Description
1st day Israeli trilingual postmark error + tied to Interim period frank: 16-5-1948 latin-dated local HAIFA cover, franked 10m per period domestic letter rate using single interim Minhelet Haam (Tel Aviv overprinted) Ramat Gan 25th anniversary frank (Ba #26) during the extended grace period of 14-22 May & tied by single strike of the HAIFA Head Post Office Alef-shift cancel - this mistakenly Hebrew-dated to Daled Iyar (eg. 13 May 1948 - before the introduction of the Israeli trilingual devices) rather than Zayin Iyar (for 16 May) - on the 1st official day of independent Israel's postal service. A rare error on 1st day Israel mail; trilingual cancels on interim franked mail in this period are scarce: the trilinguals were only in use at the Tel Aviv HPO (and not at the branch post offices) and at the HAIFA Head Post Office and some (but not all) of the city's branch post offices; the rest of Israel continued to use the Mandate-era cancelling devices (with a few exceptions, also local interim cancels) - and most of these post offices only received the trilinguals on 1 July. Opened gently at back.