12¢ Black (17), horizontal strip of three, huge margins to barely in, used with horizontal pair of 3¢ Dull Red, Type II (11A), clear magians to in at top, tied by grid cancels on March 1854 blue tissue-paper folded letter to Athens, Greece, to Reverend John. H Hill, sender's route directive "Prussian Closed Mail" and correctly prepaid 42¢--carried on the Collins Line Baltic, departing New York on March 4, 1854, and arriving at Liverpool March 19--the lefthand stamp in strip was originally folded over edge and 3¢ pair is tied on back by red "New-York Am. Packet Mar. 4" circular datestamp, magenta manuscript "19" credit, red Aachen backstamp (March 21) and matching "FRANCO" straightline handstamp on front, Prussian blue manuscript "5-1/4" silbergroschen at lower left indicating postage paid beyond GAPU border, Trieste transit backstamp (March 25) and red crayon rate notations, receipt docketing, thin lettersheet reinforced in places and treated to improve appearance (not noted on certificate), still Very Fine, there are only three or four known 1851 Issue covers to Greece, all from the Reverend Hill correspondence, ex "Sevenoaks," Giamporcaro and Hackmey, with clear 1999 P.F. certificate

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