2007 - Dr. Andrew Cheung FRPSL
| Earliest
recorded Shanghae
type Bi on postal stationery card
This 1c/4c postcard was
(partly)
written on
26 December 1881 from Peking and carried privately to Shanghai and
re-mailed back to the Netherland Legation, Peking. Peking was not a
port and mail had to be carried to the nearest seaport for onward
transmission and Shanghai was the port of choice at this time. The
sender could have been a member of the Legation or a forwarding agent
employed by the Legation since the message on the card concerned
mailing of letters from Shanghai to Holland and Batavia. Following
completion of shipping details, the postcard was sent back to Peking
via the Shanghai Customs Post on 12 January 1882; the sender must be a
subscriber/registered postal account holder, and thus pre-franking with
Chinese stamp was unnecessary. The 'A55' written at top left corner
could be the account number. 1c was the local postcard rate at the time
and was accepted by the British Shanghai Post Office. The Shanghae
cancel on the imprinted stamp also dated 'JA 12 82' is Webb type Bi, it
is believed to be the earliest recorded usage of this datestamp as a
cancel on a postcard. |
