Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Have any of you received commemoratives in the mail where they were defaced by some overzealous postal employee or handler? Normally I like to collect the commemoratives that are sent to me from lots I have won, but this is ridiculous. If I didn't know any better I would think they did this so that they are ruined so I can't collect them.
Vince
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Can't blame the postal workers for that one. The stamps were damaged by the sorting/cancelling machinery. When the very tips of the teeth don't get stuck down to the envelope, the machinery catches it and proceeds to rip across the stamp. Look at MLK's shoulder on the rightmost stamp and you will see another minor rip.
Login to Like
this post
The USPS sorting equipment grabs envelopes on the sides. The stamps need to be at least 1/2 inch (more to be extra certain) away from the sides to avoid getting damaged.
Login to Like
this post
07:11:58am
What annoys me is that occasionally I get a parcel or envelope that was properly cancelled at the point of mailing that some one has recancelled while in transit. I have had this happen a few times in over fifty years.
Considering the amount of mail I get daily and the limited number of times it has happened, I suppose I should not gripe about it but examining those incidents leads me to the conclusion that it was intentional.
Any organization with as many employees as USPS and RM must have one, now and then, who just has had a bad day and they take out their annoyance with their life on some helpless commemoratives on a fancy envelope.
If destroying a nice block of stamps helps them avoid going postal and wreaking havoc on their fellow man, I guess I can ignore it, especially as there is no way for me to identify the individual.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Thanks for responding. I may have been premature in my conclusions. The sorting machines help explain what I have encountered. I am just getting back into the hobby so I wanted to get a take from more experienced hands on board.
Vince
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Vince, that's DEFINITELY a defacing machine's handiwork. no personal animosity there
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Vince,
There isn't much one can do about the machine defacements but stuff like this borders on the criminal -- these were received about a week apart.
Steve
Login to Like
this post
"Criminal" in the sense of the hobby. USPS is not in the "hobby". It's job is to deliver the mail, and its employees are required to protect the company's revenue. Who ever did that was simply doing their required job to prevent reuse of the stamps.
Now, here's a question: If the envelope was marked "philatelic material", and it passed through the mail system without a cancellation, would it be acceptable to you to receive a delivery notice from the postal carrier requiring you to come down to the post office to retrieve the piece with postage due of the first class rate, and it would be canceled by the clerk who was giving you the piece in order to avoid the "attack of the Sharpie"?
Login to Like
this post
Vince, was this an 0dd-sized envelope? If so, it may have by-passed the automated machinery and been spotted by a clerk. While I moan every time I see such a thing, I remember that Michael's point is on the money: the USPS is in the business of moving the mail (and the business part includes revenue protection). And I thank my lucky stars that they are as good as they are.
would that they had self-inking dated cancellers; perhaps that and a $20 at christmas might help out, at least if it's your carrier who's providing the security.
David
Login to Like
this post
As a long time carrier I can tell you we never had time to deface a letter and as a collector I would not have canceled stamps in the manner shown. Clerks on the other hand could care less, but who gets the blame, the person who delivers the mail. I knew my collectors and would even deliver unused plate blocks to these folks with money out of my own pocket. Automatic machines have no heart at all....so blame them.
Login to Like
this post
05:22:59pm
My regular long term carrier leaves me a note about the postage due, although philatelic mail is far more likely to be overpaid with nice commemoratives being used than undrpaid.
Often with parcels he pulls in the driveway as he knows I use a rolling chair around the house so will stop and bring it up the ramp to the door for me. I always leave folding cash rounded up for whatever postage is due.
Over the years he has expressed interest in the multitude of fancy-shmancy envlopes from all over the world that arrive several times a week.
My angst is when a item was properly cancelled at the point of dispatch and needs no further revenue protection that subsequenty gete the sharpie treatment whil in transit.
Login to Like
this post
Why would a delivery notice be provided requiring me to pay the first class rate before hand cancellation and subsequent delivery of the items when they were mailed to me with the proper postage attached?
In both instances, the stamps were affixed to #10 envelopes and included the non-machineable surcharge.
I understand that the clerk who did this was doing his or her job and my comment was made from the collector's perspective.
I make similar comments when I receive a far greater proportion of pieces with absolutely no cancellation of any type -- the system obviously isn't perfect.
Steve
Login to Like
this post
The system is far from perfect.
The thought process was to see if paying for the hand cancel would be worth it in order to obtain a nicely canceled cover rather than a Sharpied mess.
Login to Like
this post
"The system is far from perfect" - so true. And I don´t think we can expect it to become perfect. But sometimes it seems like the postal jerk hates philatelists. Any other logical explanation for why the red sticker is placed where it is? 
Login to Like
this post
If the red sticker were placed lower, it would cover up part of the address.
Login to Like
this post
It's still an interesting cover.
Tim
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I know I'm only dreaming but I would like to see each mail carrier in the US issued a personal cancelling device to hand cancel covers that escaped the machine cancel behemoth. Naturally the cancelling device would have text to the effect: Carrier Cancelled Route ____.
Another nice group of covers for us to collect.
Bruce
Login to Like
this post
I remember when I was a kid that you could buy stamps from your postman.
Login to Like
this post
Michael,
I didn't know the Pony Express riders actually carried postage stamps. I learned something new today, but I'll have forgotten it by dinner time. LOL
Bruce,
Just imagine how many of those mail carriers would lose their canceller. Talk about chaos when a lot more stamps hit the market with "genuine cancelled" stamps. Our mail lady told me she hand cancels all of my out-going mail, so thought maybe she did carry a hand canceller and ask her about it. She said they were not allowed to carry a canceller, but she actually goes into the PO, after finishing her route and hand cancels my mail that has collectible stamps on them.
I received a letter with a Isreal S/S on it and my "friendly" fill in carrier had to draw lines through all of the stamps. Needless to say he is not on my Christmas card list.
Mike
Login to Like
this post
07:24:56pm
".... I received a letter with a Isreal S/S on it and my "friendly" fill in carrier had to draw lines through all of the stamps. Needless to say he is not on my Christmas card list. ...."
Hey, I can understand that. You might soak the ISRAELI s/s sheet off and use the stamps to carry US mail somewhere thus defrauding the USPS. Or you might just mail the soaked stamps back to your friend in some foreign country and somehow defraud the USPS of its due.
Collectors do that all the time using stamps that plainly are not US stamps to carry the mail. It must add up to ten or fifteen cents lost revenue each century.
Grrrrrr !!!
Login to Like
this post
Mike. - I wasn't referring to the Pony Express. It was the Roman Centurions. 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Hi All
A few years ago I made a complaint to Australia Post regarding the cancelling of overseas mail here in Australia ,that had already been cancelled in the country of origin.
This was their response.
So in other words Stiff Cheddar.
Brian
Login to Like
this post
Charlie, you are quite correct, since I'm always happy to spend $1.05 to return unused postage to the ROW, just to save them money. ROFLOL
Brian, at least you gave the poor old bugger something to do for a short while. It helped justify his job.
Michael, Oh, you didn't explain that before. Sure, I used to get stamps from the Centurions wife's, while the old man was off fighting some war far, far away. I remember one time they were off someplace in the olde sod, building some wall out in the middle of nowhere, eventually call it Hadrian's wall, but that's a story for another time. AAAAHHHH, the good old days. How come I can remember that far back, but can't remember yesterday????
Mike
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Brian,
On the bright side, at least Australia Post didn't suggest that you fly to the country of origin to pick the letters up there (another "acceptable philatelic practice").
Steve
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Wow, I must have had a proclamation or was even pre-conceived or maybe just psychotic, but look what I found while working on my Aussie collection, just a few minutes ago. I mentioned Hadrian's wall, and Brian and Steve mentioned Australia, how strange is that? Maybe we should form a team and help solve all of the world's problems, just by ourselves. ROFLOL
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
He could have placed the red sticker on the remains of the Danish sticker. Plenty of space without covering the numbers on it. Often I see stickers placed on the back of the covers in order not to ruin the stamps. That could certainly have been done here too.
Login to Like
this post
I just recently received this envelope from an SOR auction seller.
Login to Like
this post
One way to avoid that matter is for sellers to go to the post office and have the envelope hand canceled. Yes, that means standing in line. Figure out when the lines are shortest. It doesn't take that long. It's good PR and customer service for a philatelic seller, and buyers appreciate that more than a Sharpie attack.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I recieved this which was machine cancelled and then marker pen applied because someone didn't want a 5¢ stamp go uncancelled! Brutality or Stupidity?
Login to Like
this post
Saleem,
Now that's just down right
Login to Like
this post
Philatelically, it's a shame that happened. Again, had the person mailing the envelope to you taken the time to go to the post office to get the stamps hand canceled, most likely that would not have happened.
Login to Like
this post
Here is one more example - this is a meter postage cover but why it is machine cancelled afterwards? Isn't Meter Postage applied at the counter by hand? So why put it through automatic cancelling machine?
And then here is another one that looks like hand cancelled but again the Pen marks are there.
Login to Like
this post
Have a few covers with such wonderful hand cancels that one wonders why a lot of postal history is destroyed by black-markers and things like that. Here is a good one:
Login to Like
this post
To answer your question regarding the postal cancellation on the meter.
Businesses can rent their own meter machines from the post office. If a business runs a bunch of mail, but waits a day or more to bring it to the post office, the post office will run them through the cancelling machines to show the actual date that the mail pieces were submitted to the post office. I can't read the meter date on the cover to compare to the cancellation date. The good thing about this is that a few years ago, the postal service would not accept meter postage that was not dated for the date of submission to the post office.
Also, if the mail piece with a meter is dropped into the wrong box or bin (could be postal customer or postal clerk), it will go through the auto-sorters and get a machine cancel.
Login to Like
this post
Michael thanks for explaining this anomaly, being dropped in the wrong box looks more logical.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
11:42:21pm
" ... why a lot of postal history is destroyed by black-markers and things like that ... "
As far as the postal services are concerned, those black markers are as much a part of postal history as a carefully applied hand stamp.
To you, me and other collectors the stamps and the entire cover are ruined, but that is a matter of taste and a subjective eye for what looks nice in a collection or on display at a show.
Login to Like
this post
while I hate them, Charlie, I have to agree: pens and markers are as much a part of PH as are scrapes, discounted postage, meters, and remailed covers from Germany with Kuala Lampur imprints
Login to Like
this post
10:01:12am
I have to find the one I sent to my cousin in New Mexico properly addressed including the nine digit zip code that was returned with a Ciudad Mexico backstamp.
Login to Like
this post
Another one bites the dust:
Login to Like
this post
Saleem,
There may be hope for that last cover you posted. The orange barcode label was placed after the stamps were canceled so you might be able to carefully peel it off without damaging the stamps underneath.
Steve
Login to Like
this post
Saleem:
I know you have more beauties than beasts in your stamp collection; that's what I want to see.
John Derry
Login to Like
this post
Nice stamps nicely cancelled. What could go wrong? The local post could bundle all the day's mail with a couple strong rubber bands, that's what could go wrong:
Still, it's an attractive piece; quite colorful:
Never sure what to do with these. It's a large bubble envelope, so adding it to a collection is tough. I might be able to salvage a couple stamps, but even that's not certain with the self adhesives.
Thanks Micheal for the nice layout of stamps and especially for the great book!
-Steve
Login to Like
this post
Some of the above examples are the reason I limit my sendings to about 100 stamps, bulky envelopes are an invitation to trouble, not much you can do about pen/felt tip cancels but thin envelopes go much easier through canceling machines.
Login to Like
this post
The main problem with my incoming philatelic mail is the stamp faces getting torn by the sorting machines.
Also, much of it comes through without cancels and those fall into that category of unused - no gum, I'd rather they had nice cancels.
Login to Like
this post
Chris, I mailed that package. It contained a book. The clerk hand-canceled the stamps. I would say that the rubber bands were added by the local carrier prior to delivery. The letter included within the rubber bands was mailed from a different state.
I'd have a chat with my local carrier and ask that rubber bands, paper clips, etc. not be used. So, my question is, did the carrier leave the package with the letter at the door, or were both in the mailbox? If at the door, your carrier was probably trying to save you some time by not leaving just the package at the door, and the letter in the mailbox.
Sometimes...
The rubber band didn't mess up the book, right?
Login to Like
this post
No problemo
Login to Like
this post
03:21:33pm
My pet peeve is when it says quite clearly "do not bend" and some idiot puts it in my post box which is 1/4" larger on three sides and 1/2" larger on other side from the back than from the front. It's still slightly bent to be put in there but in order to get it out from my side, you practically have to destroy the package!
Doesn't anyone have a brain anymore?
Login to Like
this post
"My pet peeve is when it says quite clearly "do not bend" and some idiot puts it in my post box "
Back when eBay was fairly new, I had a grand business selling automobilia... car paper, old ads, books, dealer brochures and the like.
I shipped everything in hard photo mailers. I used to buy them 500 at a time. And I had a "DO NOT BEND OR FOLD" rubber stamp I used liberally on these. 99% of them got delivered without issue. I had one lady who bought a 1968 Camaro dealer brochure for $35 as a Christmas gift for her husband who owned the real car. She wanted me to make good because it arrived damaged. She said she watched her carrier through her window take the hard photo mailer, bend it over a step and bend it in half to fit through her mail slot. She thought I'd just send along another one!
Login to Like
this post
11:28:06pm
Have any of you received commemoratives in the mail where they were defaced by some overzealous postal employee or handler? Normally I like to collect the commemoratives that are sent to me from lots I have won, but this is ridiculous. If I didn't know any better I would think they did this so that they are ruined so I can't collect them.
Vince
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Can't blame the postal workers for that one. The stamps were damaged by the sorting/cancelling machinery. When the very tips of the teeth don't get stuck down to the envelope, the machinery catches it and proceeds to rip across the stamp. Look at MLK's shoulder on the rightmost stamp and you will see another minor rip.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
The USPS sorting equipment grabs envelopes on the sides. The stamps need to be at least 1/2 inch (more to be extra certain) away from the sides to avoid getting damaged.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
11 Jan 2013
07:11:58am
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
What annoys me is that occasionally I get a parcel or envelope that was properly cancelled at the point of mailing that some one has recancelled while in transit. I have had this happen a few times in over fifty years.
Considering the amount of mail I get daily and the limited number of times it has happened, I suppose I should not gripe about it but examining those incidents leads me to the conclusion that it was intentional.
Any organization with as many employees as USPS and RM must have one, now and then, who just has had a bad day and they take out their annoyance with their life on some helpless commemoratives on a fancy envelope.
If destroying a nice block of stamps helps them avoid going postal and wreaking havoc on their fellow man, I guess I can ignore it, especially as there is no way for me to identify the individual.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
08:28:04am
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Thanks for responding. I may have been premature in my conclusions. The sorting machines help explain what I have encountered. I am just getting back into the hobby so I wanted to get a take from more experienced hands on board.
Vince
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Auctions
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Vince, that's DEFINITELY a defacing machine's handiwork. no personal animosity there
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Vince,
There isn't much one can do about the machine defacements but stuff like this borders on the criminal -- these were received about a week apart.
Steve
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
"Criminal" in the sense of the hobby. USPS is not in the "hobby". It's job is to deliver the mail, and its employees are required to protect the company's revenue. Who ever did that was simply doing their required job to prevent reuse of the stamps.
Now, here's a question: If the envelope was marked "philatelic material", and it passed through the mail system without a cancellation, would it be acceptable to you to receive a delivery notice from the postal carrier requiring you to come down to the post office to retrieve the piece with postage due of the first class rate, and it would be canceled by the clerk who was giving you the piece in order to avoid the "attack of the Sharpie"?
Login to Like
this post
Auctions
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Vince, was this an 0dd-sized envelope? If so, it may have by-passed the automated machinery and been spotted by a clerk. While I moan every time I see such a thing, I remember that Michael's point is on the money: the USPS is in the business of moving the mail (and the business part includes revenue protection). And I thank my lucky stars that they are as good as they are.
would that they had self-inking dated cancellers; perhaps that and a $20 at christmas might help out, at least if it's your carrier who's providing the security.
David
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
As a long time carrier I can tell you we never had time to deface a letter and as a collector I would not have canceled stamps in the manner shown. Clerks on the other hand could care less, but who gets the blame, the person who delivers the mail. I knew my collectors and would even deliver unused plate blocks to these folks with money out of my own pocket. Automatic machines have no heart at all....so blame them.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
11 Jan 2013
05:22:59pm
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
My regular long term carrier leaves me a note about the postage due, although philatelic mail is far more likely to be overpaid with nice commemoratives being used than undrpaid.
Often with parcels he pulls in the driveway as he knows I use a rolling chair around the house so will stop and bring it up the ramp to the door for me. I always leave folding cash rounded up for whatever postage is due.
Over the years he has expressed interest in the multitude of fancy-shmancy envlopes from all over the world that arrive several times a week.
My angst is when a item was properly cancelled at the point of dispatch and needs no further revenue protection that subsequenty gete the sharpie treatment whil in transit.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Why would a delivery notice be provided requiring me to pay the first class rate before hand cancellation and subsequent delivery of the items when they were mailed to me with the proper postage attached?
In both instances, the stamps were affixed to #10 envelopes and included the non-machineable surcharge.
I understand that the clerk who did this was doing his or her job and my comment was made from the collector's perspective.
I make similar comments when I receive a far greater proportion of pieces with absolutely no cancellation of any type -- the system obviously isn't perfect.
Steve
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
The system is far from perfect.
The thought process was to see if paying for the hand cancel would be worth it in order to obtain a nicely canceled cover rather than a Sharpied mess.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
"The system is far from perfect" - so true. And I don´t think we can expect it to become perfect. But sometimes it seems like the postal jerk hates philatelists. Any other logical explanation for why the red sticker is placed where it is?
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
If the red sticker were placed lower, it would cover up part of the address.
Login to Like
this post
Auctions - Approvals
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
It's still an interesting cover.
Tim
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
11:59:39pm
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
I know I'm only dreaming but I would like to see each mail carrier in the US issued a personal cancelling device to hand cancel covers that escaped the machine cancel behemoth. Naturally the cancelling device would have text to the effect: Carrier Cancelled Route ____.
Another nice group of covers for us to collect.
Bruce
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
I remember when I was a kid that you could buy stamps from your postman.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Michael,
I didn't know the Pony Express riders actually carried postage stamps. I learned something new today, but I'll have forgotten it by dinner time. LOL
Bruce,
Just imagine how many of those mail carriers would lose their canceller. Talk about chaos when a lot more stamps hit the market with "genuine cancelled" stamps. Our mail lady told me she hand cancels all of my out-going mail, so thought maybe she did carry a hand canceller and ask her about it. She said they were not allowed to carry a canceller, but she actually goes into the PO, after finishing her route and hand cancels my mail that has collectible stamps on them.
I received a letter with a Isreal S/S on it and my "friendly" fill in carrier had to draw lines through all of the stamps. Needless to say he is not on my Christmas card list.
Mike
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
13 Jan 2013
07:24:56pm
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
".... I received a letter with a Isreal S/S on it and my "friendly" fill in carrier had to draw lines through all of the stamps. Needless to say he is not on my Christmas card list. ...."
Hey, I can understand that. You might soak the ISRAELI s/s sheet off and use the stamps to carry US mail somewhere thus defrauding the USPS. Or you might just mail the soaked stamps back to your friend in some foreign country and somehow defraud the USPS of its due.
Collectors do that all the time using stamps that plainly are not US stamps to carry the mail. It must add up to ten or fifteen cents lost revenue each century.
Grrrrrr !!!
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Mike. - I wasn't referring to the Pony Express. It was the Roman Centurions.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Auctions
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Hi All
A few years ago I made a complaint to Australia Post regarding the cancelling of overseas mail here in Australia ,that had already been cancelled in the country of origin.
This was their response.
So in other words Stiff Cheddar.
Brian
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Charlie, you are quite correct, since I'm always happy to spend $1.05 to return unused postage to the ROW, just to save them money. ROFLOL
Brian, at least you gave the poor old bugger something to do for a short while. It helped justify his job.
Michael, Oh, you didn't explain that before. Sure, I used to get stamps from the Centurions wife's, while the old man was off fighting some war far, far away. I remember one time they were off someplace in the olde sod, building some wall out in the middle of nowhere, eventually call it Hadrian's wall, but that's a story for another time. AAAAHHHH, the good old days. How come I can remember that far back, but can't remember yesterday????
Mike
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Brian,
On the bright side, at least Australia Post didn't suggest that you fly to the country of origin to pick the letters up there (another "acceptable philatelic practice").
Steve
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Wow, I must have had a proclamation or was even pre-conceived or maybe just psychotic, but look what I found while working on my Aussie collection, just a few minutes ago. I mentioned Hadrian's wall, and Brian and Steve mentioned Australia, how strange is that? Maybe we should form a team and help solve all of the world's problems, just by ourselves. ROFLOL
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
He could have placed the red sticker on the remains of the Danish sticker. Plenty of space without covering the numbers on it. Often I see stickers placed on the back of the covers in order not to ruin the stamps. That could certainly have been done here too.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
I just recently received this envelope from an SOR auction seller.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
One way to avoid that matter is for sellers to go to the post office and have the envelope hand canceled. Yes, that means standing in line. Figure out when the lines are shortest. It doesn't take that long. It's good PR and customer service for a philatelic seller, and buyers appreciate that more than a Sharpie attack.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
I recieved this which was machine cancelled and then marker pen applied because someone didn't want a 5¢ stamp go uncancelled! Brutality or Stupidity?
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Saleem,
Now that's just down right
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Philatelically, it's a shame that happened. Again, had the person mailing the envelope to you taken the time to go to the post office to get the stamps hand canceled, most likely that would not have happened.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Here is one more example - this is a meter postage cover but why it is machine cancelled afterwards? Isn't Meter Postage applied at the counter by hand? So why put it through automatic cancelling machine?
And then here is another one that looks like hand cancelled but again the Pen marks are there.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Have a few covers with such wonderful hand cancels that one wonders why a lot of postal history is destroyed by black-markers and things like that. Here is a good one:
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
To answer your question regarding the postal cancellation on the meter.
Businesses can rent their own meter machines from the post office. If a business runs a bunch of mail, but waits a day or more to bring it to the post office, the post office will run them through the cancelling machines to show the actual date that the mail pieces were submitted to the post office. I can't read the meter date on the cover to compare to the cancellation date. The good thing about this is that a few years ago, the postal service would not accept meter postage that was not dated for the date of submission to the post office.
Also, if the mail piece with a meter is dropped into the wrong box or bin (could be postal customer or postal clerk), it will go through the auto-sorters and get a machine cancel.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Michael thanks for explaining this anomaly, being dropped in the wrong box looks more logical.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
17 Jan 2013
11:42:21pm
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
" ... why a lot of postal history is destroyed by black-markers and things like that ... "
As far as the postal services are concerned, those black markers are as much a part of postal history as a carefully applied hand stamp.
To you, me and other collectors the stamps and the entire cover are ruined, but that is a matter of taste and a subjective eye for what looks nice in a collection or on display at a show.
Login to Like
this post
Auctions
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
while I hate them, Charlie, I have to agree: pens and markers are as much a part of PH as are scrapes, discounted postage, meters, and remailed covers from Germany with Kuala Lampur imprints
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
18 Jan 2013
10:01:12am
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
I have to find the one I sent to my cousin in New Mexico properly addressed including the nine digit zip code that was returned with a Ciudad Mexico backstamp.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Another one bites the dust:
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Saleem,
There may be hope for that last cover you posted. The orange barcode label was placed after the stamps were canceled so you might be able to carefully peel it off without damaging the stamps underneath.
Steve
Login to Like
this post
The past is a foreign country, they do things different there.
07 Feb 2013
12:40:03pm
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Saleem:
I know you have more beauties than beasts in your stamp collection; that's what I want to see.
John Derry
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Nice stamps nicely cancelled. What could go wrong? The local post could bundle all the day's mail with a couple strong rubber bands, that's what could go wrong:
Still, it's an attractive piece; quite colorful:
Never sure what to do with these. It's a large bubble envelope, so adding it to a collection is tough. I might be able to salvage a couple stamps, but even that's not certain with the self adhesives.
Thanks Micheal for the nice layout of stamps and especially for the great book!
-Steve
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Some of the above examples are the reason I limit my sendings to about 100 stamps, bulky envelopes are an invitation to trouble, not much you can do about pen/felt tip cancels but thin envelopes go much easier through canceling machines.
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
The main problem with my incoming philatelic mail is the stamp faces getting torn by the sorting machines.
Also, much of it comes through without cancels and those fall into that category of unused - no gum, I'd rather they had nice cancels.
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
Chris, I mailed that package. It contained a book. The clerk hand-canceled the stamps. I would say that the rubber bands were added by the local carrier prior to delivery. The letter included within the rubber bands was mailed from a different state.
I'd have a chat with my local carrier and ask that rubber bands, paper clips, etc. not be used. So, my question is, did the carrier leave the package with the letter at the door, or were both in the mailbox? If at the door, your carrier was probably trying to save you some time by not leaving just the package at the door, and the letter in the mailbox.
Sometimes...
The rubber band didn't mess up the book, right?
Login to Like
this post
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
No problemo
Login to Like
this post
A Service Dog gives a person with a disability independence. Never approach, distract or pet a working dog, especially when (s)he is in harness. Never be afraid to ask questions to the handler (parent).
26 Jul 2016
03:21:33pm
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
My pet peeve is when it says quite clearly "do not bend" and some idiot puts it in my post box which is 1/4" larger on three sides and 1/2" larger on other side from the back than from the front. It's still slightly bent to be put in there but in order to get it out from my side, you practically have to destroy the package!
Doesn't anyone have a brain anymore?
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: Destruction of franking by the postal service
"My pet peeve is when it says quite clearly "do not bend" and some idiot puts it in my post box "
Back when eBay was fairly new, I had a grand business selling automobilia... car paper, old ads, books, dealer brochures and the like.
I shipped everything in hard photo mailers. I used to buy them 500 at a time. And I had a "DO NOT BEND OR FOLD" rubber stamp I used liberally on these. 99% of them got delivered without issue. I had one lady who bought a 1968 Camaro dealer brochure for $35 as a Christmas gift for her husband who owned the real car. She wanted me to make good because it arrived damaged. She said she watched her carrier through her window take the hard photo mailer, bend it over a step and bend it in half to fit through her mail slot. She thought I'd just send along another one!
Login to Like
this post