Sale Highlights & Special Items

BIG DISCOVERY - EXPERIMENTAL COIL 2m vertical pair Pictorials on vertically ribbed thin semi-transparent paper in slightly darker gray-blue than the thin semi-transparent paper issue, perforated 13½:14½ (13.50 x 14.50) as per Bale for this type of paper and with characteristic pulled teeth on the bottom horizontal perforation (suggesting top-end feeding from the stamp vending machine) + close-cr...

MAJOR DISCOVERY: 3 mils Mandate Pictorals stamp in yellow green on undocumented vertically ribbed thick dark BROWN paper, tied to 15 SEPT 1933 postmarked registered cover from JERUSALEM to business in ERFURT Germany, franked 28m per period rate for overseas surface mail (15m letter + 13m registration) & tied by 3x strikes of REGISTERED JERUSALEM oval postmark on front + 1x on back, backstamped...

GROUND-BREAKING anti-coil DISCOVERY: a 16 SEPT 1932 postmarked 3 mils Pictorial single stamp serving as printed matter surface mail postage tied to a cover from JERUSALEM to MINNEAPOLIS USA, in light olive-green on vertically ribbed thin semi-transparent paper, with compound horizontal perforations of 13½:14½ (13.5 x 14.5, top) and 13¼:14½ (13.25 x 14.5, bottom), where the 13.5 gauge on the ho...

MAJOR DISCOVERY - the 3 mils EXPERIMENTAL COIL stamp on THICK vertically ribbed paper, in lime-green hue, with rounded/bumpy vertical perforation (at right) characteristic of coil stamps - but with perforation of 13½ : 14½ (13.5 x 14.5) as documented for vertically ribbed thin semi-transparent paper and not 13¼ (13.25) horizontally as documented for the thick paper as used here; tied to 30 SEPT...

GROUND BREAKING coil stamp DISCOVERY: vertical strip of 5x 3 mils pictorial stamps in yellow-green on thick vertically ribbed paper, as 15m airmail postage via Imperial Airlines, tied to 2 JULY 1936 air mail cover, from TEL AVIV to MUNICH & tied by 3x strikes of rare postmark with 3-letter month in date-stamp (Groten #C12, rated E / Sach #B44; without index letter - undocumented). Airmail to Europ...

THE EARLIEST KNOWN USED BOOKLET SHEET STAMP: 28 OCT 1929 postmarked commercial cover on imprinted business postal stationary, sent from TIBERIAS to SAFED & franked 8m for the period postage rate for extra weight inland letter (5m initial 20g letter weight + 3m additional 20g weight), using pictorial series 3m single & 5m single with half-cropped left gutter (both on thick vertically ribbed paper) ...

The RAREST PALESTINE MANDATE STAMP ISSUE: 15 mils stamp in dark gray, on woven paper, MH & OG; Ba #108c - unpriced as unused by Bale. Unique to the Pictorials series, the ink here bears a powdery, shiney appearance as of metallic ink (for which ground up metal is used); light surface discoloration; surficial tear at bottom right perforation tips. Used copies of this issue are observed postmark...

Discovery: earliest known used rare 15m stamp in dark gray (Ba #108c) here undocumented on vertically ribbed paper, tied to 21 JUNE 1933 postmarked air mail cover on Tanne & Co. business postal stationary, from TEL AVIV to police president in DUSSELDORF Germany, as postage for the Imperial Airlines rate - rare as a single frank - & tied by single strike of local Head Post Office postmark: ...

Egypt rarity - 1st issue 1866 10 piastre stamp in blue-slate with 13x13 perforation & upright watermark with 9 rays in the sun (SG #7d/w); possibly used as without gum, but not tied by postal markings. This is not a re-perforated imperforate proof stamp, among other reasons, because the paper is watermarked with the correct design (documented with 9 or 10 visible sun rays) & the paper is r...

HALASA 1 (Halutza/Khalasa) - Major Rarity: 2x strikes of the PM1 postmark dated 1 Oct 1917 tied to uprated 1914-issue Ottoman 20 Para imprinted postal stationary envelope (Ba #799) addressed to officer at telegraph station in DIYARBAKIR (southern Turkey), written by a sender at the local roadside inn (manuscript at bottom right); 3x stamps are visibly missing, constituting the postage for an overs...

Taxed French post office Holyland mail + discovery: 27 Aug 1906 postmarked picture postcard (Jerusalem - Mosque of Omar; Hermann Striemann) with 25 Aug. dated message numbering 5 words, sent from JERUSALEM to DRESDEN Germany & franked 5c for the printed matter rate (as bearing 5 words or less); likely deposited into a letter box and subsequently postmarked - but also marked for postage dues wi...

WWI enemy mail transited by the Allies: 2 Oct 1916 postmarked cover sent from JERUSALEM to NEW YORK, franked 1.10 Piastre per period 20g letter rate abroad using 2x 1915 1st series war overprinted stamps & tied by JERUSALEM-2 octogonal postmark; the cover may have been sent northwards by rail where subsequently tied by BEIRUT star & crescent censor handstamp. As of 5 Nov. 1914 Britain and Turkey w...

WWII very last Empire Route air mail to Australia - delayed by German invasion of Western Europe: 3 May 1940 postmarked civilian air mail cover from JERUSALEM to KILLARA Australia, franked 60m per period rate via BOAC/Imperial Airways using strip of 3x 20m lightly vertically ribbed stamps & censored with signature endorsement in pencil; per manuscript docketing the cover arrived on 18.6.40.As ...

Rare - taxed WWII army mail: 16 Aug 1940 postmarked local HAIFA commercial cover, sent stampless on OHMS official mail postal stationary from the "Orderly Room" of the Queens Own Yorkshire Dragoons (oval cachet on front) to a local business & separately endorsed "DRLS" in manuscript at the top. The cover was taxed by the civilian post office the same day for twice the deficient postage of 7 mils &...

Earliest known WWII British army postal concession in Palestine: 30 Aug 1940 postmarked stampless On Active Service (OAS) cover on Verco embossed postal stationary of the Royal Artillery, sent from Field Post Office FPO 122 (TULKARM) to SEVENOAKS Britain, tied by single strike of the FPO postmark & boxed censor mark #1168 with officer's endorsement signature; slit open at top. As per the manus...

LAST MAIL FROM EGYPT - latest recorded incoming cover prior to 1948 Egyptian seizures of mail to Palestine & mail suspension: 24 MARCH 1948 postmarked air mail registered cover from Elyakim Struck in ADDIS ABABA Ethiopia to Mrs. Chava Motolsky in TEL AVIV, franked 80c per period rate & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark on the front; backstamped 26 March FAROUK AIRPORT 1am transit + another ...

1948 War of Independence - latest known mail from Mandatory JAFFA: 11 April 1948 postmarked air mail cover addressed to shipping company in NEW YORK, franked 65m per period rate & tied by double ring postmark of the public counter at the head post office, one day beyond Proud's last known date of use of 10 April (#D11; Goldstein-Dickstein & Sacher disingenuously list "end of mandate" or an unsubst...

LATEST KNOWN postmarked outbound airmail during the MANDATE era, dated [Sunday] 2 MAY 1948: sent from TEL AVIV to business in CHICAGO; franked 65m per period air mail postage rate to the US & tied by 4 strikes of the Head Post Office public counter double-ring postmark + British airmail etiquette - the cover was actually handed-in in person to the postal clerk & accepted for dispatch (and not post...

TAXI/AIR MAIL groundbreaker: undated 10-14 May period 1948 interim commercial cover on Haaretz newspaper imprinted postal stationary, return addressed to Haaretz in TEL AVIV & sent to the newspaper's post office box address in HAIFA - franked 30m using 3x 10m interim stamps (likely for 10m base letter rate + 3x 6m additional weight, with 2m overpaid) and postmarked in HAIFA, tied by 2x strikes...

1948 interim Israel era LATE FEE cover: undated local HAIFA commercial cover to texile company at MOUNT CARMEL, sent from the HEAD POST OFFICE & franked 12m per period letter rate (10m per 30g weight or part thereof) + 2m LATE FEE, using interim stamps 2x 5m + 1x 2m and tied by 2x strikes of the interim HPO split ovals canceller - a rare combination as this interim cancel device was instituted...

DISCOVERY: HAIFA transit mark on Rosh Pinna interim cancelled small locale mail: undated registered cover from TEL AVIV to KVUTZAT HULIOT (Kibbutz Sde Nehemia) via ROSH PINNA POST, franked 30m for 15m registry + 10m letter rate + 6m additional weight here underpaid 1m without sanction, using interim stamps; backstamped 12 MAY 1948 HAIFA REGISTERED transit with late usage of Mandate postal marks du...

Unique interim 1948 private postal air link to Lebanon: undated cover addressed to employee "care of" the Iraq Petroleum Company in Haifa, franked 10 mils per period inland letter rate using horizontal pair of interim stamps (Tel Aviv overprint) & tied by single strike of very deformed interim postmark (as per the hallmarks, likely of the HADAR HACARMEL post office - late interim period usage); su...

DISCOVERY - True 1st Day ISRAEL 15 MAY 1948 cover + with *INTERIM* postmark: local HAIFA [registered] cover from the AHUZAT SAMUEL town agency to addressee Lilly Meissner at nearby 9 Vitkin street in AHUZA, franked 40 mils for the period registered letter postage rate with extra weight (10m letter + 15m registry + 2x 6m additional weight, with 3m overpaid) using top-left corner block of 4x blue in...

True 1st day Israel mail 15 May 1948 via besieged NAHARIYA emergency mail service: stampless & undated commercial cover on inprinted business stationary (H. Maisler printing factory), return addressed HAIFA and addressed to the Local Council in NAHARIYA; couriered to the 'Ogen' shipping agency at Haifa harbour which transported the letter by sea using the 'emergency sea mail service' operating bet...