J88 Cover With Legitimate Usage Found

Here is one with 2 - J79

Don't remember the back story. Probably around here somewhere from a few years back.

Might have ran out of 1 cent dues or just wanted to get rid of the half cent ones. Looks like it may have been forwarded.

Could have been. I have earlier covers sent to family in New Haven Vermont that were routed to New Haven CT by mistake then forwarded to Vermont.

Similar cover I have. The "New Haven Vt" on each cover was written by the same hand. Both went through the Chestnut St station (routing mark on backs) and both stamps might have even come from the same coil.

Stallzer. With what you show and tell about these two covers, they were both sent within Chicago at the 2-cent intra-city rate. The forwarding to Vermont increased the rate to 3 cents as inter-city covers. The "postage due 1 cent" mark is consistent with this.
Additionally, they both have all the signs of being "top of the stack" covers with the postage due for the stack being collected from the recipient as a summed amount in one transaction. The other covers in each stack would also have due markings, but would lack any due adhesives giving a (false) appearance of non-collection on those covers.

I'm sure you are spot on John.

Based on the date, here is the address that would have been in the windowed part of the cover.

I'm sure if I dig through the family history I will find where my Grandmother sold the property at 1406 State street and moved to Vermont is in 1937.

Obviously had her mail forwarded to Vermont. Penny per letter for forwarding?

Free forwarding, but rather ... 2-cents for the original *local* letter within Chicago, but requiring 3 cents to go to another city.
As a hypothetical, if the letter's first leg been from St Louis to Chicago, it would have required 3 cents as an inter-city letter, then it would have been considered fully paid for the forwarding to Vermont and gone there without any due marking..

Quote:
It's been a while since I published Tony's exhibit "The Ways U.S. Postage Due Stamps Were Used, 1879 -1986" but I think it included 1-2 1/2 cents usages.
https://stampsmarter.org/learning/a..._TonyPD.html
Don

Don, thanks for this link to Tony's exhibit. I had a look at it (I encourage anyone else interested in postage dues to do the same) and I spoke to him and sent him a picture of my J88 on cover. He's currently writing a book on postage dues. He was really excited about it and is going to use it in his book.

Okay, sit down, put down any drinks or food and check that you are not dreaming. You will need to trust my text here until I can get photos.

I recently purchased 15 (fifteen), non-FDC, commercial covers, all with either two or four J88 tied dues.

Frankly I think these are similar to the plus-a-nickle due covers which are out there but not many folks know they are tough and thus don't discuss the ones they have.






<<<< I am trying. (Edit: See my next post below.)

This just a few days after getting a "Ward" J68 FDC for under $110.00.

Ahhh, so you're the person who outbid me on that one. Well done! If I didn't already have several examples, I would have bid higher.

If these end up being legit J88 covers and you end up wanting to part with any, please let me know. I would love to improve upon my philatelic example.

What year(s) are the covers?

The cycling Ward J68 FDC at $549.99 (free shipping) is still there if you want it. I have no idea where the 'mayfair' one came from.

Here is the J88 group and I apologize for the photo quality:
















Edit: As the J88 was produced in panes of 100, here are thirty six, meaning there are another 64 used in Ottawa yet to be found.

Very nice cover group. All in-period too. I had hopes that there might be a fractional cent rate being paid, but I guess that would be too much to hope for... were there any fractional cent rates by the 1960s?

Great find!!! Mine was from Ottawa, Ohio too! So that knocks it down to 34!!!

Before I address your question, remember there were half cent and stamps ending in a half cent out in the wild. If any of those were used to short pay, a half cent due was needed for an individual item.




What matters are the rates from June 1959 onward as that was when the J88 became available. The answer is YES. For example the 3.5 cent rate for up to two ounces for odd sized or undersized (less than 3" high or less than 4" wide) valid through 1-6-1963. From 1-7-1963 through 12-31-1963 there was a 9.5 cent single piece special 4th class book rate for pieces under one pound. There are some likely circumstances that, forwarded or return commercial customer rates could require a 1/2 cent but those are not worth the time to figure out. Find one first then explain it.




No. It makes 38 known used with 62 yet to be located form the 100 stamp pane.

Edit: Way, back, I mean way back in the late 70s or early 1980s I remember a discussion about rare stuff from Ottawa I believe it was a discussion about the 1/2 cent. Clyde Jennings was a member of one of my specialty groups back then and we talked about a lot of stuff including the J88. The "we" included a handful of noteworthy philatelist and dealers as well as little young me. With the group we tended to discuss the hard to find and where to look for it. Just don't stop looking, it may take awhile.


As to this "find" it was a group of 40 covers, all commercial, 21 from Ottawa (five non-J88) and 19 others split between Coos Bay, OR (11), San Bernardino, CA (3), Philadelphia, PA (3), Albany, NY (1).

Oops! you're right



It seems I remember something about Ottawa, Ohio from back then too, but I'll have to think about it.




My lot was 67 covers, all commercial, 18 from Ottawa including the one J88 cover, and rest were mostly from Ohio, NY, California, Pennsylvania, and Oregon.




The only fractional cover found was the postage due bill in my original post, but there must have been more.

For a great article on J68, the first 1/2 cent postage due, see the February 2023 The United States Specialist, pages 65-85, First United States 1/2 cent Postage Due Stamp and the 3rd Class Mail rate Increase of 1925. That is the journal of the United States Stamp Society.