Position Of Stamps On Cover

Here's a dumb question, but I notice on many of the photos in this forum that the stamps are placed anywhere but the top right corner.

From personal experience, I know top-right has been the "accepted" place for the past 40 years, but what about those 19th Century covers?

Is there a USPS rule? Is it just a modern convention?

Any insights?

KirkS

i think the top right corner is the more acceptable position considering its practicability...the other spaces are supposed to be for the sender's and recipient's address.......though it would be interesting to see a stamp in an unconventional place.....though this is doubtful...I once used lower denomination stamps in an envelope and it occupied most of my space in the envelope and the postoffice won'nt accept it. Anyway- I dropped it in a mailbox anyway and it was nevertheless delivered

When the first stamp was issued in May 1840, the rule from Royal Mail was to place the stamp in the upper right-hand corner of the envelope. This was to facilitate a faster means of cancelling the stamp, as a pile of letters would be cancelled at once.

Remember that in those days, everything was hand-cancelled. Since most people are right-handed; if the stamp was in the upper right-hand corner, the postal worker would shift the envelopes with his left hand and alternate between the ink pad and the envelope, with the canceller.

David

From the 1840s to the 1860s there is a lot of variation in the placement of the stamps on my US covers. Starting about 1870, there is more consistent placement in the upper right hand corner.

Thanks guys, that's the kind of basic info I was looking for. --KS