Corinphila to auction 1843 Double Geneva discovery in Zurich

By Michael Baadke

Corinphila Auctions in Zurich, Switzerland, has three sales on tap for Nov. 18-21, with Switzerland, Scandinavia, and Europe and worldwide stamps and covers. The Switzerland offerings include the Seebub collection, plus selected Liechtenstein.

Featured in the Swiss sale is an 1843 cover from Geneva to Troinex (a distance of about 6 kilometers) identified by Corinphila as a new discovery of the earliest documented use of the 10-centime “Doppelgenf” or Double Geneva, Geneva’s lithographed local Coat of Arms issue of two 5c local cantonal stamps (Switzerland Scott 2L1).

The letter bears a clean strike of a Geneva postmark dated Oct. 24, 1843. Corinphila notes that the previous verified earliest cover is from Nov. 3 of the same year, adding that a second cover from the Barrilliet correspondence postmarked Oct. 17 with an unclear year date had been erroneously identified as an 1843 use.

The 2015 certificate of authenticity for the Oct. 24 cover, signed by Jean-Claude Marchand of Geneva, addresses the date issue, and it is described in greater detail by Corinphila in its printed catalog for the 204th auction.

The stamp franking the cover is struck with both the Geneva rosette postmark, and the boxed LG (“letter Genevoise”) cancel previously unknown on the Double Geneva.

The cover is listed with a starting bid of 120,000 Swiss francs, or roughly $121,400.

For full details about the Corinphila auctions, visit online or write to Corinphila Auktionen AG, Wiesenstrasse 8, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland.