EARLY LETTERS (BELGIUM) - "9½" POSTAL RATE COVER EX ANTWERP ...

Hammer

£650

EARLY LETTERS (BELGIUM) - "9½" POSTAL RATE COVER EX ANTWERP FORWARDING AGENT TO LONDON; Very fine 18 Oct. 1600 letter from “Anv[ers]a” (Antwerp) to Corsini in London was charged “9½” (9½ groats = 38d), which would have covered a bundle of 19 letters – rated at 2d each for local London delivery (or for delivery from Dover to London) delivered on the same day. This is one of only 10 such letters in the entire Corsini Correspondence with a postal rate without the “G” prefix or the “d” suffix; all the others were charged “½” or “1½”. This is the only example of this “9½” rate in the Corsini Correspondence (which also included just two “G9½” covers, both also from Antwerp, dated 1575 and 1600). This letter was also sent by the Antwerp Forwarding Agent, Gio A.G. Vergano concerning Corsini’s goods. Exhibition Quality. [Ex Robson Lowe’s personal collection, 1998.]Cross Reference: BELGIUM, EARLY LETTERS, FORWARDING AGENTS, LONDON POSTAL HISTORY