10¢ Black (2), full margins to clear at bottom, cancelled by well-struck blue grid, matching "Schenectady N.Y. Apr. 14" (1851) circular datestamp on blue folded cover to Steinenstadt, Baden, Germany, red "New-York Apr. 15" circular datestamp on back--carried on the Ocean Line Washington, departing New York on April 19, 1851, and arriving at Bremerhaven on May 5 after stopping at Southampton--receiving backstamp (May 9)

Very Fine; stamp has toned spots tying it to the cover (faint stains on inside of letter), manuscript notations erased at right.

This outstanding cover is one of four verified 10¢ 1847 covers to Germany, and it is one of the few with either denomination carried by the Ocean Line.

The complex markings are explained in Burkhard Krumm's article, "1847 Covers to the German States," in Chronicle 256, which illustrates and describes this cover. The 10¢ stamp pays the double 5¢ under-300 miles rate from Schenectady to New York City. The "48" debit handstamp was applied at the New York foreign-mail office for the double 24¢ American Packet rate. The red "AMERICA/UBER BREMEN" handstamp was applied at the Hanover post office in Bremen, where the red crayon "18" was written to its left to indicate the amount owed to Bremen in gutegroschen (approximately 48¢). The same clerk wrote "1-1/4" in red crayon at lower left indicating that the weight was 1-1/4 loth (double rate). Hanover added 2-2/3 gutegroschen for its transit fee and applied the red "20-2/3" handstamp at upper left as a debit to the Thurn & Taxis post office, which converted the amount to 89 kreuzers and added 11 kreuzers for transit to Wurttemberg. This total of 100 kreuzers equals 1 gulden 40 kreuzers, to which Thurn & Taxis added another 24 kreuzers for Baden internal postage, written as "1f40/24" at center. The total amount due, 2 gulden 4 kreuzers (124 kreuzers), is written as "2f4c" at right.

The U.S. postal reforms of 1845 set in motion the post office's efforts to establish a subsidized American transatlantic mail line with regular routes to and from Europe. The creation of the Ocean Steam Navigation Company and successful negotiation of the U.S.-Bremen postal treaty of 1847 were consequences of this long and involved process, the history of which has been documented by students here and abroad. An excellent series of articles on the subject, including research by Wolfgang Diesner and Richard F. Winter, has appeared in the Chronicle (126, 129, 149 and 159), which updates earlier published work by George E. Hargest. More recently, Dwayne Littauer and Burkhard Krumm have made valuable contributions on this subject.

1847 Issue covers carried by the Ocean Line are very scarce, as are 1847 covers to Germany (fewer than 35 covers can be verified). Only four of the five 10¢ 1847 covers to Germany have been verified, including the celebrated Heidelberg cover offered as lot 158 in this sale. The Heidelberg cover and the cover offered here were carried on the same voyage of the Washington.

Ex John D. Pope III, Dr. Leonard Kapiloff and Joseph Hackmey. Illustrated in Stanley B. Ashbrook, Special Service, #32, pp. 231-233, photo 125. With 1985 and 2004 P.F. certificates.

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