Sale #44 - China and Other Asian Countries

China, 1892 (10 June) Germany 10pf. + 10f. reply paid double card (both halves intact) from Berlin to Peking (24.7), showing "To Pay" framed h.s. in red with sans-serif letters, the indicia cancelled by departure c.d.s., showing "Kaiserl./Deutsche/Postagentur/Shanghai" c.d.s. (17.7), "Customs/Tientsin" double-ring transit d.s. (22.7) and "I.G. of Customs/Peking" double-ring arrival d.s., the last two in blue, on reverse, light diagonal crease at top right corner, nevertheless fine and rare.
Estimate HK$ 35,000 - 40,000
WE RECORD LESS THAN TEN EXAMPLES OF THIS "TO PAY" HANDSTAMP.
This "To Pay" marking was applied at Tientsin for mail entering through the port of Tongku. This instructional marking appears on a proof sheet of all cancellations and postal markings in use at Tientsin as of 15 October 1893. The proof sheet, believed to be from the archives of R.A. de Villard, was in the Paul Ke-Shing Chang collection and is illustrated in Volume I (pp. 32 & 35) of his "History of Postal Cancellation of China."