Lobdell German East Africa, Eppel Russia and Worldwide Rarities
December 14-16, 2010
| Images | Description | Current Bid |
 | Lot #95 GERMAN EAST AFRICA HMS Pegasus Mail 1914 (Sept 19) cover, with four separate letters written in Gujerati to Indian merchants in Bagomoyo, advising them to leave German East Africa on the next available dhow. Cover with triangular "Passed Postal Censor", handstamped "T" (postage to be collected from the addressee), with September 23 Zanzibar cancel on back. In the early morning of 20 September 1914, the "Pegasus" was anchored in Zanzibar harbor, now part of Tanzania, having left her battle group, which included Hyacinth and Astraea, to attend to boiler and engine problems. The German light cruiser "SMS Konigsberg" launched a surprise attack on the ship. Out-ranged and out-gunned, the "Pegasus" was incapacitated within eight minutes and her captain, Cmdr Ingles struck the colors to avoid further bloodshed. The ship sank later that day with the loss of 38 killed and 55 wounded. All mail awaiting the ships next voyage, was stranded on Zanzibar  | Price Realized $850.00 |
 | Lot #96 GERMAN EAST AFRICA HMS Pegasus Mail 1914 Under a gentlemen's agreement, for a period of about four weeks beginning in mid-August, a small quantity of mail was taken out of the German colony by the light cruiser "H.M.S. Pegasus", one of the ships of the British squadron blockading the coast. This mail was carried to Zanzibar and eventually delivered in Germany and other European destinations in late September. It was limited to "open mail" (postcards, printed matter, unsealed letters) written in clear unencrypted German to facilitate censorship. The "Pegasus" was sunk in Zanzibar harbor by the "Konigsberg" the following month. A 4h stationery card (14.8) additionally franked with 4h (the sender conforming to the UPU rate) from Morogoro to Berlin, carried from Dar-es-Salaam by the "Pegasus" to Zanzibar, with triangular "Postal Censor" cachet | Price Realized $1,900.00 |
 | Lot #97 GERMAN EAST AFRICA HMS Pegasus Mail 1914 (22 July) picture postcard to Dar-es-Salaam, mailed in Jerusalem, with Port Said transit cancel. Due to the outbreak of war, this card was stopped in Zanzibar where it received triangular "Passed Censor" cachet, before being carried to Dar-es-Salaam by the "Pegasus" in August. On 21st December, 1916 (28 months later), a South African officer reused the card, by erasing the original penciled address and text (still barely visible), sending it from Morogoro, via F.P.O. 343 to Pretoria. A remarkable card, one of only eight (!) surviving incoming covers recorded carried by the "Pegasus" from Zanzibar | Price Realized $1,900.00 |
