US airmail stamp set on envelope, Graf Zeppelin, ex. Alfred F. Lichtenstein

Characteristics: 1929 AIR MAIL – VIA “GRAF ZEPPELIN” SPECIAL DELIVERY (here empty) envelope sent by Alfred F. Lichtenstein, Ciba Company, Inc., P.O. Box 100, Trinity Sta., New York, N.Y. to Dr. Jacques Brodbeck-Sandreuter, c/o Society of Chemical Industry in Basle, Basel, Switzerland. With a set of US air mail stamps arranged by famous stamp collector A. F. Lichtenstein, including some nice pairs of US Scott C4, C5 and C6 Special Delivery and other stamps (see the two photographs for details, condition, and stamped dates).

Provenance: Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1929) / Jacques Brodbeck-Sandreuter

Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1876-1947) was one of the most famous American philatelists, remembered especially for owning a superb Mauritius stamp suite, including the famous cover with two of the One Penny “Post Office” Mauritius stamps. Stamp provenance assessment can be a difficult task, here simplified by having a cover with Lichtenstein’s name and a set of stamps he carefully selected in the aeronautical / airmail theme for this airmail service of historical importance (i.e., 1929 Graf Zeppelin flight).

The Graf Zeppelin offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service, and in 1929 (year of this posted envelope), a round-the-world flight.

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