The Alfred F. Kugel Collection
June 18-19, 2024
We are pleased to present our June 18-19, 2024 auction, featuring Part One of the Alfred F. Kugel collection of Postal History of the world, being sold on behalf of the American Philatelic Society. The first of many to follow, this sale is only a sample of the vast amount of material yet to be presented. We begin with United States Dollar values on cover, U.S. States Postal Agencies in the Far East, U.S. International Registration Exchange Labels, U.S. Intervention in Mexico and Registered Mail from U.S. Possessions. There is a splendid selection of the International Intervention in China during the Boxer Rebellion, extensive showing of German Colonies in China and the Pacific, with dozens of rare and unusual items, including unique Tientsin handstamps on 2m and 3m Reichspost. In addition, there are selections of World War I British Occupation of Baghdad, Jordan, Salonika, Mafia Island, Saudi Arabia, plus elusive covers from the Austrian, British, Ottoman, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese Empires.
This is a Public Auction, with Floor Bidding and live internet bidding via CherrystoneLIVE
| Images | Description | Current Bid |
 | Lot #3595 BRITISH COMMONWEALTH IRAQ - Mesopotamia Military Mail 1915 (31 July) unfranked cover to England, with large rectangular "Passed by Censor 31 July 1915" datestamp, additional "Passed Censor D" at top, Bombay (28 Aug) transit on back, fine and uncommon Field Post letter from I.E.F. Force D (The Indian Expeditionary Force "D" was sent to Basra to safeguard the oilfields at Abadan and Mohammerah and to prevent the Central Powers from having access to the Gulf, as not to endanger the route between the United Kingdom and India)  | Price Realized $600.00 |
 | Lot #3596 BRITISH COMMONWEALTH IRAQ - Mesopotamia Military Mail 1915-16 incoming mail, two covers from England, one to Captain Newcomb at the 2nd General Hospital, the other to Gunner Mundell of the Howitzer Battery, forwarded to Kut-al-Amara, after its capture by the British on 28 September, 1915. The Ottomans successfully counterattacked, besieged the city for 143 days (between 3 December 1915 and 29 April 1916), resulting in the surrender of approximately 13,000 British-Indian soldiers. Both covers bear "Undelivered Through Capitulation at Kut" handstamps, the first with additional "Prisoner of War Return to Sender" marking, possibly the only surviving example with both handstamps (The capture of Kut was a great victory for the Ottomans and a humiliating defeat for the British Empire. Kut ranks, alongside Yorktown (1781) and Singapore (1942), as one of the three most significant defeats of British Arms, described by Jan Morris, as "the most abject capitulation in Britain's military history") | Price Realized $2,200.00 |
 | Lot #3597 BRITISH COMMONWEALTH IRAQ - Mesopotamia Military Mail 1916 "On Active Service" cover addressed to India, with a perfect intaglio negative seal of "L.of C. I.E.F. D" (Line of Communications Indian Expeditionary Force), "Passed Censor D" handstamp alongside, Base Office and Bombay pmks on back, some cover faults, but all markings intact, one of only two examples recorded | Price Realized $900.00 |
 | Lot #3598 BRITISH COMMONWEALTH IRAQ - Mesopotamia Military Mail 1917 (17 Jan) cover with letter ("Army YMCA of India Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force") endorsed "Poste Militaire" and "On Active Service", addressed to Marseille, red "Passed Censor D", sent through Indian FPO 34 at Amara, with corresponding departure and arrival pmks | Price Realized $500.00 |
 | Lot #3599 BRITISH COMMONWEALTH IRAQ - Mesopotamia Military Mail 1918 (12 Apr) On Active Service cover to India, red "Passed Censor D" on front, oval "Base Supply Office Mess. Ex. Force" datestamp, sent from FPO 329 at Magi, near Basra, with "2nd Desp Base Office I.E.F." pmk and "Feroke P.O." arrival pmk | Price Realized $190.00 |
