1869 Folded Letter to Great Britain w 12-cent E-Grill w Phil Found Certificate

Description

1869 Folded Letter to Great Britain w 12-cent E-Grill w Phil Found Certificate
1869 Folded Letter to Great Britain w 12-cent E-Grill w Phil Found Certificate
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Description
Folded letter about the pending completion of the Transcontinental Railroad sent from San Francisco to Great Britain and franked with Scott #90 (12-cent black Washington with E-Grill accompanied with a Philatelic Foundation Certificate.  Red McKnight to George McKnight.  San Francisco to Liverpool: April 23, 1869.
This one-page folded letter is franked with a 12-cent black Washington stamp embossed with an E-grill for postal security (Scott # 90). The stamp is canceled by a fancy radial cork handstamp. It bears a magenta San Francisco paid exchange circular date stamp and a manuscript “pr Overland Mail” endorsement.
It was carried by the
S.S. Donau
, a ship belonging to Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd Line), see Hubbard and Winter’s
North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840-75
, p. 246), leaving New York on May 6th and arriving in Southampton on May 17th as testified to by a red London Paid transit circular date stamp with a backstamp showing it arrived in Liverpool later that day. In nice shape. Transcript and Philatelic Foundation Certificate of Authenticity will be provided.
In this letter, McKnight reports that the American Transcontinental Railroad is nearing completion and that will be the beginning of the end for ocean shipping from New York to California:
“Great events expected on the completion of the Pacific Rail Road which will be in about 30 days, the first train through from the Atlantic States is looked for on the 4th of July next, which will be the occasion of a grand Jubilee – it will prove a strong competitor against the Ocean Steam Ship Line as the difference in time will be on half or more, the steamers taking 22 & 23 days the overland Rail Road 8 to 9 from New York. . .."
McKnight over-estimated the time needed to complete the railroad. It was finished only 17 days later on May 10th when the ceremonial “Golden Spike” was driven at Promontory Point, Utah, joining the tracks of the Central and Union Pacific Railroads.
A certified example of a scarce stamp used properly to send a letter overland from San Francisco to New York and on to England made all the more valuable for its reference to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad and prescient prediction that railroad transportation would soon eclipse the much slower travel and shipping by sea.
#
9619
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About Us
This is a Read'Em Again Books sale. Read'Em Again books is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the Ephemera Society, the Manuscript Society, the American Philatelic Society (APS), the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, and the Military Postal History Society (MPHS).
We hope that you'll take some time to visit both our eBay store and our larger Read'Em Again Books on-line bookstore. We think that you'll find our prices to be very competitive with other internet book sellers. In addition to a nice selection of Americana, diaries, journals, photograph albums, and other unique personal narratives, we also maintain a small stock of children's books, illustrated books, unusual non-fiction as well as ephemera, philatelic items, prints, sheet music, maps, and occassionally postcards, antique toys & games, tobacciana, and breweriana.
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