3c Dull Red, Ty. II (11A). Two singles, bottom stamp with small faults, cancelled by three neat penstrokes with bold strike of "Nicaragua Line/In Advance/Of The Mail." oval handstamp on east-to-west cover to Stockton Cal., upon arrival in San Francisco handed over to Adams Express for transmission to Stockton and struck with blue "Adams & Co's Express San Francisco" serrated oval handstamp over the Nicaragua marking

VERY FINE AND VERY RARE EAST-TO-WEST COVER WITH A NICARAGUA "IN ADVANCE OF THE MAILS" MARKING, HANDLED BY ADAMS & CO. IN SAN FRANCISCO AND NEVER ENTERING THE REGULAR MAILS.

This type of “Nicaragua Line” oval handstamp was used at New York on westbound mail and is much scarcer than the similarly-worded markings originating in California, struck on eastbound mail.

Illustrated in Ashbrook Vol. II, where he states, "Covers showing via Nicaragua markings that traveled from east to west are extremely rare." He further comments that he had only seen four such examples.

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