Lot# 7001

bearing Peking C.I.P. Postage Paid chop and Peking I.G. of Customs cds. in blue. This Postage Paid chop was applied to temporarily replaced the stamps in "Candarin" unit, as the new postage rate by "Silver Dollar" unit will take effect on and after Jan 1, 1897, but the new unit stamps have not been issued yet. The Postage Paid chop seemed to be first used on Dec 11, 1896, when the overland route was opened annually. Earliest known date are Dec 26 (Tientsin) and Dec28 (Peking). This cover sent on Apr 2, 1897, was the latest used example of this chop known to date. Mizuhara "Huayou Jijin II" vol. 7, p.3.