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Bolivia Stamps and Postal History continued...

1867 CONDOR ISSUE POSTAL HISTORY continued...

Lot

Symbol

CatNo.

Lot Description

CV or Estimate

2121

1867 5c Green, third re-engraving, from the late impressions of this state of the plate, two vertical pairs, positions 10/22 and 34/46 which would have been a strip of four, clear to large margins and possessing attractive color, tied to a most unusual entire folded foreign mail letter of Potosi on November 14, 1872 to Salta, Argentina, the stamps are tied by a blue double-circle "Bolivia/Potosi" c.d.s. of this later period, tiny piece out of the outer letter sheet of no consequence and very slight edge wear to the top fold, very fine; this is an extraordinarily late usage of the Condor issue, being well after the Nine Star and Eleven Star issues were produced in 1868-69 and at this time in current use; this cover represents the latest usage of which the collector is aware and quite likely the latest use known; certainly a marvelous foreign mail usage of this first issue. (Image)

Est. $3,000-4,000

SOLD for $14,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2122

1867 5c Green, fourth re-engraving, horizontal pair, positions 53-54, well clear to large margins all around being attractive with deep green color, amazingly this sole pair is on entire folded foreign mail letter of May 31, 1868 to Salta, Argentina from Tupiza being of the same Anzoategui correspondence as all the other Bolivia to Argentina Condor covers in the Ortiz-Patino collection, black "Tupisa" handstamp at left and pair with the crossed pen strokes of this post office tying plus ms. line drawn through "Contratos", that this cover did the service is testified by the "Admon de Correos/Jujuy" double-circle Argentinean transit on the reverse, very fine; careful examination of this cover, which is very clean and unaltered in any way, reveals that this pair were the only stamps ever on this cover, thus it did the foreign service 10c underfranked at the domestic letter rate with no acknowledgement by the post offices of the deficiency; a marvelous rate rarity. (Image)

Est. $2,000-3,000

SOLD for $1,700.00
Will close during Public Auction

2123

1867 5c Green, fourth re-engraving, horizontal strip of four in a deep blue green shade, positions 57-60, attractive with large even margins all around, tied to entire folded foreign mail letter of Tupiza on March 4, 1868 to Salta, Argentina by a rather ornate ms. monogram type cancel, no other postal marking of Tupiza being rather typical of this post office which postmarked and cancelled their covers in a great variety of ways, but this is from a well-known correspondence to Dr. D. Vincente Anzoategui in Salta that had much contact with Tupiza, minor cover stain, very fine and attractive. (Image)

Est. $1,500-2,000

SOLD for $1,350.00
Will close during Public Auction

2124

1867 5c Green, fourth re-engraving, vertical strip of four, positions 12/48, intense deep color with a somewhat muddy impression of this later printing filling some of the crosshatching, clear to large margins all around, similar entire folded foreign mail letter of April 16, 1868 to Salta, Argentina from Tupiza but lacking the town marking, strip is tied by oval cork or woodblock handstamp and each stamp with the "Contratos" obliterated by a single pen stroke indicating that these stamps were being used for postal purposes, very fine and rare; in addition the bottom stamp of the strip has a diagonal pre-printing paper fold that if opened out would be quite striking. (Image)

Est. $2,000-3,000

SOLD for $2,300.00
Will close during Public Auction

2125

1867 5c Green, fourth re-engraving, vertical strip of four, positions 2/38, similar color and impression as the previous cover and perhaps from the same sheet, this cover posted the next day between the same two correspondents, very attractive with large even margins on bright paper, yet another rendition of the Tupiza post office being an entire folded foreign mail letter of April 17, 1868 to Salta, Argentina, a black "Tupisa" straight line handstamp is centrally applied to the middle pair of the strip leaving the other two stamps uncancelled, well impressed with the oil of the ink bleeding to the letter sheet tying the strip, small affixing wrinkle to the third stamp, still choice and very fine; a very pretty and rare cover. (Image)

Est. $2,000-3,000

SOLD for $7,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2126

1867 5c Green, fourth re-engraving, vertical strip of four, positions 22/58, another pretty strip with rich color with large even margins all around, on entire folded foreign mail letter of May 14, 1868 to Salta, Argentina, black "Tupisa" handstamp below where posted with the well known crossed pen strokes cancels of this post office on each stamp, plus a ms. line drawn through "Contratos" leaving the "Correos" indicating that these stamps were being used for postal purposes, "Admon de Correos/Jujuy" double-circle Argentinean transit on the reverse, very fine and handsome cover. (Image)

Est. $2,000-3,000

SOLD for $8,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2127

1867 5c Green, fourth re-engraving, vertical strip of four, positions 20/56, attractive rich color on bright paper with large even margins all around, on entire folded foreign mail letter of May 16, 1868 to Salta, Argentina, black "Tupisa" handstamp at bottom being the post office of origin and each stamp with the crossed pen strokes that was frequently used by this post office, additionally the postal regulation was followed with a ms. line drawn through "Contratos" (revenue designation) at right of the stamp leaving the "Correos" at left clear indicating that these stamps were being used for postal purposes, "Admon de Correos/Jujuy" double-circle Argentinean transit on the reverse, very fine; an attractive and rare usage. (Image)

Est. $2,000-3,000

SOLD for $6,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2128

1867 5c Green Condor balance of postal history collection, small group of seven fronts or partial covers and six entire folded letters, a variety of the different states of the plate are present as early as a 5c Yellow green horizontal strip of three from the original plate, second state on a cover front, letters include three from Topiza, one from a well known correspondence to Salt, Argentina with two uncancelled pairs and no postal markings, also letters from Potosi and Santa Cruz plus a very interesting letter dated August 27, 1867 with a negative "Samaipata/Franca" ornate postmark, also bearing a 5c Green pair with a central "Sta Cruz", it is not absolutely clear that this pair originated on the cover but it is consistent with Samaipata being located in the Department of Santa Cruz, a scarce stampless nevertheless, condition varies with one partial cover to Peru having a single, or more likely a pair, cut away, most are fine and examination will prove beneficial.

Est. $1,500-2,000

SOLD for $15,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2129

#3, 1867 5c Violet, two singles of this scarce stamp, largely well margined examples with fresh color, each tied to a different partial folded letter to Cochabamba, one with portion of black "Correos de La Paz/RB" double circle c.d.s., the other with "Corocoro" ornamented circular handstamp, the two postal cancels that are most normally used on this value, very fine; in the distant past this value was recognized as scarce and so to satisfy more than one collector with an example someone thought that dividing a pair on rare covers into two singles on piece was a good idea(!). (imagea) (Image)

Est. $400-500

SOLD for $1,050.00
Will close during Public Auction

2130

#3, 1867 5c Violet, magnificent horizontal pair, positions 10-11, possessing fresh deep lilac color with a tinge of rose in it, large balanced margins all around, tied to entire folded letter of January 9, 1868 to Cochabamba by lovely strike of the "Correo de La Paz/RB/9 Enero 1868" double-circle c.d.s., one of only a few postal cancels that are normally found on this scarce stamp, a very fine domestic rate cover between post offices in two different departments; while there are seven different stamps by color or design (not counting all the shades of the 5c Green) composing Bolivia's first issue of the Condor design, only three different values were ever used postally, the 5c green was in use for six months before any other postal value was issued so they are the most numerous, though by no stretch of the imagination can they be considered common, the 5c Violet and 10c Brown were issued in December of 1867, a short four months before the new Nine Star issue was issued in March, 1868, for this reason hardly any covers with the Five Cent Violet value have survived, in fact the Ortiz-Patino collection contained only four covers including two domestic letters, a foreign mail cover and a double-rate foreign mail cover in combination with the 10c Brown; the cover offered here is an excellent and extremely rare example of the domestic usage. (Image)

Est. $10,000-15,000

SOLD for $35,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2131

#3, 1867 5c Violet, fresh vertical pair in the lilac shade, positions 46/58, mostly clear to a large margin at top, tied to attractive entire folded letter of January 17, 1868 to Cochabamba by small black "Corocoro" ornamented circular handstamp, another of the few post offices to have the violet 5c value, oval Juan Hugo Teare company cachet at bottom left, very fine domestic cover between the Departments of Mejillones and Cochabamba; as noted already 5c violet covers are of great rarity, one reason for this is that the 10c Brown was issued at about the same time, a single stamp of which paid the normal letter rate, thus the few letters that were posted during this short period of their use were divided between these two rare values; an extremely rare and attractive cover; signed A. Rendon. (Image)

Est. $7,500-10,000

SOLD for $21,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2132

#3, 1867 5c Violet, impressive horizontal strip of four from the top of the sheet, large margins nearly all around, just into the frame at left, strong deep color in a bluish lilac shade, tied to 1867 folded foreign mail cover to Tacna, Peru, paying the single letter rate to a South American Pacific coast country, the strip is tied by two clear strikes of black "Correo de La Paz/RB/25 Diciem. 67" double-circle c.d.s., a very fine and lovely cover.The change of color of the Five Cent Condor was ordered at the end of November. The earliest recorded usage of the stamp is December 1, 1867. The state of the plate is the same as the last revision to the plate that was printed in green. No other revision to the plate was made, so there is only one state of the plate in this new color. This resulted in a very small printing of the 5c Violet that was replaced in March of 1868 by the new American Bank Note issue of the Nine Star Arms design. This rare cover to Peru is a very early usage of this value with nearly all the covers of this stamp and the 10c brown being used in 1868.The single letter rate to Peru was 20c, as it was to the countries of Argentina and Chile with which Bolivia had the most commerce. Nevertheless Condor covers to these countries are extremely rare with the vast majority of the few known examples being franked with four 5c Green, the only Condor value available for much of their period of use. Only a tiny number of covers with the 5c Violet and 10c Brown did foreign service. The cover offered here is the only one that we are aware that is franked with a strip of four Five Cent Violet to Peru and may well be the only example known of this foreign mail usage; ex-Caspary, Rendon. (Image)

Est. $20,000-25,000

SOLD for $35,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2133

3, 4

#3, 4, 1867 5c Violet single and 10c Brown vertical pair, positions 64 and 1/14 respectively, the 5c value is in a lilac blue shade with full large margins all around, the 10c Pair has three exceptionally large margins being just along the frame at top, these two rare Condor values together make a spectacular mixed value combination double rate foreign mail cover to Peru, datelined at La Paz on January 16, 1868 with the stamps tied by two strikes of the "Correo De La Paz/RB/16 Enero 68" black double-circle c.d.s., overall the cover is fresh and attractive with a minor mounting flaw on the reverse, a very fine and an extraordinarily rare cover.The Five Cent Violet and the Ten Cent Brown were issued at the end of 1867 at the same time that the 50c and 100c high values for revenue use were issued in changed colors. Their usage was a very short period of time at the end of 1867 and early 1868. It is known that some of the 5c Green stamps were still in circulation, yet no example is found in combination postal usage with either of these values. In fact, this famous Condor cover is the only recorded example of two different Condor values on the same cover, due primarily to the fact that there were hardly any rates that required two values to efficiently pay the postage.This lovely and amazing cover is incredibly rare in two important ways. As mentioned above it is the only recorded Condor cover with two different values of this popular first issue. Secondly it pays an excessively rare foreign double rate of 25c to a Pacific costal country. The rate itself is very rare with only two covers with 5c Green Condor franking paying this rate being found in the Ortiz-Patino collection. However, in order to make this combination franking the post office had to have both values available, which was not a common circumstance, as the 10c value was only used here in La Paz and in Corocoro. Interestingly the only other 25c rate cover that we are aware is from this same post office of La Paz to Puno, Peru with a 10c pair and bisected 10c used to accomplish it, so in this office they may not have always had the two values concurrently. A magnificent combination franking being arguably the most important Condor cover known; ex-Caspary, Rendon. (Image)

Est. $40,000-50,000

SOLD for $260,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2134

#4, 1867 10c Brown, an attractive single with deep color and extraordinarily sharp impression for this value, position 68, meticulously cut to the frame lines all around and tied to a fresh entire folded letter of February 13, 1868 by nicely struck "Corocoro" black ornamented circular handstamp, posted to Cochabamba and possessing the oval company cachet of Juan Hugo Teare, very fine; a very rare and attractive cover; only two towns are known to have used this very rare late issued value, La Paz and this small town from the rare Department of Mejillones, this being the scarcer of the two; the rarity of this stamp postally used is testified by the belief that less than ten single franking covers for the normal letter rate are known; ex-N. Hubbard. (Image)

Est. $5,000-7,500

SOLD for $8,500.00
Will close during Public Auction

2135

#4, 1867 10c Brown, handsome single in a particularly dark shade of brown, position 1 from the first position of the sheet, clear to large margins nearly all around, just touching at top right, tied to clean and attractive entire folded letter of February 22, 1868 to Cochabamba by clear "Correo de La Paz/RB/22 Febre 68" c.d.s., fresh and very fine; another very rare entire letter paying the 10c domestic letter rate between two different departments, this one being posted from La Paz, the only other post office known to have used the Ten Cent Brown postally; an exceptionally rare cover. (Image)

Est. $5,000-7,500

SOLD for $5,250.00
Will close during Public Auction

2136

#4,1867 10c Brown, an especially attractive vertical pair, position 65/78 being from the bottom right corner of the sheet, possessing exceptionally large balanced margins all around, tied to an extraordinarily rare folded foreign mail cover to Arequipa, Peru of January 31, 1868 by "Correo de La Paz/RB/31 Enero 68" black c.d.s., sent via Tacna with that city's transit c.d.s. on the reverse; a pretty cover with a choice pair of this elusive value and nice postal markings, very fine; the foreign mail covers to other countries along the South American coast are rare with Condor franking, but particularly so with this rare value that saw little use; the cover offered here uses a 10c pair to pay the 20c single letter rate to Peru and it is quite likely that no more than two or three covers are known paying this rate with the Ten Cent Brown. (Image)

Est. $10,000-15,000

SOLD for $24,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2137

#4,1867 10c Brown, vertical pair, position 1/14, clear to large margins nearly all around, just touching at top left, the companion to the previous cover being between the same two correspondents, the pair is tied across the letter join on the reverse to a rare folded foreign mail cover to Arequipa, Peru of March 31, 1868 by "Correo de La Paz/RB/Marzo 68" black c.d.s., sent via Tacna with that city's transit c.d.s. also tying the pair, very fine; another immensely rare foreign mail cover of which there are few known with Condor franking and a significant Condor rarity with the very scarce late issued 10c value. (Image)

Est. $10,000-15,000

SOLD for $11,500.00
Will close during Public Auction

2138

#4, 1867 10c Brown, a stunning vertical strip of three with large to enormous margins all around, positions 31/44/57, lovely deep rich color and detailed impression, this marvelous strip is tied to an exceedingly rare folded entire foreign mail letter of January 24, 1868 to Tacna, Peru by two strikes of "Correo de La Paz/RB/Enero 68" black c.d.s., minor mounting flaws to the reverse of the cover, very fine and a wonderfully handsome cover.The rates between Bolivia, domestically and with her neighboring countries, would certainly make an interesting study. A single letter rate to Peru was 20c, we know by several examples in the Ortiz-Patino collection that the next rate level was 25c by adding just 5c, the cover offered here is elevated to the next rate level beyond that for a letter weighing between 1/2 oz. and 1 oz. by again adding 5c to make 30c. This is the only example of the 30c foreign mail rate to Peru in the Ortiz-Patino collection. However, interestingly in the same Caspary collection that contained this cover, there was a cover from this same correspondence that had a strip of four and pair of the 5c Violet confirming this 30c rate to Peru.All Ten Cent Brown Condor covers are rare. The total census is certainly less than twenty covers that have survived. This cover with a strip of three is the premier cover of this rare value and almost certainly the only known example of this franking. A marvelous rarity of the Condor issue in this premium quality and an absolutely essential addition to a award-winning postal history collection of Bolivia; ex-Caspary, N. Hubbard. (Image)

Est. $20,000-25,000

SOLD for $75,000.00
Will close during Public Auction

2139

3, 6

#3, 6, 1867 5c Violet and 50c Blue, two vertical strips of three of the former in a grayish blue shade along with a single of the 50c Blue, tied to a one page document with an ornate arms letter head, dated Christmas day, December 25, 1867 establishing that these two rare later issued values were available in late 1867 despite reports by various sources that they were not issued until 1868, stamps are tied by the manuscript text and signatures of the document, normal folds to the document, one slightly affecting the bottom strip of the 5c value; a fine and a very rare document, not only because of the rare values, but also because of the rare multiples of the 5c Violet. (Image)

Est. $1,500-2,000

SOLD for $1,500.00
Will close during Public Auction

2140

#6, 1868 50c Blue, nice four-margined single tied in a sole usage to full page of an 1868 document with ornate letter head showing the arms of Bolivia, ms. cancel with date of April 24, 1868 ties the stamp, fresh rich color, some typical water staining and aging to the document, otherwise very fine; this value was only used for fiscal purposes and this document with single 50c usage is a particularly desirable and scarce example of the proper usage of this stamp. (Image)

Est. $750-1,000

SOLD for $475.00
Will close during Public Auction