With thanks to Patrick Maselis and Vincent Schouberechts, we can present in this article a snap shot of some rarities you will see at MonacoPhil 2022.
Due to the pandemic, the international philatelic community had to get organised and was forced to push the ‘pose’ button for many events for almost two years in a row. The edition of MonacoPhil has also been postponed to better welcome philatelists from all over the world next November. This edition will indeed offer a festival of exhibits and rarities, as well as various activities that will certainly delight most of you, whether you are experienced philatelists or simply curious. Let’s start with the rarities exhibition which, following the tradition, will once again bring together 100 exceptional pieces belonging to 100 personalities of world philately.
This cover to Germany represents one of the most significant and spectacular items of U.S. postal history, exhibiting an astonishing franking including the two 1847 first issues. It is one of four covers bearing the U.S. first issue 10c to Germany. The strip of five with the 5 c stamps is extremely rare, being further enhanced by this scarcer deep Orange Brown shade. The cover was prepaid 34c including 10c for the US domestic over 300-mile rate plus 24c treaty rate to Germany for mail carried by an Ocean Line steamer, additionally being one of the few covers extant carried by this line bearing any of the 1847 denominations.
This cover from France bears the 1870-71 20c blue, type I, Bordeaux issue, in a diagonal cut on a complete letter from Coursegoules on November 20, 1870 to Vence, paying the local rate letter of 10 centimes. It is the only bisect usage recorded of this value, belonging to this rare and fascinating issue.
For more details about the events during MonacoPhil 2022: https://www.monacophil.eu/en/