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Mail carried on the transcontinental
railroad 5/14/1869,
the same week that the rails
were joined
This cover, which belongs to a philatelic researcher, is believed to have been carried
over the newly completed Pacific Railroad during its first week of through service to
the East. Postmarked in San Francisco on May 14th, 1869, it bears a May 25th New
York receipt cds in red. The cover was then forwarded via the steamship Hammelman
II through France (red stamp) to its final destination in Marburg, Upper Hesse, Prussia,
where it was again backstamped. According to his records the owner believes this may
be the earliest surviving example of a cover with stamp franking that was transported
over the entire length of the new Pacific railroad. (A number of earlier stampless
covers are known.)
Image restoration by Bruce C. Cooper
Courtesy Alan Berkun Collection.