Are These Stampless Folded Letters In A Catalog?

I saw this old guy on Ebay the other day. It quickly caught my eye considering it originated in my current location Bangor Maine. The price was right 6 bucks. I tried to find them in Scotts Specialized with no luck. Does anyone collect these things? I have never heard of them. thanks

18-3/4 rate was zone rate 150 miles to 400 miles, 5/1/1825 through May 30, 1845 f0r single letters

A 30mm "e" "BANGOR, ME" PERIOD 1833-1850 - RED $10.00 ASCC Catalog 1997 pricing (The last printing.)

Looks like a clean strike & clean cover. The written contents may/maynot add to value.

American Stampless covers are a specialized area and very collectibe.

Hal

P.S. I should add that the "stampless cover period" of postal history cover the pre-stamp period (1847) of the USA and includes c.d.s. marks (circular date stamps), oval, straight line, manuscript and ornate-type markings. It is a fascinating area of collecting. My collection is based on Towns and Hamlets within the county I live-in, from the 1780's until stamps were issued.

ASCC = American Stampless Cover Catalog. Mine is the third edition, 1978, published by David G. Phillips & Co.

Its very expensive cousin is the American Illustrated Cover Catalog, same publisher, which reprises (in color!) the phenomenal collection of John Biddle of Columbus, Ohio, whom I knew for two decades.

I also collect stampless covers. My U.S. stampless covers start in 1792 and go through 1868. I have 100's of them and suprisingly it does not take a fortune to put together a very nice collection of them. I have even found some in dollar boxes at shows.They were still utilized even after we started using stamps. They are commonly like you have as a folded letter, and they can also be an actual envelope. The rates vary greatly depending on time period, distance traveled and number of sheets of paper along with other factors. The letters contained in them can be a fascinating trip back in time themselves. You can study one letter for hours or days and not learn all of it's secrets. For fun look for one that came from or went to Europe. The markings on how many places it passed through can be fascinating. A friend showed me one just last night that originated in Mexico, was written in Old German and was forwarded and marked by at least 5 countries. I will see if he can send me a scan of it and I will put it up. I have an older version of the book Doug has along with a book from 1952 called the United States Stampless Cover Catalog. We have a philatelic library in St. Paul that has the other book he mentioned. It is very nice, but you can't check it out. I also have a couple books that just deal with rates that are a great reference. I have a lot to learn even though I have collected these for about 10 years. I belong to The Collectors Club in Minnesota and it has several guys that are very knowledgeable on these. I learn a ton from those guys. That group has members that are old highly respected retired dealers, stamp expertisers, exhibitors and even a couple APS judges.That's where I saw the cover last night.
So good luck on your first one. It has a very nice strike and looks to be in nice condition. It has an 18-3/4 rate which is at least 168 years old. Often the letter itself will give you the date.

Thanks all for the excellent replies. The seller listed it as an 1834. So you guys had the date right. It is empty, too bad, I am sure these probably make good reading material. I just bought another one, an 1851 from Boston, hopefully it contains a letter. I thought I knew all areas of stamp collecting. This is one area I had no knowledge of. And I agree its fascinating.

I collect these too but only casually and from Pennsylvania. I didn't know about that book until now. Thank you.

I heard that such stampless cover can be sold in China at several thousands of RMB years ago, with more and more stampless covers came into China, the price falled drastically.

How many USA stampless covers exist?

If you collect Pennsylvania Postal History, you should invest in a copy of 'PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORY' by John L. Kay and Chester M. Smith, Jr. by Quaterman Publications.

It lists over 10,000 Pennsylvania Post Office that existed during the period of 1775 to 1975. It includes: County, Date of Establishment, Date of Discontinuance, First Postmaster and Notes. The Notes reference if the Post Office ever had/has a different name (Old Name/New Name).
It's an indispensable 564-page reference book. You'll have to find a copy online.

Tens of Thousands, if not more.

WOW! So many!

I don't actively collect them and I probably have 80+, all are old family letters.

I've had period Stampless covers from Korea dating back to the 16th century as well as many countries in Europe. People have been placing writing on some form on paper, wood, clay tablet or stone since man could form two letters and figured out how to communicate between two distances.

I collect them as well, but only sent to or from Maine.
So I would have added that cover to my collection after ironing the folds.
Hope you didn't pay more then $10.00 for it.

I have a grand total of 3 stampless covers. But I like them a lot, and intend to get more more more!

Wow Hal Thank you. I'll look into this. I currently use Jim Forte/s postal history website and the typical auction sites but that book you mentioned would certainly come in handy and be an asset to my collection almost certainly. Thank you again!

I also refer to this site too. - http://www.paphs.org/

Here are some scans from of the 1839 folded letter from Mexico to Germany from my friend John that I wrote about. As you can see it has been forwarded and marked through several countries. I sent him the retroreveal link that another SCF member wrote about, He is in the process of deciphering this letters three month journey as well as the text inside, but that has been difficult as it is in Old German and faded ink.







I am not trying to hijack your thread. I included these to show what I find fascinating about researching stampless letters. I also want to say this is not my cover. I want to thank John for sharing the images with me. I will update you when he has it deciphered if you want.
Pat