Today in Postal History

This cover was posted in Vienna.
It is addressed to Messieurs Desgrand pere & fils who were merchants in Lyon.
Lyon is in the center of the southeast quarter of France on the Rhone river.

The cover received two strikes of the Wien CDS.
It was also marked with a boxed PD indicating that it was fully paid to the destination.

The cover received a CDS in French dated August 31.
This is a transit mark denoting the transfer of Austrian (Austriche) mail
to the French Post Office at the exchange point of Erquelines (sometimes Erquelinnes)
on the Franco-Belgian border southwest of Charleroi. *

The cover is franked with two Emperor Franz Josef from 1858-1859.
There is a 10 kr. brown and a 15 kr. blue (Scott 10 and 11).
I cannot tell whether they are Type I or Type II.

*Thanks to Jim Whitford-Stark for deciphering this marking
and for getting me to spell it correctly.

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