Prephilatelic Covers - Any Interest? Show - Tell - Ask - Explain!

I love them ( prephilatelic covers ) !!

> This cover from Battlestamps is interesting as the date of January
> 22 1840 was only days after the Uniform Penny Postage was
> introduced on 10th January... still before stamps in May of that
> year. It shows a black 2 meaning there was no postage paid (red was
> the color of postage paid). The rate of 2d indicates the letter was
> over 1 ounce but under 2 ounces (2oz would be charged 4d)

A small addition.
The letter was sent unpaid so it was charged 2d ( ie double the uniform prepaid rate that was 1d since 10 Jan as you said ).

Two interesting examples:

Prepaid 1d, not exceeding half an oz


Prepaid 2d, above half an oz and under 1 oz

@Renden - Wow, that's some awesome prephil covers
Thank you again so very much for the Canadian prephil cover you sent to me for free, mostly generous I will post it here when I come back home.

@aryeh - interesting background information and nice covers, thanks for sharing

We, in Catalonia (SW Europe), also use the word "prephilately" (in Catalan "Prefilatèlia") to refer to the postal items sent prior to May 6th (actually, 2nd)1840, which opens the "Philatelic era".
For us, an "stampless cover/letter", is just a cover/letter sent without any stamp. It can be due to it not being invented (before May 1840), lacking of stamps for whatever reason (war, disaster...), franchise...

This prephilatelic letter, was sent from Barcelona (Catalonia) to Tàrrega (Catalonia) on May 18th, 1763.

I think the issue is using the term 'prephilately' and the impact in assisting other users search this forum. Do we try to include every known philatelic term (whatever the language) in our titles so that users in any country can effectively find what they are looking for?
Don

....or one could use this as an opportunity to what this forum is about - to learn and expand our knowledge, in this case one can choose to expand the vocabulary and include a new word that is more specific and precise. A prephil cover is always stampless, but stampless is not necessarily prephil... Why not take the word 'prephilatelic' in use to avoid confusion?

@cursus - Beautiful prephil cover, thanks for sharing

Thank you Blaamand. The problema is that the first prephilatelic postmark used in Barcelona dates from 1716. And it's not a cheap one!
As for the use of the word "Prephilately", I fully agree with what you wrote.

Look what I got in my mailbox last week - a gift from Renden


A beautiful old cover sent from Little Falls/Edmunston, New Brunswick, nov 26 1852. Sent from Mr L. Glasier to his brother John Glasier, Lincoln, Maine (US).
As New Brunswick issued their first postage stamps one year earlier in 1851, this is what I would call a "stampless" cover - as opposed to Prephilatelic. A nice "3d" handstamp indicates postage paid - which I suppose to be prepaid (?) because the value is in "d" and not "c" for US.


Transit postmark Woodstock nov 28 and then Fredericton nov 29.
No arrival postmark at Lincoln, Maine


Indication of possible route of travel, distance of 530 km on current day roads.


And a nice write-up made for this cover by Rendens father!

@Renden - thank you again - most generous

This letter is a so called Free-Front, the content is missing, of 8 Oct 1839:



This my explanation of it.

The Free Franking system was not extended to the local post.

https://letterstamper.wordpress.com...cap-35/#XVII
And be it enacted, That no Privilege of Franking shall extend to Letters transmitted by a
Penny or Twopenny Post, so far as respects the Penny or Twopenny Post Rates

The letter was sent from Mortlake (Country Area of London) to Portobello.
The TP Mortlake handstamp was put at the receiving house in Mortlake.

It was charged for 2d in London ( for letters from Country Area to General Post ).
The TO PAY 2d ONLY was put because it was a Free Frank letter so no General Post should be paid.

Then in Scotland it was added the half-penny charge plus the 1d charge for the local post of Edinburgh.

Total 3½d!

Interesting and well made presentation aryeh !

You are very welcome ! Blaamand and happy to see you home, safe. As you will note in the Posts re: library, I have scanned the next book I am buying....trying to see if a member wants to depart of it at a good price......Large Queens !! Yeh

Blaamand / Rendon - The Edmundston cover you posted was sent to Lincoln New Brunswick, not Lincoln Maine. Lincoln NB is just outside Frederickton, NB hence the Frederickton backstamp. If addressed to Maine the rate would have been 6d, not 3d, and it would have one or more exchange office markings.

The Edmundston NB to Lincoln NB cover is sent unpaid.

Thanks SPQR for your observation. All data from this cover comes from my father's notes (deceased in 1999).....but I will certainly verify this as it would make sense that the letter was sent to Lincoln, New Brunswick. History cannot be changed but I can trace the Glasier brothers past history as they were prominent business people at the time and a Lake, in North West N.B. is named after one of them, and spelled Glazier Lake, dividing the USA and Canada. Renden

nota bene: research of existing Post Offices in New Brunswick during the 1852s, another look at the cover (stampless since the 1st Canadian Stamp - our Beaver, Sc #1, appeared in 1951) and the postal rate of 3d does direct the reader to SPQR's observation. My dad would have been sorry for his mistake but happy to be corrected !