373rd Auction

1850, 1 d. orange-vermilion in very nice deep and fresh colour, slightly touched at upper left and in bottom frame line, neatly cancelled by butterfly cancel "1" of Melbourne; on reverse a small thin toward top, alltogether a fine copy of this rare stamp, certificate BPA (2019)

1919, Kangaroo and map 2 £ black and rose, die II with overprint "SPECIMEN" in subtype 1a (damaged S and C), unused without gum, one pulled perf at top, otherwise fine; a very scarce variety

1892, Cover franked on reverse with India ½ a. green, tied by squared circle "BAHRAIN OC 6 92" to Bushire with frontside boxed "POSTAGE DUE / ONE ANNA" and arrival mark of October 9 next to the stamp; fine and rare, the earliest of 2 recorded such combinations

1893, British India postcard ONE ANNA on 1½ a. blue from Bahrain (July 9th 1893), posted at "BUSRAH JL .. 93" and sent to London with frontside "SEA POST OFFICE JL 28 93"; fine and very scarce early mail

1903, British India postcard with prepaid answer 1 a. blue + 1 a. blue used with text from "BAHRAIN 27 DE 03" via "SEA POST OFFICE JA. 9 04" to Berlin with arrival mark on front. A very rare card; apparently the sender sent several of these cards each with part of text of his travel descriptions; we have recorded 2 further such cards from Bahrain

1905, British India Victoria 3 p. rose in horizontal pair, tied by cds. "BAHRAIN 20 AP. 05" to reverse of small cover to Bombay with adjacent arrival mark; by opening slightly reduced in size, still fine

1905, British India Edward ½ a. green, 2 copies tied by cds. "BAHRAIN 9 FE. 05" to reverse of small envelope to Bombay with arrival mark

1908, Postal stationery envelope Edward ½ a. green used from "BAHRAIN 3 JL. 08" to Muscat with arrival mark of July 7th, very fine

1908, British India envelope ONE ANNA on 2 a. 6 p. orange with return address "Mason Memorial Hospital / Bahrein, Persian Gulf" and clear postmark "BAHRAIN 17 OC. 08" addressed to the Seaman Hospital, Greenwich, S.E. The writer expected to benefit of the soldier's concessionary rate, but since the envelope was not countersigned by an officer it was taxed, showing 2 strikes of "T" in circle struck in Bahrain, plus British "3d/F.B.". The envelope opened out for display with slight toning at the edges. Unique usage of this envelope at Bahrain and to our records only recorded use of the "T"-tax stamp at Bahrain

1910, British India Edward 3 p. grey, 10 copies in multiples tied by cds. "BAHRAIN 31 DE 10" to reverse of commercial cover to Bombay with arrival mark; the envelope somewhat reduced in size at both sides and showing slight faults; a scarce franking

1912, Edward 3 a. orange-brown, tied by cds. "BAHRAIN 18 FE. 12" to reverse of registered envelope with provisional registration label to Bombay with adjacent arrival mark; cover opened on 2 sides, very fine and rare early registered mail

1917, Postal stationery envelope George V ½ a. green, used from "BAHRAIN 14 AP. 17" to Muscat with arrival mark and frontside censor mark; due to opening somewhat reduced at right, still fine

1917, Postcard ¼ a. grey from "BAHRAIN 24 SE. 17" to Muscat, transported via "BUSHIRE 26 SE. 17" with adjacent "PASSED CENSOR BUSHIRE", arrival mark on reverse

1926, George V registered envelope 2 a. + 1 a. blue, size J, used from "BAHRAIN 2 NOV 26" to Muscat with arrival mark; little stained, otherwise fine; very rare inter-Gulf usage of the large size envelope, previously unrecorded

1928, George V 3 a. blue, tied by cds. "BAHRAIN 6 MAR 28" to reverse of commercial envelope of an automobile dealer for Lincoln, Ford and Fordson with decorative return address on front, addressed to New York; little stained

1929, George V ½ a. green, marginal block of 18 tied to reverse of commercial cover from "BAHRAIN 17 NOV. 29" to Berlin with frontside double circle "BY AIR"

1933, George V 3 p. in horizontal pair, 1 a. and 2 a. 6 p. in horizontal pair, tied to registered cover to Basrah with arrival mark on reverse, little roughly opened, still fine

1933, George V 3 p., ½ a. (2), 9 p., 1 a. and 2 a. used on cover from "BAHRAIN 6 MAY 34" to England, endorsed in red ink "By overland mail "Bagdad-Haifa"", Basrah transit mark on reverse, very fine

3 p. in horizontal pair, 1 a. and 8 a., tied to reverse of airmail cover with frontside double circle "BY AIR" with transit marks of Cairo and Athens to Vienna with arrival marks

3 p. (6) and ½ a. (4) tied to reverse of small envelope endorsed "OVERLAND MAIL" to Germany, adjacent double circle "BY AIR" cancelled by pen strokes

3 p. (2), 1 a. chocolate (5) and 2 a. small die, tied to reverse of envelope, endorsed on front "BY AIR MAIL", deleted by black bars cancel with adjacent rare "T", addressed to Berlin with frontside transit mark "MARSEILLE-GARE-AVION 29 VIII 1937", in Germany taxed with "40" pf.; an interesting cover with the rare "T"-handstamp of Bahrain

½ a. and 1934/37, 3 a. in strip of 3 tied by cds. "BAHRAIN 3 FEB. 37" to airmail cover, originally sent from "STRUER 31.12.36" via "CØBENHAVN 5.1.35" to a member on a ship arriving at Bahrain and the re-directed to Antwerp, Belgium with transit mark of Alexandria; a fine and most unusual combination cover

1 r. with 3 p. (12) and George VI 1 a. (2), used on reverse of airmail cover from "BAHRAIN PERSIAN GULF 27 NOV 39" to Copenhagen, Denmark with white label "OPENED BY CENSOR", fixed with staples and tied by the cds., leaving 4 stamps underneath the label uncancelled. A most attractive and very rare censored letter

5 r., horizontal marginal pair tied to commercial airmail cover from "BAHRAIN 17 NOV. 45" to San Francisco with adjacent red "O.A.T." (Onward Air Transport). A very rare usage of these stamps and highest recorded franking of this issue

1934/37, 2 a. vermilion and 3 a. carmine, tied cds. "BAHRAIN 21 MAR 36" to cover with violet "OVERLAND" to England with Basrah transit mark on reverse

2 a. vermilion, small die, horizontal pair with George VI 1a., tied by light Bahrain cds. to small envelope with adjacent "OVERLAND MAIL" to England with transit mark "BASRA 9 MAR 40"

3 a. carmine and 4 a. sage-green, tied to picture postcard 18.10.1934 to Germany with blue straight line "AIR MAIL" deleted by black bars cancel, as insufficiently prepaid

½ a., 4 copies, tied to reverse of cover to Tchahbahar, underpaid by ½ a. and taxed on arrival, franked with 2 copies Iran 1938, 50 d., tied by Tchahbahar cds.; a very rare combination cover

1938/41, George VI 25 r., center block of printing sheet with horizontal and vertical gutter pairs, unmounted mint, some minor gum creasing and 2 perfs split, otherwise very fine, a scarce multiple

4 a. in combination with India 1945, Victory 1½ a., used on commercial registered airmail cover from Bahrain to Bombay with arrival mark of 16.9.1945. A very scarce usage of the Indian Victory issue at Bahrain; just few covers recorded

1948, ½ a. on ½ d.-5 a. on 5 s. (all values issued on that day) tied by first day cancel "BAHRAIN 1 APR 48" to locally addressed cover, some minor staining, very scarce

1948/49, ½ a. (2), 1 a., 1½ a. and 2½ a., tied by 3 strikes of cds. "EXPERIMENTAL P.O. K-121" (Muharraq post office) to airmail cover to England; one ½ a. slight transportation marks, otherwise fine. The experimentals K121-postmark is the rarest postmark of Bahrain, according to Donaldson just one further cover has been reported

6 a. on 6 d. in combination with Kuwait 3 a. on 3 d., used on commercial registered airmail cover from "BAHRAIN REG 9 OCT. 48" to India with arrival mark

2 r. on 2 s. 6 d., 2 copies with 3 copies 1 a. on 1 d., tied to registered parcel label to Switzerland with adjacent "PASSÉ en DOUANE à Genève"; usual slight transportation marks, still very fine and rare

1948, Olympic Games 2½ a. on 2½ d. with variety "surcharge double", copy from the left sheet margin, unused o.g., very fine and rare, certificate RPS (1982)

6 a. on 6 d., used on commercial cover from "BAHRAIN 20 SEP. 48" to England a scarce commercial usage