Tom Luxsox Coins

Hawaii Overprint

Postmark - EUS-1001 Tester - china CRI Tester

History

The first postmark (called the "Bishop Mark") was introduced by English Postmaster General Henry Bishop in 1661 and showed only the day and month of mailing in order to prevent the delay of the mail by carriers. In the 19th century and early 1900s it was common for letters to receive multiple postmarks indicating the time, date, and location of each post office delivering or transporting the letter, and this is still occasionally true, though to a lesser extent (see "backstamp"). While almost every contemporary postmark includes a location as well as a date, in 2004 New Zealand Post announced plans to eliminate the location on their postmarks and include only the date; however, information about this can be determined by a three-number code on the postmarks.

Different types of postmarks include railway post offices ("RPOs") and maritime (on-board ship) postmarks. Postmarks on naval vessels during sensitive operations in wartime are sometimes "clean," showing less information than normally to prevent route of travel or other details from falling into enemy hands. Similar to this is the "censored postmark," overprinted with a black obliteration of the time and place of mailing for similar reasons.

Hawai'i post once had a surfboard mail postmark, for covers that traveled by surfboard.

A colour postmark is on the United States Postal Service-issued collectible envelope commemorating the 2004 inauguration of George W. Bush.

While postmarks are applied almost universally by or under the authority of the official postal department, service, or authority [in the United States it is possible to receive a permit to apply your own postmark, called a Mailer's Permit Postmark], and under certain conditions specified by the private express statutes in the United States, a privately carried letter may be cancelled with a private postmark. Unofficial entities that issue artistamps may use postmark-like markings as well.

Much of the published work on postmarks covers postmarks from before 1900. (This is perhaps because in the United States so-called fancy cancels were prevalent in this period, with the cancelling device often hand-cut from cork by the postmaster in elaborate shapes such as flags, stars or shapes that were seasonally-appropriate such as turkeys for Thanksgiving). Much work in studying postmarks is needed for 1900 and later.

In Great Britain the first postmark employed for the cancellation of the then new postage stamps was the Maltese Cross, so named because of its shape and appearance. This was used in conjunction with a date stamp which was applied, usually to the rear of the letter, which denoted the date of posting.

Fewer postmarks are used now than previously, with the advent of meter labels, which indicate the precise date and time of acceptance at the post office, some types of computer vended postage, and computerized postage people can print off their own PCs (called in the United States PC Postage, these services were offered by such companies as Stamps.com and Neopost, Inc.). These indicia do not need to be postmarked, though occasionally they are redundantly, and inadvertently (or for whatever other reason).

Ink colour

When the first universal postal system was started in the United Kingdom with its Penny Black, the postmark used red ink for contrast. This was not successful, and the stamp was changed to non-black colours so that the postmark could use black ink.

The majority of postmarks today are in black, with red (particularly in the United States with local post offices' handstamps) following, though sometimes they are in other colours. This is particularly true in the case of pictorial postmarks if the colour in question has some connection to the commemoration.

3D

There have apparently been some postmarks with a "3D" effect.

Digital postmarks

In 2004 the United States Postal Service announced plans to introduce first day digital colour postmarks to be used to cancel some first day covers for commemorative stamps in 2005 and this practice has continued into 2006 and 2007.

Postmark Advertisement

Singapore Post offers a "postmark advertising" service which, strictly speaking, applies to the "killer" rather than the postmark. Hungarian Post Co., Ltd. offers a similar service.

Value

A special or rare postmark can substantially add to the value of a stamp. (In addition to everyday postmarks there are postmarks indicating the first day of issue of a particular stamp and pictorial cancellations commemorating local events, anniversaries, and the like and slogan postmarks which advertise an event or pass information to the public. [There has been a recent change to the term "pictorial postmarks" rather than "pictorial cancellations" by the USPS.])

Postmark Africa

Postmark Africa is a program on the BBC World Service.

Miscellaneous

A timestamp is a type of postmark.

The Postmark Award is given to outstanding employees of Canada Post.

Similar marks

A postmark should not be confused with the killer which are lines, bars, etc. used to cancel a postage stamp. Neither should a postmark be confused with overprints generally, or pre-cancels (stamps that have been cancelled before the envelope or package to which they are affixed is submitted or deposited for acceptance into the mailstream, they most commonly have taken the form of a pre-printed city name on the stamp) specifically, which generally do not indicate a date.

Flight cachets, more or less elaborate rubber-stamps on an envelope indicating on which flight (typically a first flight) a cover has traveled via air mail, are in addition to the postmark and are not postmarks either.

Source: "Collecting those strange Tongan stamps on cover," in Scott Stamp Monthly (August 2002)

Clubs

There are many clubs devoted to the hobby of collecting postmarks. One of those clubs is the Post Mark Collector's Club, founded in 1946 and based in the USA. Another is the British Postmark Society, founded in 1958.

See also

Postal marking

References

^ a b "Hawai'i Post - Postmarks". Hawaii Post. 2008. http://www.hawaii-post.com/postmarks.html. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

^ "Worlds only underwater Post Office". Hideaway Island. 2003-05-26. http://www.hideaway.com.vu/postoffice.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

^ "Fishman: Proofs of Service". Cs.cmu.edu. 1993-04-09. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/Declaration/venserv.html. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

^ "Medicine (M.D. Program)". Wayne State University. http://www.bulletins.wayne.edu/gbk-output/gbk-08-10-wb-09-02.html. Retrieved 2009-03-17. 

^ "How to be an Expert/Covers". AskPhil - Collectors Club of Chicago. http://www.askphil.org/b55.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-17. 

^ "History of the Postal Service". BBC. 2003-07-24. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A1082558. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

^ "Postmarks (Date Stamp) Service". New Zealand Post. 2006-06-28. http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/Stamps/MoreAboutStamps/PostmarkService/. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

^ Klug, Janet (2004-01-19). "Myriad possibilities to postmark collecting". Linn's Stamp News. http://www.linns.com/howto/refresher/myriad_20040119/refreshercourse.aspx. Retrieved 2009-02-22.  see this sanitised postmark on acover

^ Privately-carried and -canceled postcards from Chickensville Location, Michigan, which does not have its own post office, are an example.

^ Snee, Charles (August 9, 2004), 3-D postmark update: use on postal card in 1993, Linn's Stamp News, pp. 35, ISSN 0161-6234, http://www.httpdemo.com/pr-3350-usps-3d-postmark2.pdf 

^ "Revolutionary First Day Digital Color Postmark Creates Unique Collectable". USPS. 2004-11-15. http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2004/sr04_080.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

^ "Postmark Advertising". Singapore Post. 2005. http://www.singpost.com.sg/singpost_02_04_05postmark.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

^ "Postmark ad". Magyar Posta. 2005-03-08. http://www.posta.hu/object.150fa336-6b9f-4599-9cbb-db4c6e7ed910.ivy. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Postmarks

Anonymous Postmark Mailer

World postmark primer: how to decipher dates

Geographic North Pole Postmark

A Mystery Postmark

London 2012 - New postmark kicks off 2012 day in London (backing London's bid to host 2012 Olympics)

Specialty Holiday Postmarks Offered by the United States Postal Service

Museum

Post Mark Museum and Research Library

Precancels

The ABCs of Precancel collecting

Clubs

Post Mark Collectors Club

Bullseye Cancel Collectors Club

British Postmark Society

Categories: Postal system | Postal markings | Philatelic terminology

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Hawaii $10 Hawaii

1942 Hawaiian Overprint Dollar/ Battleship Arizona Photo Acrylic Table $207.87 This specially marked paper money was introduced in Hawaii in July, 1942 in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This note is mounted on a clear acrylic table set next to a photo of the burning battleship Arizona.The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 brought with it considerable fear of imminent invasion, not only of Hawaii, but of the United States West Coast. The immediate concern was that Japan would land troops in Hawaii, with the United States powerless to stop her, as she had done all over the Pacific, from New Guinea and Singapore to the Philippines. Accordingly, the Treasury needed to empty the islands of all American currency, lest the islands fall to the Japanese and large amounts of paper money with them. The Treasury decided to replace all the currency then circulated in the Hawaiian Islands with special notes overprinted with the word 'HAWAII'. Accordingly, this specially marked paper money was introduced in Hawaii in July, 1942 with each note overprinted with the large word 'HAWAII' horizontally across the back, and in smaller letters twice vertically at either end of the faceIncludes certificate of authenticity8 inches wide x 10 inches high x 0.5 inches deep

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