Heinrich Köhler Auction 379 - Day 5

WESTERN AUSTRALIA – MALTA: 1857, entire letter, dated "Australind 5th/10th OCTO. 1857" to Malta, endorsed "per Steamer from King George Sound"and franked with 1854/55, 4 d. blue with large margins and pair 1 d. black, slightly touched at lower right, otherwise clear to good margins, tied by barred oval with adjacent "POST OFFICE AUSTRALIND WESTERN AUSTRALIA"; on reverse clear blue oval "AGENZIA DEL LLOYD AUSTRIACO MALTA". Most likely the letter was transported by the 'European & Australian Steam Navigation Company' to Suez, via 'Overland Mail', from Alexandria to Corfu by the Austrian Lloyd 'Trieste express line' and finally to Malta by a short-lived branch line. A very fine and fresh letter of great rarity, showing the only recorded example of the Austrian Lloyd agency handstamp of  Malta. Certificate BPA (2007)
Provenance:Frank Chadwick (1978)Henry Houser (1992)