Is This Air Mail Rate Correct?

Is it just me or does this rate look too high?

Yeah, but you have to admit that it makes a hellva cover.
Are there any backstamps?

Yes, just one.

$1.05 is the correct rate for a 1 1/2 ounce letter
FAM to Miami then air to Colombia from June 15, 1931 to March 31, 1945
The single letter rate (1/2 ounce) was 35 cents. This is a triple weight letter.

According to the AAMC, in 1933 the airmail rate was 8 cents for the first ounce and 13 cents for each additional ounce or fraction. So an 8+ ounce letter would be $1.05. That might well happen in a legal envelope.

Seems to be no combo that adds up to $1.05 -- 8c + (7 x 13c) = 99c.

Were incoming airmail letters turned over to SCADTA in Colombia, and if so, was there an additional fee paid at the time of mailing?

Isn't that the domestic airmail rate at the time? I don't have the international airmail rate tables available, but Lorddenning's rate/explanation seems to make more sense. Can someone double-check the tables and confirm? Thanks!

k

My source for the air mail rate to Colombia was:

Beecher, H & Wawrukiewicz, A. U.S. INTERNATIONAL POSTAL RATES: 1872- 1996

35 cent per half ounce. Multiply this by 3 and you get $1.05. That means it is a triple weight cover : 1 1/2 ounces.

I know I should have provided the above reference the first time I posted.

That must be the first time in the history of the POD that no stamp existed to fulfill a specific basic rate; we had no 35c airmail until 1980.

lorddenning,

I'm not familiar with the referenced publication but is it safe to conclude from its having 33 chapters and some 400 pages that there wasn't a "basic" international airmail rate?

Steve

I sometimes forget that many philatelists are not postal historians. Stamp collectors use catalogues, cover collectors need rate information.

Collectors of US postal history are fortunate to have the Beecher/ Wawrukiewicz two volume set of U.S. postal rates and fees. The books are an essential resource for anyone who has U.S. covers.

Here is the page that deals with air mail rates to Colombia (there is a page on the SCADTA service as well).



In addition to being useful in learning about US covers, the Beecher International rate book is the best reference on the market to figure out postage dues. Even if you don't collect US covers this book is a must!

Thanks! I've tried to find online international rate information but have had little success. It appears that I'll need to get a copy of the Beecher/Wawrukiewicz.

In 1933, how would a U.S. postal clerk (especially in a small town) know to charge 35c per half ounce? Did they have some kind of a mammoth "rate" book with pages for every country in the world? I never thought about all this before.