Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
03:17:32pm
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12:12:04pm
I just read the two letters. It wasn't easy because of the highly ornate writing and the spelling was a bit off! But the poor guy was begging his family to "right" back to him. One letter was to his father and the other was to his two sisters, one of whom was the grandmother of the lady who owns the letters. There was some mention of battles against the "natives" but most of the death was caused by the awful conditions and the cholera. I'm going to advise the owner to contact the War Museum authorities in England to see if they would be interested in keeping and possibly conserving the letters. But my guess is that they have more of that stuff than they can handle now. I know some of the people reading this are Vietnam veterans and some of the material in the letters mentions jungle conditions and the huge numbers of people lost. Thanking people for their service in conditions like that is not really enough. He discusses coming home to get his medals, I must ask Christine if they still exist - I doubt it though! Please, if anyone has any idea of value please let me know. I will post pictures on Monday, that might help! The envelopes are not in great condition but are fully post marked. I found some online that are several hundreds but are in fairly bad shape and without the contents, if that really makes any difference!
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It is really hard to just go by a description. The historical value of these letters is immeasurable. The contents add monetary value but I am not much of a judge on these things.
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06:40:02pm
I'm just going to add some pictures of the fronts and backs of the two covers. Any comments are appreciated!!!
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Do not have anything to add re the covers but this is from the 37th. Regiment web page.
"The regiment was in India for all but ten of the years between 1846 and 1881. It served during the Indian Mutiny (1857-59), including the Siege of Arrah (1857). It returned to England in 1875, but moved on to Ireland again in 1880."
The regiment may be interested in the correspondence and can be contacted here.
https://www.royalhampshireregiment.org/
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Below is a screen-scrape of the results of a recent ISC (India Study Circle) auction for the prestamp section. The answer to your question will depend on a number of things -- condition is important, eye appeal and rarity. Rarity is hard to assess unless you are an expert in the area.
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Here is the results from the most recent ISC auction. Fewer items in the prestamp category but all four items sold and one for quite a lot for reasons unknown to me.
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12:45:55pm
Pretty cheap, I'll advise her to just try to keep them in the family and send a copy of the material to the regiment if they are interested. The earlier one from 1858 actually talks about a battle and jungle action, that might be of more interest.
"all four items sold and one for quite a lot for reasons unknown to me."
Assuming the letter was included, and I assume that's what "entire" means, it probably means better subject matter! But even at a price like that the material should stay in the family! I know if it were mine I'd have a real problem because my line stops with me so I guess I'd donate to a British war museum of some sort. Since I'm pretty sure her kids will have no interest that's what I'll advise her to do - copies now and the real McCoy in her will!
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
01 Mar 2023
03:17:32pm
A friend gave me two old letters from the late 1850's to have a look at because of my interest in history. These were sent by a Corp. George Wells in the 37th regiment to his home in Maidstone England. The two envelopes are fully addressed and are readable which applies to the partially military content. One has a Calcutta postmark (also CPO) from 1860 and both have on the front INDIAPAID in red letters with a rectangular border around it. I can't do a scan at the moment but will have a friend do pictures on the weekend and include them later. India was using postage stamps at this time but I assume they are stampless because of the military association. Does anyone of you have any specific knowledge in this area? I notice there are six collectors of India, but this type of material is very specific to someone collecting military covers or postal history. I will try to include scans later but does anyone have any particular information? It's family material for her and there is no question that it is real! She also is not interested in selling but would like to have some information!
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
02 Mar 2023
12:12:04pm
re: Does anyone know anything about India stampless covers?
I just read the two letters. It wasn't easy because of the highly ornate writing and the spelling was a bit off! But the poor guy was begging his family to "right" back to him. One letter was to his father and the other was to his two sisters, one of whom was the grandmother of the lady who owns the letters. There was some mention of battles against the "natives" but most of the death was caused by the awful conditions and the cholera. I'm going to advise the owner to contact the War Museum authorities in England to see if they would be interested in keeping and possibly conserving the letters. But my guess is that they have more of that stuff than they can handle now. I know some of the people reading this are Vietnam veterans and some of the material in the letters mentions jungle conditions and the huge numbers of people lost. Thanking people for their service in conditions like that is not really enough. He discusses coming home to get his medals, I must ask Christine if they still exist - I doubt it though! Please, if anyone has any idea of value please let me know. I will post pictures on Monday, that might help! The envelopes are not in great condition but are fully post marked. I found some online that are several hundreds but are in fairly bad shape and without the contents, if that really makes any difference!
Login to Like
this post
re: Does anyone know anything about India stampless covers?
It is really hard to just go by a description. The historical value of these letters is immeasurable. The contents add monetary value but I am not much of a judge on these things.
Login to Like
this post
This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
05 Mar 2023
06:40:02pm
re: Does anyone know anything about India stampless covers?
I'm just going to add some pictures of the fronts and backs of the two covers. Any comments are appreciated!!!
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re: Does anyone know anything about India stampless covers?
Do not have anything to add re the covers but this is from the 37th. Regiment web page.
"The regiment was in India for all but ten of the years between 1846 and 1881. It served during the Indian Mutiny (1857-59), including the Siege of Arrah (1857). It returned to England in 1875, but moved on to Ireland again in 1880."
The regiment may be interested in the correspondence and can be contacted here.
https://www.royalhampshireregiment.org/
Login to Like
this post
re: Does anyone know anything about India stampless covers?
Below is a screen-scrape of the results of a recent ISC (India Study Circle) auction for the prestamp section. The answer to your question will depend on a number of things -- condition is important, eye appeal and rarity. Rarity is hard to assess unless you are an expert in the area.
Login to Like
this post
re: Does anyone know anything about India stampless covers?
Here is the results from the most recent ISC auction. Fewer items in the prestamp category but all four items sold and one for quite a lot for reasons unknown to me.
Login to Like
this post
This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
06 Mar 2023
12:45:55pm
re: Does anyone know anything about India stampless covers?
Pretty cheap, I'll advise her to just try to keep them in the family and send a copy of the material to the regiment if they are interested. The earlier one from 1858 actually talks about a battle and jungle action, that might be of more interest.
"all four items sold and one for quite a lot for reasons unknown to me."
Assuming the letter was included, and I assume that's what "entire" means, it probably means better subject matter! But even at a price like that the material should stay in the family! I know if it were mine I'd have a real problem because my line stops with me so I guess I'd donate to a British war museum of some sort. Since I'm pretty sure her kids will have no interest that's what I'll advise her to do - copies now and the real McCoy in her will!
Login to Like
this post