1817 “Post Comptoir Sourabaya” handstamp (WdB 38; recorded in use Jan. 1817-June 1819) with accompanying FRANCO (WdB 39), both in red, on complete letter to Batavia datelined 11 November 1817 with full content written on the English brig Experiment. Very clear strike of the rare Netherlands Indies postmark that continued the design of the preceding British markings but with a value in guldens and stuivers. A payment of 1 gulden and 20 stuivers is indicated in manuscript in the handstamp. Certificate NVPH 1998. The Sourabaya stamp was always an outgoing stamp, and all letter from this time were dispatched pre-paid.
VERY ATTRACTIVE AND FRESH ENTIRE LETTER FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF DUTCH RULE, SHOWING SUPERB STRIKES OF THE RARE “POST COMPTOIR SOURABAYA” AND THE "FRANCO", THE FIRST POSTMARKS USED IN THE DUTCH COLONIAL PERIOD.
The letter was written in the anchorage of Sourabaya onboard the English merchant ship Experiment. In the letter the ship’s captain Dacre writes to the Batavia merchant and shipping company Deans, Scott & Co. about securing freight for a subsequent passage to Europe. An important letter that shows the predominance of British traders in the first years of Dutch colonial administration.
Provenance: Ritchie Bodily private treaty 1993 (850 GBP).
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