Modern US Postage Meters

Today's mail was about the norm, four metered envelopes, three with preprinted permit indicia, and one with the current nonprofit organization stamp.

Since receiving stamps on my mail has slowed to a trickle, I've been clipping the indicia from metered mail for about six months now.

During that time, I've only received mail prepared using postage meters made by three of the five USPS-authorized providers (DataPac, Hasler, and PitneyBowes) -- here are the ones that came today.









I'd be interested in seeing recent examples of indicia from the two other authorized meter providers: FP Mailing Systems and Neopost.

Here's one from last year (2011) that shows an example of the Neopost indicia:



There's a reason why the indicia looks similar to that of Hasler, as Hasler and Neopost merged at one point not too long ago, even though they continue to market separately branded equipment in the US Market:

http://www.haslerinc.com/newsevents/media/91.aspx

Thanks wt1.

I currently have 244 postage meter indicia: 183 are Pitney Bowes (75%), 51 are Data-Pac (21%) and 10 are Hasler (4%).

Based on my data alone, Pitney Bowes would seem to be the postage meter provider of choice with Data-Pac running a distant second.

With luck, someday I'll receive mailings with Neopost and Francotyp-Postalia indicia.

A brief history of FP Mailing Solutions:




Here's a indicia from last year (2011) that shows the Postalia name on it:

Getting back to the Neopost Meters, I just received in today's mail another Neopost meter in which the indicia is similar (but not exact) to the one I posted from 2011. Note the different (bolder) font in the denomination and date and meter number and ZIP on the more recent example, as well as the use of the word "Presort" v. "Prsrt" that is readily apparent in this side-by-side comparison:



Almost certainly the result of a newer postage meter.

(Also note they dropped the hyphen between "First" and "Class" in these examples, too.)

Are they collectable? Will they ever have a value in a stamp catalog?

I think they are listed in Scotts specialized aren't they? I really like that red eagle postalia indicia

Meters are not listed in the Scott Catalog (computer vended postage is, though).

The best reference I've seen (and it's free) is this "work in progress" on-line catalog that has started to list all of the known meter varieties and has even gone to the next level and listed some values -- and some of them can go for quite a sum -- as some were only in use for a very limited period of time.

For example the two Neopost meter varieties shown above would be varieties of the (R6) as shown at this link:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Intern...rica,_Part_2

Are the collectible? Always. Are they valuable? Probably not so much. It's a specialty collector that would have interest in them and like most other collectibles the real value is not in the "catalog value" but what a seller is willing to take and what a buyer is willing to pay for the item.

The very fact that fewer postage stamps are being used these days in deference to metered mail, suggests that they will be collectible in the future, as fewer people collect them. However, if we don't collect them now, they will become even more scarce in the future.

This is an example of a "meter" from a bulk mailed magazine that I received today in the post

Thought it would be a nice "contrast" to the "meters" already shown on the thread

Here is a "weird" and almost non descriptive one I received in the box today. Any info on it? Machine/maker? I like the teal color and maybe that's a clue?

I_L_S: That's not a postage meter indicia, merely a postage paid corner cut from a direct mail advertisement. The direct mail marketers try to "imitate" meters and stamps and so forth by using a variety of colors (and the eagle) to make their junk mail look more important and ultimately (in their minds) an item that is more likely to be opened by a consumer.

Obviously, if it were a legitimate postage meter indicia, it would have a meter number, name of meter manufacturer, ZIP code of origin, etc. The postage paid corner cuts will not have that information.

I thought that it looked too non-descriptive but wasn't aware of these. Thank you for the information- now I know. :)

Regarding a catalog of meters, philatelic writer and executive Doug Kelsey compiled a large catalog in 1993, "Pictorial Meter Stamps of the United States," ISBN 0-941480-12-7 (124 pages). It is fully-illustrated, devises a numbering system, and prices by group, "A" thru "H" with "H" representing market values over $200. Like anything else philatelic, there are significant rarities if you know what to look for.

I don't know if there's an updated edition.

I understand this Pitney Bowes meter indicia has been around for a couple of years, but it just so happened I received my first example in today's mail. Note the redesigned eagle and the ">>" between "U.S. Postage" and "Pitney Bowes".



The International Postage Meter Catalog identifies the variety as an "M13" associated with the Pitney Bowes Connect+ Postage Meter System. I believe it to be the first Pitney Bowes postage meter that registers three digits before the decimal point, potentially for postage meter imprints of greater than $100.00 in value.

Received this with today's office mail:



The office where I previously worked used FP Mailing Solutions.

FP (Francotyp-Postalia) are relatively uncommon in the US anymore. However, the example you posted is identified as USPMSC SF1 (R5) known from the FP "My Mail", "OptiMail 30", "UltiMail60/90", "JetMail", or "Centormail" digital machines first put into use in 2003.