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SAMPLES OF NO VALUE ENDORSED QV LATE FEE PAID COVER TO ITALY WITH BOTH "12" & "13" CANCELS; 24 Sept. 1863 E (very thin paper to reduce postage weight) from London to Turin (same correspondence as previous lot) endorsed "Samples of No Value" in Italian but franked for the regular 1s/- letter rate plus a 1d Late Fee with 1/- Green Small Letters + 1d Red 'stars'; the 1/- tied by the usual London Foreign Branch barred "13" numeral, but the 1d Red remarkably tied by the matching "1"" (for Late Fee mail) cancel. There was no GB Sample Post service to Italy until 1864, so perhaps it was endorsed in this way to avoid import problems in the country of destination? Unique(?) combination of two different London numerals on one cover. [Illustrated in BPPP, p.486.] Cross Reference: OVERSEAS DESTINATIONS, LATE FEE/TOO LATE MAIL, ITALY, 1854-65 1d REDS
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