Registered Mail Markings

Does anybody know what the number in the 'Registered' stamp refers to? Is it a post office number? What about the number '19' just to the bottom-left of the postmark?

Registration requires a tracking number.
The 209 is the registration of the item.

I have no idea on the 19

I suspect that the 19 is not a postal marking but was made by the sender or recipient for some reason or other.

The fact that the "19" is written in "Postal Worker Crayon" I suspect it is some sort of routing number.

The 19 could be the Letter Carrier Number or person that delivered the letter. I think someone told me that once. Here are a couple of more examples. The Regina one has a bunch of the numbers crossed out, maybe they tried a few times to deliver it? And the Boston one has a few numbers, too. More numbers and a bigger mystery ...

Another possibility for these numbers (the original "19" and the "165", "223", and "461") is that these are the re-registration number assigned to the letter when the carrier takes it out of the post office for delivery.

In the case of the letter with "19", it was delivered on the first attempt.

The final letter was taken out on three successive days. The first day it was assigned "165", but not delivered, so the carrier returned it to the office and "165" was marked out. The next day, it was assigned "223", and again not delivered, so "223" marked out. Third day, assigned as letter "461" and was apparently delivered.

This is the manner in which carrier delivered registered mails were handled in the United States. I know nothing specific about Canada Post, but it seems likely they would use a similar system.

mml1942 - it makes sense. The 2nd letter was deleivered in Boston and it looks like there is a "30" crossed out in purple and "246" written in the same purple. Don't know what all the other numbers are for ???

My "expertise" is primarily US registered mail, I know next to nothing about Canada postal operations, but assume that they followed procedures similar to the USPOD.

I didn't comment before on the second cover earlier, as I was working from memory and did not recall the imprinted numbers on it.

I suspect that the "2502" is a registration number applied when the cover first reached Boston. The typeface matches other Boston registered covers I have seen from that period.

The "30" is again likely the first carrier delivery attempt, and the "246" is for the second and successful attempt. The "50" in black crayon is a mystery, but may be nothing more than a clerk counting and numbering a stack of envelopes at the exchange office. This sort of marking is seen in blue crayon on most registered mails leaving the US to Europe and other points from US exchange offices.

The "22386" may possibly be the number assigned at the border "exchange office" between Canada and the US, but I don't know enough about the routes between Regina NWT and the US to speculate on where it might have entered the US. The large number would tend to imply it was a large office, say Detroit , Mich or Buffalo NY rather than a smaller office along mid-continent border closer to NWT. It is possible there is a back stamp that would indicate the exchange office in Canada or US or both.

One would have to have a large database of cross-border covers from the general time period in order to match the typeface and the number with a date sequence and exchange office. A worthy research project for someone who collects this material. In the US, these numbers were generally applied in sequential order, and normally reset to "1" at the beginning of each quarter. Again, I assume Canada has some similar procedure.

Perhaps a Canadian postal history expert can chime in and correct me.

Mike

That's very interesting. I think the red number 22386 might be the original registration number given at the despatch to the border. Registered covers are big with Postal History collectors becaus of the multitude of cancellation marks so it's nice to know more about all the marks and numbers associated with Registered covers.