Although covers bearing stamps of the Third Reich are fairly common those used immediately after the end of WWII are not. This is for a variety of reasons including the partial suspension of postal services and that from the 8th of May 1945 all Reich-issued stamps became invalid. However, due to the absence of any…
We continue our look at interesting and unusual postal history items this time looking a WWI period Austrian Parcel Post receipts. The two pictured below were sent to Constantinople which is of course now Istambul. Up until 1914, Austria had three post offices in the city and parcel cards can be found with Austrian Levant…
Tristan Da Cunha 1963 Resettlement FDC Tristan Da Cunha has always been a popular country with stamp collectors. They have had a modest issuing policy and of course, produced some classic sets in the 1950s & 60s. However, the 1963 set is probably the most poignant given it was issued to celebrate the end of…
Here are a couple of interesting variants on the more traditionally collected area of postage due mail. Return to sender for additional postage The two covers shown below, dating some 12 years apart stem from the options made available to the USPS staff regarding how they treat under franked mail. Normally when items are sent…
Bahrain’s postal history is an interesting area to collect despite its normally high prices and they often offer some interesting research opportunities. The following cover is one such example which does not give us a whole lot of information at first glance. However, with a bit of research, it turns out to be quite special….
Despite Great Britain moving to decimal currency on the 15th February 1971, pre-decimal stamps (from George V Onwards) remained postally valid. This validity ended on the 29th of February 1972 and in the interim caused no end of confusion. This resulted in a plethora of underpaid mail and is an interesting and currently inexpensive collecting…
One of the best parts about postal history collecting is that there are hidden gems out there in dealers’ bargain bins or chucked into job lots on Auction sites. The following turned out to be one when we did a little research. It’s from 1939 and as well as the rare and unusual franking had…
Covers from the Jordanian civil war period of 1967-71 are popular with postal history collectors and they don’t come much more unusual than the one we are about to discuss! Cover Details This 3d postal reply card was used as both a First Day Cover for the 1970 GB Christmas set and inside…
The cover we are about to discuss is unusual for a number of reasons and harks back to the days before mass air travel became common. Right up until the end of the 1950s a trip from the UK to Australia for most entailed a long cruise. Thus keeping in touch was done by sending…
WWII censored covers are a popular theme for postal history collectors. The cover below was much travelled and we have detailed as much as we can about its route below. Cover Details The cover which is franked with a 10p 5p and 80cts values from the 1944 Airmails set was posted on the 25th…
Craig Taylor