1895 , Cover to Germany franked with France ”CHINE” overprinted 25C Sage tied by cds ”SHANGHAI CHINE 8 MARS 95” sent to Hannover and redirected to Erfurt with blue one line ”NACHZUSENDEN NACH” and ms ” Erfurt”. Reverse. Embossed flap ”INSPECTORATE GENERAL OF CUSTOMS STATISTICAL DEPARTMENT” and RARE DEPARTURE cds ”CUSTOMS SHANGHAI MAR 8 1895”. This customs postmark is normally only to be found as departure marking on inland mail or as transit marking on foreign mail, it is very rare to find foreign mail originating in Shanghai that was not directly posted at the foreign post offices. ACCORDING TO THE INTERASIA DATABASE IT HAS ONLY OFFERED UP TO NOW 7 SIMILAR COVERS SENT THROUGH THE FRENCH POST SHOWING THE SHANGHAI CUSTOMS CDS AS DEPARTURE MARKING AND OUR COVER MOST LIKELY THE ONLY ONE KNOWN THAT WAS SENT TO GERMANY.
