France 1864 cover to Lisbon

[Stan]

A friend and I are puzzling over a pair of covers from France to
Portugal in the early 1860s. Maury lists a 60 centimes rate to
Portugal on a “batiment de commerce,” which I interpret to be a tramp
steamer. But these covers are franked with only 20 centimes.

One of the covers is shown at: http://cjoint.com/?0kFsgKBwbLY

What caused the apparently under-franked cover to be delivered a mere
six days later in Lisbon?

Thinking that it might have some bearing on the question, I copied and
cleaned-up a hand-stamped 240, which I suspect is a notice to the
recipient of a specific amount due to receive the letter. The 240 is
shown to the lower left of the cover.

And help would be appreciated.

Stan, napoleon at voyager dot net

[Frans Jorissen]

Hello Stan,

almost by accident I saw your question!

The 20 c corresponds to the internal french rate, from Sancerre to the
spanish border. The strecch from there to Portugal had to be paid by the
receiver (the 240 stamp). The fact that postage is only paid to the french
border is indicated by the red PP cancel. This does NOT mean "Port payé"
(port paid) but is used to indicate a partial franking.

The french postal rate "bible" of Joany, Brun, Alexandre and other mentions
this 20 c rate, with an offical starting date at the 1st of january 1865.
Your cover is from september 1864. It happpens quite often that such rates
are being used before they are officialised!

Hope this helps!

best regards,

Frans Jorissen

jorissen at wanadoo dot fr

"Stan" <***@voyager.net> a écrit dans le message de news:
e0da416e-9539-4e61-af74-***@f33g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
A friend and I are puzzling over a pair of covers from France to
Portugal in the early 1860s. Maury lists a 60 centimes rate to
Portugal on a “batiment de commerce,” which I interpret to be a tramp
steamer. But these covers are franked with only 20 centimes.

One of the covers is shown at: http://cjoint.com/?0kFsgKBwbLY

What caused the apparently under-franked cover to be delivered a mere
six days later in Lisbon?

Thinking that it might have some bearing on the question, I copied and
cleaned-up a hand-stamped 240, which I suspect is a notice to the
recipient of a specific amount due to receive the letter. The 240 is
shown to the lower left of the cover.

And help would be appreciated.

Stan, napoleon at voyager dot net

[Svend Waever]

Bravo pour l'explication. On apprend toujours quesque chose en visitant de
temps en temps RCPH
Svend

Post by Frans Jorissen
Hello Stan,
almost by accident I saw your question!
The 20 c corresponds to the internal french rate, from Sancerre to the
spanish border. The strecch from there to Portugal had to be paid by the
receiver (the 240 stamp). The fact that postage is only paid to the french
border is indicated by the red PP cancel. This does NOT mean "Port payé"
(port paid) but is used to indicate a partial franking.
The french postal rate "bible" of Joany, Brun, Alexandre and other
mentions this 20 c rate, with an offical starting date at the 1st of
january 1865. Your cover is from september 1864. It happpens quite often
that such rates are being used before they are officialised!
Hope this helps!
best regards,
Frans Jorissen
jorissen at wanadoo dot fr
A friend and I are puzzling over a pair of covers from France to
Portugal in the early 1860s. Maury lists a 60 centimes rate to
Portugal on a "batiment de commerce," which I interpret to be a tramp
steamer. But these covers are franked with only 20 centimes.
One of the covers is shown at: http://cjoint.com/?0kFsgKBwbLY
What caused the apparently under-franked cover to be delivered a mere
six days later in Lisbon?
Thinking that it might have some bearing on the question, I copied and
cleaned-up a hand-stamped 240, which I suspect is a notice to the
recipient of a specific amount due to receive the letter. The 240 is
shown to the lower left of the cover.
And help would be appreciated.
Stan, napoleon at voyager dot net