1898, British forces in Crete, from Monofatsi to London W C
England, carried via Austrian post office at Candia, franked with 1
piaster
1898, British forces in Crete, from Monofatsi to London W C
England, carried via Austrian post office at Candia, franked with 1
piaster Austrian Levant issue overprinted in violet, tied by
MONOFATSI 9 12 98, additionally struck with large blue circular
cachet OFFICIAL OCCUPATION MONOFATSI GOVERNOR and boxed FLAG
MONOFATSI 1 PIASTRE, arrival backstamp LONDON W C DE 21 98,
enclosed letter handwritten by I Griffith British Military Governor
of Monofatsi states that only 24 examples of this provisional
marking were prepared before the issuance of the new Cretan stamps,
the letter accompanied one of the very first specimens of the
Cretan issue and notes that it shows a new design with different
value, outstanding historical artifact documenting the transitional
postal administration under British control and the introduction of
Cretan stamps, scarce cancel only in use between December 1898 and
July 1899, extremely rare postal history item with intact contents,
ex Kugel, XF! Estimate 2.800€.
