Auction 321 - 332 Romania – Special Catalogue, Worldwide Rarities – The ERIVAN Collection – 2nd Auction, Schweiz & Liechtenstein - Day 5

British Levant, Combination franking of British and French adhesives, 1874: folded entire, franked with 1858/76, 2d. blue, plate 14, lettered FB, tied to cover by barred oval "G06" with adjacent clear "BRITISH POST OFFICE BEYROUT JA 15 74" c.d.s. to Lyon, with 1871/76 80 c. rose Ceres affixed at right, it tied by GC "5080" with adjacent "ALEXANDRIE EGYPTE 19 JANV. 74 c.d.s., backstamped Alexandria (19 Jan), Marseille a Lyon (26 Jan) and Lyon (27 Jan),  a scarce and fine entire, signed Alberto Diena. Cert. BPA (2020). rnNote: Between October 1873 and September 1875, covers despatched at the British P.O. in Beyrouth were in addition franked at the Italian and French P.O.'s in Alexandria with the respective adhesives for the onward journey to Western Europe. The administrative basis of this combination franking, even after the foundation of the GPU, is not clear.