Lot# 9072

bearing a “Shui (4)” postage meter label for 2 fen in Silver Yuan currency, together with two Unit stamps totaling 8 fen, making up the correct 10 fen domestic airmail rate, tied by Canton cds of 49.6.23 and arriving Chungking on Jun 27, 1949. The franking complies with the contemporary domestic airmail rate of 10 fen. The postage meter label is printed on paper without the “中華郵政” background imprint, representing an exceptionally early usage, nine days prior to the officially permitted date of Jul 2, 1949. According to records, only one such commercially used cover with this unwatermarked paper is known, making it unique. The “Shui (4)” franking machine was one of the devices in use in the Canton postal district capable of producing Silver Yuan denominations, brought into service on Jun 11, 1949. This cover also illustrates the practical postal arrangement during a period of stamp shortage, when postage meter labels were distributed by district offices to subordinate post offices for emergency use. Illustrated in Patrick Choy, China Silver Yuan Stamps (3rd Edition), page 234, Figure 7-3. A complete and well-documented cover showing clear dispatch and arrival, correct rate, and a significant usage for the study of early Silver Yuan postage meter paper types, postal supply systems, and post-war Chinese postal operations.