What's This? Stamp? Cancel With Perfs?

Hello there!

I'm wondering what this is? A stamp? A cancel with perfs?



Thanks!

That is an early postal meter. These were used extensively for 3rd class mail for magazines and catalogs.

Sometimes these are referred to as metered stamps. More often than not these meters were impressed directly onto an envelope, but they were also placed on labels as in your example.

I think that your Pitney Bowes Meter example would fall into this category (which began use in 1936). Also, your example is Meter #93547 which also fits into the meter sequence used for that period:

Seems about right!

Thanks alot everyone!

Don't be so quick as to throw it in a less than desirable shoebox. Some Metered Stamps are quite scarce and command a good value and belong in a good Shoebox.
For any that might have a few metered Stamps or Metered Mail covers. Here is one for the Oval Meters http://www.meterstampsociety.com/Li...g020210s.pdf

More help on Meters http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Intern...rica,_Part_1

I have this in my possession and from what I understand there are only 17 reported copies.

Thanks for the link to the PDF file on meters. I'll have to read through that data which may help to answer a lot of questions I have on meter collecting.

Just curious though: What makes that 1935 cover so rare? Is it the cover itself? The advertising logo? The denomination? Or the PB meter imprint from Albany, NY?

I have a similar PB Meter imprint from NYC shown below (curiously this example uses no decimal point):



In fact, I have a collection of meter cuts from as far back as 1933 from various suppliers (i.e. NPM, CC, PB, etc.) and I've never quite gotten a handle on how best to collect them or what to look for in terms of rarities, so they sit in a box of glassine envelopes sorted by year.

Metered covers are a part of my Guatemala collection..they are scarcer than the stamped covers !!

It is a couple of things, the Slogan intact is quite scarce and there is a difference in loose tape vs. On cover. Look into Sub Group F in the wiki books Meter catalog.

Great links, lot of good information.

I think it has been trimmed with pinking shears rather than perfed

Actually Anthony, that is the way they were produced.

Thanks stallzer. It just looks a bit hand trimmed.