15 MAY 1948 true 1st Day Israel mail cover Ahuzat Samuel + INTERIM postmark

Description: SHOWPIECE - True 1st Day ISRAEL 15 MAY 1948 cover + with *INTERIM* postmark: local HAIFA [registered] cover from the AHUZAT SAMUEL town agency to addressee Lilly Meissner at nearby 9 Vitkin street in AHUZA, franked 40 mils for the period registered letter postage rate with extra weight (10m letter + 15m registry + 2x 6m additional weight, with 3m overpaid) using top-left corner block of 4x blue interim 10m Diaspora I issue stamps (Ba #45b) & tied by 3x full strikes of the now "reintroduced" Mandate AHUZAT SAMUEL HAIFA postmark (GD-117) dated 15 MAY 48, here Saturday night/Jewish start of Sunday (after Shabbat) - the 1st official day of Israel's independence which was declared the day before, to enter effect at midnight between the 14th and 15th of May. Subsequently tied on back by 1x strike of the interim Haifa postmark of the MOUNT CARMEL branch office. Ground-breaking postal history: the 1st official day of the Israeli postal administration was on the first working day of the week, Sunday 16 May; here this is mail posted on the 1st day of Israel's independence, prior to the official start of the Israeli post offices' operations the following day & prior to the introduction of use of the Israeli trilingual postmark. Per postal regulations (Circular #3 of 10 May) the trilingual postmarks were not estimated to all be ready by 14 May but that in any case both interim and Mandate postmarks were to be decommissioned by end of day Friday, 14 May (the day of the declaration of independence). Here uniquely, the AHUZAT SAMUEL post office was never issued an interim postmark and had been using the Mandate device throughout the interim period (2-14 May). Here we see mail from the 15th, the 1st day of Israel's indepdendence, still processed using both interim & Mandate postmarks - technically against regulations - in the narrow space of time before the introduction of the Israeli trilingual postmarks on the 16th (the Mount Carmel branch post office received the Israeli trilingual postmark on the 16th and Ahuzat Samuel received it on August 1st). During the interim period (2-14 May) the Ahuzat Samuel post office uniquely was not issued an interim postmark and continued to use the Mandate device to postmark mail. From comprehensive research conducted by this cataloguer (and published in JerusalemStamps Bulletin #2) the interim postmark observed on the back, based on its strike impressions, is that of MOUNT CARMEL - revealing that these 2 post offices, now of the Israeli postal administration, uniquely operated on Saturday 15 May, something hitherto undocumented in postal history literature (15 May dated mail from Safed and Pardess Hanna is philatelic). Ernst Fluri noted (p.44) regarding Ahuzat Samuel that "This little agency... kept irregular hours due to the patriotism of its manager and her desire to help people." In this period, by virtue of being classified as a "town agency", Ahuzat Samuel did not have to provide delivery services and indeed the observed mail routing for mail dispatched by this office was via the Mount Carmel branch office, located c.3km down the road from it. As regards the postage paid for the registry service which was not provided, this cataloguer's research further shows that contrary to information in the specialist literature that registered mail service was uniquely unavailable at the Ahuzat Samuel post office during the interim period, it was in fact not available - by regulation - at most post offices outside of the major cities, and that even when ostensibly provided (at the main cities or elsewhere), it was not true fully tracked and documented registered mail, being handled instead, as here, like ordinary mail; in most cases, particularly from small settlements / post offices, this "registered mail" is a philatelic contrivance likely facilitated by bribery, and the apparent strict adherence to regulation at the Ahuzat Samuel post office, to not provide registered service, earned it the erronious narrative of having uniquely not offered the registry service in the interim period due to an alleged (and untrue) lack of registry labels. Of the 5x known 15 May dated covers observed by this cataloguer, those whose postage exceeded that of an ordinary letter were backstamped by the Mount Carmel branch office during transit - here this is the highest franked such cover seen by this cataloguer. Critical and genuine postal history documenting the very first day of Israel's independence - a POSTAL HISTORY GEM. Ben-Arieh certificate enclosed. --- Most of our merchandise ships out from Israel | orders are combined | additional items are charged 75c: DOMESTIC services available are Registered mail (default) and courier mail. Please contact us if you desire courier mail. BUYERS IN ISRAEL: eBay does not recognize Israel as being a "domestic" mailing destination - please contact us to be invoiced and charged $5 for registered mail. --- OVERSEAS services available are Priority ECO Post registered airmail (default - $15 flat fee) and express EMS mail (3-day / 5-day to-door delivery - $40 flat fee). These options can be selected on check-out. We recognize that the shipping overseas is expensive - only ECO Post shows tracking up to delivery; for less expensive purchases on the understanding of the customer that tracking is not available we can user $5 standard registered mail overseas - please contact us so we can invoice you at this rate. --- Prospective buyers in countries without postal relations with Israel can receive orders via a third country. Please contact us for this option. --- To see higher end specialized philatelic items + materials from countries which cannot be displayed on ebay, add d o t com to our our handle name

Price: 3999 USD

Location: Jerusalem Israel

End Time: 2024-12-12T12:59:56.000Z

Shipping Cost: 12 USD