Transatlantic cover to London

1873

Early October 1873 envelope without contents from the Director of the Mint (red wax seal on the reverse), United States Treasury Department, to London. In the upper right corner the envelope is printed with the name of the Department and that it is official business. Underneath in blue ink is a handstamp of the official authorized to certify the expense of the letter against the account with the Post Office Department, Chief Clerk James H. Saville. This marking also showed that the letter was “Foreign Mail.” The date the letter left Washington, District of Columbia, is not known, but its arrival at London, signified by the orange handstamp of the United States Despatch Agent in London, B.F. Stevens, is shown as October 21, 1873. This would put the letter on the Guion Line steamship "Minnesota" departing New York on October 8 and arriving at Queenstown on October 20, 1873. A pencil notation indicates that the letter weighed 4 ounces, which meant that eight rates of 6-cents each or 48-cents was charged against the books of the Treasury Department.