Outer of entire letter (1873) from the Italian PO in Alexandria to the British PO in Beyrout. Appeared in ebay about a year ago. I had the opportunity to examine the cover closely. Conclusion: Fake
Fake Italian cancellation: The Italian cds shows wider letters NDR (in ALESSANDRIA) than the original. It also shows time digits (12 M) while this time configuration only appeared for a brief period in 1863. Anyway, one would expect at this period to see the dotted "234" canceller of Alexandria.
Fake British cancellation: There should have been two dots separating the words "BRITISH . POST . OFFICE". The code is shown as 01 (genuine postmarks have letter codes A, B or C).
The date configuration is shown as 28.2.73 (the genuine would show FE 28 73)
Postal Stationery Registered Envelope (1890) from British PO Beyrout to London.
This is an elusive use of a GB PSRE in the Levant. Only problem is that the "INSURED" label was added much later. The cover is a straightforward single rate registered letter paying 2d Reg'n Fee plus 40 Paras postage. The "Insured" mail service was only introduced in 1908 to the British Levant Post Off
Date Posted: 31 October 2010
Cover notified by Alexios Papadopoulos, Levant Research Co-ordinator, GB Overprints Society, http://www.gbos.org.uk
*The FIP Commission for Postal History cannot assume any responsibility concerning the statements made on this page Cover watch.
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