ABYSSINIA FIELD FORCE - RARE RED C.D.S. WITH "F.F." DIAMOND ...

Hammer

£1,900

ABYSSINIA FIELD FORCE - RARE RED C.D.S. WITH "F.F." DIAMOND CANCEL ON 4a GREEN ON COVER TO INDIA: Very fine 2 Feb. 1868 mourning env. (slightly trimmed at foot) with mainly fine (overstruck) strike of the very rare RED "FIELD FORCE POST OFFICE/ABYSSINIA" cds on the reverse addressed to Bangalore "Via Bombay" and so franked with single 4as Green just tied by indentation of a mainly very fine "F.F." Diamond Field Force cancel. There are fine BOMBAY (13 Mar.) and BANGALORE (17 Mar.) backstamps. Only a handful of the Abyssinia FF PO cds's struck in red have been recorded. Exhibition Quality. [A similar cover - but in poor condition - from this same correspondence with the red cds (not overstruck but not clear) realised £3,800+BP in Spink's 'Important Stamps' auction of 19 Jan. 2021; lot 3070.] Cross Reference: INDIA, MILITARY