Description
Late period westbound Baghdad overland mail from Iran: 9 XI 1946 registered airmail cover from Jewish Agency TEHRAN to the Jewish National Fund head office JERUSALEM, franked 26R on back & tied by 2 strikes of local postmark; backstamped 13 NOV 46 REG BAGHDAD transit postmark & 15 NOV 46 REG JERUSALEM arrival; opened roughly at top, complete. Interestingly not censored in Palestine. Rare origin & route: as per the week-long transit time & BAGHDAD transit it is probable that the cover was transported via the Baghdad overland service and not by air mail (unless to BAGHDAD only): Collins notes that by this time no special instructional marking handstamp would be needed as overland was the default route to/from Palestine, making this a late-period cover transported via this route. The Jewish Agency's Tehran office opened on 23 June 1943: as the Agency functioned as the government of the Jewish community of Palestine, this is in effect an "official mail" cover. Overland mail to Palestine is scarce.