.d.s. Ex Mizuhara Meiso.
-- 1894 (13 July) printed "On Service" envelope for "Parcel Receipt No. 395" to Shanghai, showing "Tamsui Customs/Mail/Matter" oval h.s. in red, with "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in blue. Paul Ke-Shing Chang
-- 1894 (2 Sept.) printed "On Service" envelope "Parcel Receipt No. 488" to Shanghai, showing "Tamsui Customs/Mail/Matter" oval h.s. in red, "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in blue. China National Postal Stamp Museum.
-- 1895 (25 Jan.) : the above postal stationery card
-- 1895 (4 Mar.) envelope to Boston, showing "Tamsui Customs/Mail/Matter" oval h.s. in red, "Customs/Tamsuy" double-ring origin d.s. in blue, and bearing Hong Kong 10c. cancelled by its index "B" c.d.s. Ex "Ming" and Lam Man Yin.
-- Sun Jun Yee also records an 1895 (25 June) registered envelope bearing Small Dragons, with the "Tamsui Customs/Mail/Matter" handstamps, but we have not seen this. See The Postal Marks of the Ching Dynasty (Beijing, 1984), p. 44.
A GREAT TAIWAN POSTAL HISTORY RARITY - ONLY TEN EXAMPLES OF THIS CUSTOMS DATER RECORDED.
THE ONLY RECORDED USE OF A HONG KONG POSTAL STATIONERY CARD FROM THE CUSTOMS POST IN TAMSUY.