Auction 265th - 273rd - Day 3

1881 (Feb 10): Great Britain 1880 2½ d. blue pl. 20, single and vertical pair, used with 1880 1 d. venetian red in a horizontal pair, on registered triple rate cover from Malta to Naples tied by five strikes of the "A25" obliterator. Oval sender's cachet in violet at left and, alongside, the earliest recorded oval "REGISTERED / MALTA" datestamp in red (Feb 10). Reverse with Naples arrival (Feb 12). File fold well away from the adhesives, a very scarce cover. Ex Cole & Abrahamson.rnProvenance: Collection Leslie Wheeler, RL, London, 25 March 1986, lot 941.