Why 19 Cents For Registered Cover !

sometimes registered covers appeal to me and I picked this one up at Orapex...we were wondering about the 19 cent charge..we looked up the rates in my friends philatelic library and for the time it should have been 17 cents for a registered letter..it is on a 2 cent postal stationary envelope and then 17 cents in stamps was added !

What year did you figure it was sent. The stamps and pse could have been used from 1923-1940's.

I noticed it is addressed to the Royal Bank in Smithville, Ontario and I am wondering if this was a money letter that required a higher fee for insurance purposes?? Just a guess.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Bill backstamp says 1927..i am pretty sure we found the right rate page !

Hi Bujutsu, I was wondering if it made a difference mailing to Canada,i think both countries had the same postage rates.

+2 cents per additional ounce, right? Was it two ounces?

Auggie, I doubt they crammed 2 ounces in there but who knows ???

Maybe the sender just simply wanted to be certain all his/her bases was covered? I just sent out a mailing to Mass. and put almost 3.00 postage and I doubt it needed that much. I dunno just a guess?

It could also be simple confusion on the part of the sender. They had 17 cents in their head for a registered letter and slapped 17 cents in stamps on the letter. Usually in cases like this the answer is human error, but postal historians will drive themselves nuts trying to figure out a valid reason for the amount.

smauggie & oldcrow74 have the 2 possibilities. A search on the bay and you will see another 19 cent and several 20 cent.

and I agree...he already had a envelope good for 2 cents and added the 17 cents for registration..sounds like a mix up..a postal clerk could probably have helped if asked !

According to "Special Treaty Rates to Canada" in Wawrukiewicz & Beecher "U.S. International Postal Rates, 1872-1996": the registry fee to Canada in 1927 was 15¢ (p. 333) and the surface letter rate was 2¢ per ounce (p. 320). The correct franking for one-counce would have been 17¢ (2¢ postage, 15¢ registry). The correct franking for 1-2 ounces would have been 19¢ (4¢ postage, 15¢ registry). The cover was either overpaid 2¢ for a one-ounce letter or correctly paid for a 1-2 ounce cover. The previous suggestions for being overpaid 2¢ are certainly plausible. However, if I were exhibiting the cover, I would describe it as being correctly paid for 1-2 ounces.

Do you have the enclosure? You could just weigh the pages and see. Just kidding, I know we rarely have that luxury, but I wonder could you cut sheets of paper to the same envelope width and then fold 2 oz and see if it reasonably fits? Also, would either 1.1 or 1.5 oz weight have bumped it to the 2 oz rate as it would today?

I agree with rugfaces comment that it is properly paid for a 2 oz rate if exhibited.

sorry, no enclosure...i am glad it has aroused some interest. I find it amazing how many interesting registered covers like this one are found in dealers dollar boxes !