Auctions
99-year delivery cover highlights David Feldman Specialized France sale

By Tim Hodge
The March 22 Switzerland Specialized auction by David Feldman offered a cover that sold for the equivalent of $40,462, including a 20 percent buyer’s premium.
Feldman’s Specialized France sale on March 21 featured an item with one of the longest delivery times in history.
Paris was besieged by the Germans during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71. Several methods of getting mail in and out of the besieged city were attempted, including floating mail in zinc balls down the Seine River into Paris.
However, the first ball arrived in Paris just after the siege ended. The most recent recovery was in 1982.
One bag of mail lost in the Seine was recovered far north of Paris in Normandy in 1968. The letters were reposted, marked “Corresp contenue dans une boule de Moulins repechee pres de St-Wandrille le 6 Aout 1968,” which translates to “Correspondence contained in a ball from Moulins, retrieved near St. Wandrille, Aug. 6, 1968” and delivered to the next of kin.
Connect with Linn’s Stamp News:
Sign up for our newsletter
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
This letter in the Feldman sale was delivered Aug. 31, 1970, two years after the recovery. It sold for the equivalent of $29,616.
MORE RELATED ARTICLES
Headlines
-
Postal Updates
May 29, 2023, 5 PMUSPS records $1.8 billion loss during second quarter of fiscal 2023
-
World Stamps
May 29, 2023, 2 PMCeltic love knot inspires Europa 2023 stamp design
-
US Stamps
May 29, 2023, 12 PMBroadhead named 2023 Distinguished Topical Philatelist
-
US Stamps
May 26, 2023, 1 PMChallenge to find the smallest covers