STAMPLESS COVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN

1864 - RARE EXTREMELY FINE UNPAID STAMPLESS USAGE WITH
AN UNLISTED US DEPRECIATED NOTE COVER FROM THE
 URUGUAY CONSULATE IN CARDIFF, WALES WITH
 UNLISTED S. D. JENKINS SHIP BROKER FORWARDER HANDSTAMP

An Exceptional Trans-Atlantic Cover Exhibition Item
shewing a scarce Unrecorded Blue-Green "Uraguay Consulate" Cardiff Forwarder Mark on one end
 and a rare unlisted set of US Depreciated Notes marks and handstamps on the other end.

COVERED BY OUR 5 YEAR PHILATELIC GUARANTEE OF AUTHENTICITY

Rare, likely unique, surviving unrecorded Depreciated US Note Cover
 from Cardiff, Wales, Uruguayan Consulate to Maine


 Reverse of Cover
Red London April 9, 1864 transit mark

Note: The US Depreciated Note period ran from 1863 through 1878. Initially brought on by US Civil War inflation and the scarcity of coins, the American Dollar continued to be devalued in international markets (much like today) for fifteen years. European countries in particular felt that US notes currency was not adequate to meet the then current international treaty rates for postage. Postage Treaty accounts were to be settled in gold and the depreciation of the US dollar required collecting more than the normal face value of postage in US notes in order to meet the international payments. This rate "24/39" is unlisted in the American Stampless Cover Catalog. What it means is that the postal carrier was to collect 39¢ in American notes (paper money) from the recipient and that would equal the 24¢ required to pay the full rate. The markings are in black indicating it was sent postage due. The 19¢ marks indicates, that of the 24¢ collected, the amount to be credited back to Britain for the Trans-Atlantic carriage (16¢ for the ocean carriage and 3¢ for British inland carriage)

Further notes:  Knapp, Jenkins & Company were Ship Brokers at Bute Docks in Cardiff and a registered forwarding agent. This succeeding entity "S.D. Jenkins/Late/Knapp, Jenkins & Co." is not listed in the 1996 edition of The Postal History and Markings of The Forwarding Agents by Kenneth Rowe, nor by Hartmann in his Forwarding Agents by Cities. Note the spelling of Uruguay as Uraguay.

Cardiff April 8, 1864 cds and
Black "19" US Accountancy Mark
indicating 19¢ due to England and Packet

Manuscript "39" indicating current exchange rate of 1 shilling in local US currency

2nd strike of 19¢ cents due
 to England and Packet

Rare Blue-Green Uruguay Consulate,
S.D. Jenkins, Late, Knapp, Jenkins & Co.,
 Ship Broker, Cardiff

Embossed Stationer's Mark

[Please note that stampless cover catalogue numbers come from the following reference works: R. M. Willcocks, England's Postal History to 1840 with Notes on Scotland, Wales and Ireland (1975); R. M. Willcocks & Barrie Jay, The Postal History of Great Britain and Ireland 1981; Willcocks & Jay, The British County Catalogue of Postal History - Volumes 1 & 2, 2nd Ed. (1996); Barrie Jay, The British County Catalogue of Postal History Volume 3 London, 2nd Ed.(2005); Willcocks & Jay, The British County Catalogue of Postal History - Vol 4 (1988), Willcocks & Jay, The British County Catalogue of Postal History - Volume 5 (1990); American Stampless Cover Catalogue 2nd Ed. (1997); J.C. Arnell, Atlantic Mails - A History of the Mail Service between Great Britain and Canada to 1889 (1980); F. Jarrett, Stamps of British North America; W. S. Boggs, The Postage Stamps and Postal History of Canada; Hargest, History of Letter Communications between US and Europe 1845-1874, Starnes, US Letter Rates to Foreign Destination 1847-GPU; Tabeart, United Kingdom Letter Rates 1657-1900; Moubray, British Letter Mail to Overseas Destinations 1840-1875, J.J. MacDonald, The Nova Scotia Post, Its Offices, Masters and Marks (1985)]

Offered by EmpirePost.com
a division of Berryhill & Sturgeon, Ltd.

OUR 5 YEAR PHILATELIC GUARANTEE OF AUTHENTICITY

As a Life Member of the American Philatelic Society and in association with the American Philatelic Society's new guidelines on expertization, Berryhill & Sturgeon, Ltd. will guarantee the authenticity of this philatelic item to the purchaser of record for a period of five years from the date of sale. You will receive a full color receipt with our written guarantee of authenticity - signed and sealed. Please note that our five year Guarantee of Authenticity does not apply to condition issues such as centering, cancel, gum, paper or other aspects of the item. It is the buyer's responsibility to promptly examine the material upon receipt for any vices, defects or other dissatisfactions and return it within our seven day examination and "return-for-any-reason" period. However, if at any time during the five year period you receive an opinion from the American Philatelic Expertizing Service that this item is not authentic, please return the item in its original condition along with the written guarantee and contrary opinion and we will refund you the original purchase price and the cost of the opinion.