Lot# 9091

bearing nine Gold Yuan stamps paying a total of $76,000. The postage is correctly composed of the airmail registration fee of $18,000 and an insurance fee of $58,000, calculated at 2% of the declared value of $2,900,000, in full accordance with the prevailing insured mail rates. The cover bears a “無著” marking, indicating that under intense wartime conditions, the post office was unable to process insured mail. It is further struck with a boxed handstamp reading “郵路阻斷無法前轉 故退,” and was ultimately returned, clearly reflecting the severe disruption of postal operations on the eve of Nanking’s fall. Of particular importance is its usage on the final day of the Nationalist postal system in Nanking, representing an actual insured mail item rendered undeliverable due to wartime collapse. Covers combining last-day usage and interrupted postal routes. The breakdown of insured mail services is very rare, with only a few recorded examples. This item holds significant postal history and exhibition value for the study of Civil War–period postal disruption, route dislocation, and institutional breakdown.