Older Mint Stamps Use As Postage

Hi all

I've been collecting stamps and postal history over 60 years now.

Every once in a while ran into a trade where in addition to what I wanted there was also older mint stamps that I had no interest in.

So I started using these older mint U.S. Postage Stamps to make up the current first class rate.

I don't have any examples to show because they were on my outgoing mail.

There are covers out there with a lot of the 498 and 499's out there in addition to stamps from the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's out there some place.

Just thought this might make an interesting labor day item for discussion.

Stampmaster

Just be 100% sure that they are the most common stamps and that they don't have any varieties.

No varieties at all, only good for postage.

Stampmaster

There are also covers made up with pictorial show cancels with similarly themed stamps. I recall a $2 Trans-Miss being used for one -- I assume it was faulty. Still.

Old ones don't have phosphor to trigger the cancelling machine and are subject to attack by marker monkeys.

You used to be able to use Special Deliveries for Express Mail, but if it's still allowed and you try it for Next Day, be sure to have a copy of the page of the Postal Laws and Regulations with you to prove you can do this. Likewise if you decide to use A, B, C, etc. stamps over the counter.

All of my mail is sent with old postage. It is hilarious seeing the look on my postmasters face when I hand him an envelope covered in 3 cent commemoratives.

I get them all the time......collectors have a sense of fun / humour.

George washington-Monaco

My philatelic ebay purchases usually have older postage.

Mixed feelings about using older stamps on current postage.

First, they obviously attract attention and sometime this is not what I want on some mailings.

Second, I have noticed a trend that mailings with old stamps seem to always take longer in transit. I do not know if this may be because they don't have tagging to help with automated sorting or if I have some disgruntled employee at the local post office. But for whatever reason(s) metered mail and new stamps seems to move faster.
Don

Rod 222 was lucky someone didn't steal the franklin washington Marylene cover...

Ever tried to mail a letter with 3 cent stamps! I have. No room for the address on it. I like to use old (hinged) three cent stamps on letters where I can request the envelope back (to family or SASE), and the soak the canceled stamps off. But boy is it tough to squeeze on!

I'm curious about this. Will it be obvious from the cancellation that it was cancelled in the modern era, and not back in the day they were valid for first class postage?

Some yes and some no. Depends on kind of cancel, but usually yes. Spray on cancellation is a dead give away. Only real way to avoid it is to request them to be hand canceled, and the portions of the cancel without the year on the date stamp will look time appropriate. But given the value of these stamps, being able to wringing 3 cents out of them, and then having them in used condition, leaves me well ahead of the game.

I try to use a "newer" old stamp with phosphor for the upper right position and use the older non-phosphor stamps to the left and below to make up the current rate. Over the years I have sent out thousands of envelopes this way and have never had a complaint of late payment by a vendor of any kind. I send out about fifteen covers on average for pictorial postmarks every other week when the Postal Bulletin comes out and have had no postmaster ever complain about old postage. Many of the covers enclosed are cancelled and returned within a few days, so there doesn't seem to be any more delays than any other mail.

@rod222 -

You may want to edit the first image, if possible, that still has your full address on it.

Given the ignorance of some of the window clerks these days, especially the newer hires, that might not be a bad idea on any visit to the post office. A while back my use of three 44-cent "Adopt a Shelter Pet" stamps to (overpay) the $1.15 rate to Russia was rejected because they weren't "international" stamps. Then she asked me if they were American stamps (I'm not quite sure what she thought the "USA" next to the "44" might have meant).

Thanks for your caring consideration.
That address was many moons ago, and the property has changed hands since, many times.

Image changed.