Titanic Washington facing slip to make $15,000 in Connecticut auction?

A facing slip for Washington DC, recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic, will carry an estimate of $10,000-15,000 to Daniel F Kelleher's February 12 auction in Connecticut.

Facing slips were used to organise mail by destination, allowing it to be quickly sorted for distribution before the ship arrived into port.

Washington facing slip Woody
The facing slip was recovered from the body of Oscar Scott Woody

The lot was discovered on the body of Oscar Scott Woody, the postal clerk aboard the ship, and bears his personalised handstamp: "Trans Atlantic Post Office / AP 10 / 12" & "TITANIC / O.S. WOODY".

According to contemporary accounts, Woody and his co-workers were celebrating his birthday on the evening April 14, 1912.

Following the collision, they bravely elected to try to save the post in their charge and were witnessed moving mail sacks up to the higher levels of the ship.

In 2008, a facing slip marked for New York and featuring Woody's handstamp, realised $21,250 against an identical estimate of $10,000-15,000 at Christie's New York.

A Newfoundland airmail cover dating to 1930 is another major lot, valued at $10,000-15,000.

The letter features a rare 50 cent on 30 cent franked stamp, one of 300 printed specifically for the flight to the Scilly Isles, piloted by Captain J Erroll Boyd.

The letter is addressed to the Palace Hotel in Montreal and features a St John's circular datestamp for September 27, 1930.

We have a range of rare stamps available to purchase.

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