Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 1

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1 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 1 DOCUMENTS & EPHEMERA 2070 C PICTURE POSTCARDS Ex Lot 2070 NEW GUINEA: Original photographs including 1912 Visit of USS "Glacier" to the Admiralty Islands x3 including of natives in canoes at the side of the warship; EA Hawnt aerial photos of Kokopo, Rabaul, & the volcano; also Papua Archie Gibson shots of Trobriand Islands group of maidens, of one being tattooed, & of one suckling two puppies!!; chief steward & chief engineer aboard SS "Mindini" (peripheral damage); etc, generally fine to superb. (14) 500 Ex Lot C NEW GUINEA: Rare group of real photo cards with group shots & portraits, dancers & drummers, "Pounding Poison Root for Asphyxiating Fish" (!), a couple of German period cards (one defective), 1917 of Rabaul Harbour, Australian officers outside their quarters etc, a couple used but generally fine to very fine unused. (16) 600 Ex Lot C NEW GUINEA: Large bundle of real photo cards with group shots & portraits, dancers & ceremonies, missionaries & planters, lakatois (3), several of 1914 taken by a crewman on HMAS "Encounter" including police group & of the really boring Papuan flag etc, some used including 1909 with 1d Lakatoi, some 1950s shots, a few cards may be New Guinea subjects, many cards are discoloured on the reverse but very fine on the viewsides. The best such group we have offered. (76) 2,000

2 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 2 NEW GUINEA - Australian Stamps Used in New Guinea 2648 C (B) Lot stampless cover endorsed "HMAS Berrima/On active service" & "No stamps/procurable", to Sydney with arrival machine of 5OC-1914 on the face, 'MORE TO PAY/ 1D /*' h/s & Postage Due 1d (torn before being affixed) tied by Barred Numeral '376' used at the GPO, a bit soiled, small corner repair at lower-right & repaired tears on the flap. A very rare & desirable cover from the earliest days of the Occupation. [Our vendor advises that only four "Berrima" covers are recorded. This cover was in the first homewards mail, per "Murex" which departed from Rabaul 22/9/1914. The "Bismarck" cover - sent en route from Palm Island (Qld) - sold for $2688 at our auction of 19/7/2003] 2, C B Lot commercial cover with German imprint of a Rabaul company & endorsed "Per SS Matunga", to Sydney with ½d 2d & 3d all perf 'OS' tied by two watery but obvious strikes of the rare 2-line 'Simpsonhafen/(Deutsch Neu-Guinea)' h/s (#50; rated F), endorsed "Reg 30" in red & in pencil "To be/censored", 'REGISTERED/20NO14/SYDNEY NSW' arrival b/s, opened & resealed with plain tape with 'OPENED BY CENSOR' h/s in violet, minor blemishes only. A significant cover, being one of the earliest civilian registered covers of the Occupation Period. [Query why censorship was requested? Perhaps the nature of the communication between two German trading houses raised concerns. It is probable both sender & recipient were interned by the end of 1914] Conventional wisdom is that only the ½d 1d & 2d Roos perf 'OS' were officially issued in New Guinea. However, the registration fee was 3d so it should be expected that the 3d value was also issued. Tim Rybak also had a registered commercial cover with a 3d perf 'OS', from the same mail. 3, C C Lot stampless cover endorsed "On Garrison Duty/Rabaul", "No Stamps Available" and at lower-left "No 70/GA/A Coy", to NSW with good strike of the rare 2-line 'Simpsonhafen/(Deutsch Neu-Guinea)' handstamp (#50; rated F), Sydney machine of NO on the face, '1D'-in-circle h/s & Postage Due 1d affixed, flap removed & some toning (mostly on the reverse). Garrison Mail is very scarce. [The sender was George Allard, who arrived on the "Berrima"] 1,500

3 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 3 NEW GUINEA - Australian Stamps Used in New Guinea (continued) 2651 C B Lot OAS cover endorsed "From Corpl Eitel/45 MGS H'Höhe" at lower-left, to NSW with 1d x2 (NOT perf 'OS') tied by two very fine strikes of the straight-line 'Herbertshöhe' h/s (#11; rated E), most unusual usage of the rare 2-line 'Simpsonhafen/(Deutsch Neu-Guinea)' b/s (#50; rated F) in transit at Rabaul & Sydney machine b/s of NO , adhesive-tape stain on the flap, opened-out for display. Very rare use of two provisional markings on the one cover. Ex John Powell. [The sender was Conrad Constantine Eitel, who arrived on the "Berrima"] 1,500 Ex Lot O B/C 1914 Kangaroos First Wmk perf Small 'OS' ½d 3d 5d 6d & 1/- each with typeset 'RABAUL/NOV * ' datestamp, toning/aging on the reverse. (5) C (A) Lot correctly rated civilian cover to Sydney's German Club with ½d & 2d both perf 'OS' tied by straight-line 'Rabaul' handstamp in violet, superb 'SYDNEY/15DE14/-22-' arrival b/s in red-purple (not affected by repaired tears across the flap). Very attractive. [With the enclosed three-page letter headed "Rabaul 8 XI 1914" & signed "Weber" who states (translated) "The provisional stamps are now Australian stamps which are punctured. Of the provisional German stamps [presumably the 6mm Spacing GRI Overprints], only the low values are still available..."] 2, C (B) Lot cover endorsed "Garrison duty Rabaul New Britain" and at lower-left "HH 727/F Coy", to NSW with 1d tied by straight-line 'Rabaul' h/s (#51; rated E) in violet, Sydney machine b/s of DE , ironed-out wrinkles & small pieces missing from the top where opened a bit roughly. [The sender was Harold Harper, who arrived on the "Berrima"] 1,500

4 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 4 NEW GUINEA - Australian Stamps Used in New Guinea (continued) 2655 C C Lot OAS cover endorsed "WF Capt/Treasurer", to NSW with 1d only tied by a watery strike of the 'RABAUL/NOV ' h/s (#49c; rated F) showing the outer dimensions of the "John Bull" implement used to create the datestamp, Sydney machine b/s of DE , roughly opened & stained from a crude repair with "sticky tape". Carried per "Morinda". [The sender was the Treasurer, Captain Walter Fry. As an officer he was not entitled to the soldiers' rate. However, which postal orderly would have the temerity to tax an officer's letter?] C/L (B) Ex Lot cover to Melbourne addressed by the distinctive typewriter used at the Rabaul post office with 1d tied by straight-line 'Rabaul' h/s (#51; rated E) in blue & with embossed German 'KAISERL.DEUTSCHE POSTAGENTUR' wafer on the flap, annotated "18/1/15" at upper-left which would have been the date received, horizontal fold & repaired horizontal scissor-cut at the base. With the enclosed letter dated " " & signed by the postmaster "GWMoore" who states "...owing to the large local demand for the surcharged [GRI] stamps...i am unable to fulfil your request...we are only using German currency here..." Carried per "Matunga", departed Rabaul 6/1/1915; arrived Sydney 16/1/1915. (2 items) 1, C B Lot (c.july) commercial cover to Queensland with Kangaroos perf 'OS' ½d & 1d pair tied by an unusually fine strike of the defaced German ' /Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen' seal (Powell #21; rated F), small 'PASSED BY CENSOR' h/s in violet presumably applied at Madang, opened & resealed with a complete example of the very scarce black/white 'PASSED CENSOR RABAUL' label (unusually affixed so the text is on the face), 'PASSED CENSOR/21AU15/BRISBANE' cds in red, opened on three sides & minor blemishes. Ex Milo Rowell and "Kilimanjaro". [The sender is believed to have been Rev Lehner, a Lutheran missionary at Cape Arkona near Bukawa in the Morobe District. However, it is surprising that the coastal mail went to Madang rather than to Rabaul] 3,000

5 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 5 NEW GUINEA - Australian Stamps Used in New Guinea (continued) 2658 C A- Lot cover to Queensland with remarkable franking of 1d pair & a bisected single to create the 2½d civilian rate all tied by 'MADANG/23OC15' cds, red/white 'OPENED BY CENSOR' label & light 'PASSED BY CENSOR' h/s (inverted) in violet. A rare and most desirable cover. [Our vendor advises that three such covers are recorded, all from the same sender to the same recipient] 2, C B Lot cover with 1d pair tied by very fine 'MADANG/7DE15' cds, complete black/white 'PASSED CENSOR RABAUL' label - a different font from that in Lot 2657; note in particular the 'R' - affixed to the reverse & endorsed in red "Letter for Enemy/Country enclosed/rabaul ", superb 'PASSED CENSOR/21DE15/BRISBANE' cds in red, minor opening faults. [This is a most unusual cover. Regulations required that mail intended ultimately for an enemy country had to be endorsed to that effect and posted to a neutral country, such as Switzerland or Sweden. This is the only such cover we have seen sent to Australia, which was a belligerent nation. It is also the only cover we can recall that bears an instruction by a censor. The censor was apparently unfamiliar with the Postal Regulations Moreover, apparently nobody noticed the ½d deficiency in the postage] NEW GUINEA - 'G.R.I.' Overprints 1, F A B1 Lot mm Spacing '3d.' on 30pf SG 8 tied to small piece by '-* RABAUL *-/* Oct *' datestamp (P49b), Cat

6 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 6 NEW GUINEA - 'G.R.I.' Overprints (continued) Lot * A B ½mm Spacing on Marshall Inseln High Values '3s.' on 3mk violet-black SG 64p [Stg 7], well centred, three guarantee handstamps on the reverse, Cat 23,000. Robert Gibbs Certificate (1974). [ Tim Rybak's set of the four High Values SG 64n-64q - then catalogued at 15,450: now 80,000 - sold for $152,375] NEW GUINEA - 'G.R.I.' Overprints - Postal History 35, C A Lot presentation cover addressed to Sydney but not posted, rare franking of 6mm Spacing '1d.' on 3pf brown SG 1 (exceptional centring; Cat 750 x3+ on cover) & superb strike of the original form of the 'RABAUL/Oct ' d/s (#49a with No Ornaments; rated G), typed endorsement on the reverse "I hereby certify that the stamp attached to this envelope is one of the original stamps of the 16 set [sic] issued by the Military Government of New Guinea. Dated October 1st 1914 Signed ('Walter Fry/Capt/Treasurer')", and endorsed at lower-left on the face "JS/Staff Captain/Rabaul/ ". The earlier date on the reverse indicates that these covers were prepared at the end of September in anticipation of the imminent availability of the GRI Overprints. Although the stamps were not officially issued until 17/10/1914, these covers are generally regarded as First Day Covers. NB: #49a is recorded only on the one date, & only on this group of covers. 2, C C Lot commercial usage of German PPC of "Hotel Fürst Bismarck/Herbertshöh" endosed "Garrison/Rabaul" & at lower-left "AA/184", to Sydney with 6mm Spacing '2d.' on 10pf SG 3 (Cat 120 x3+) tied by '-* RABAUL *-/* Oct *' d/s (#49b) being the First Day of Issue of the GRI Overprints, "sticky tape" repair at top. [The writer states "We occasionally get a bit of surfing on the north side but there is no swell it's not up to Bondi"] 1,000

7 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 7 NEW GUINEA - 'G.R.I.' Overprints - Postal History (continued) 2664 C B Lot cover with scarce combination franking of '2d.' on DNG 5mm Spacing '2d.' on 10pf & ½d Roo perf 'OS' tied by the "frozen" 'STEPHANSORT/ 13 ' cds, addressed to Sydney but we doubt if it actually entered the post, minor blemishes C A- Lot philatelic cover to a soldier at Madang with '2d.' on Marshall Islands 10pf SG 52 & '3d.' on 'Rabaul/(Deutsch Neuguinea' registration label SG 33 (Cat 325 x3+ on cover) tied by oval Rabaul d/s of 'FEB '. [This is the earliest recorded date of use of the surcharged registration labels & may well be the First Day of Issue] 2, C A Lot locally addressed cover with '1d.' on 3pf overprinted 'O.S.' SG O1 (Cat 75 x8+ on cover) tied by oval Rabaul d/s of 'FEB ' being the First Day of Issue, signed by Peter Holcombe & endorsed "Pos 3" C B Lot OHMS cover to England with '1d.' on 3pf overprinted 'O.S.' SG O1 (Cat 75 x8+ on cover) tied by oval Rabaul d/s of 'MAR ', sealed with pieces of stamp-selvedge, minor toning. Very early usage of SG O1. 750

8 Prestige Philately - Auction No 182 Page: 8 NEW GUINEA - 'G.R.I.' Overprints - Postal History (continued) 2668 C (B) Lot soldier's cover to England with '1d.' on Marshall Inseln 5pf tied by the "frozen" 'STEPHANSORT/ 13 ' h/s in blue, very fine strikes of the '3rd Batt N and M Force/Trop Unit' & 'PASSED-BY-CENSOR/JW BELL * CAPT' handstamps both in violet, Sydney transit b/s of 3AP-1915, ironed-out horizontal & vertical folds & a bit soiled. 1, C (A-) Lot a rather similar but less soiled cover from the same correspondence with oval Rabaul d/s of 27MAR1915, '3rd Batt N and M Force/Trop Unit' h/s & 'PASSED-BY-CENSOR' h/s with the second line removed, 'WORCESTER- PARK/26MY/15' arrival b/s. 1, PS A- Lot 2670 POSTAL CARDS: 1915 '2d.' on DNG 10pf, CTO with oval Rabaul d/s of 'FEB ', tiny blemish at right PS A Lot 2671 POSTAL CARDS: 1915 '2d.' on Marshall Islands 10pf, CTO with oval Rabaul d/s of 'FEB ', addressed to Queensland. The surcharged Marshall Islands Postal Cards are very scarce. [This is the earliest recorded date of usage] 250