Why Did This Half-Cent Postage Due Cover Go So High?

1. Please don't shout.

2. I don't see anything about this cover that implies that it is a philatelic creation.

As I mention in another post, if you don't like the tiny font, then please install a browser extension that allows you to enlarge websites. I use one that allows me to set and save different default zoom levels for each website, because I too have vision issues.

Posting in large fonts makes everyone else have to deal with your personal preferences. It's inconsiderate. Thank you.

Regarding #2, I'm sorry, but "trust me" doesn't fly. You need to explain the justification for your conclusion. What aspects of the cover lead you to believe that it is philatelic? A usage of a 1-1/2 cent prexie does not in and of itself mean the cover is philatelic.

I have to agree with revenuecollector, please refrain from such a large font due to the effect of "shouting" that is percieved from such an action.

-Jake

With all due respect, this cover is about as nonphilatelic as it gets. It would have carried an invitation or greeting card; the sender wrote something the card but mailed it at the printed matter rate and got caught. It uses the right stamp issued for the rate that the sender used at the right time. Quite a set of circumstances, but not a contrived one.

I agree with paperhistory. Back in the day, office workers who handled day to day mail knew about things like the discounted printed matter rate and how to mail things. Old secretaries and mailroom workers I've met had good knowledge and also could do math to calculate proper postage, unlike a lot of PO counter clerks today. So, I can imagine that the sender had a lot of these to mail and to save a little money, sent them as printed matter. They just weren't absolutely familiar with postal rules or thought that what they wrote could slide by. And if the envelope were unsealed (was it?) to prove it was a card or suchlike inside, it made it easy for a postal clerk to check as they were supposed to do.

John Becker, rules given are similar for printed matter but third class is merchandise. What am I missing here?

Similar to current media mail rules, whereby all MM parcels are subject to inspection.

hy-brasil,
2nd class is for periodicals. This has every appearance of being mailed as a single-piece unsealed 3rd class mailing, like a birthday card, etc. This is where the Christmas cards fall. Check out the Beecher/Wawrukiewicz rate books. I scanned and posted the 3rd class rules, because that is what applies here.

The clerks would not have time to do more than a random inspection of 3rd class mail.

Since it was not tied, how do we know the postage do stamp originated on the cover? Were postage dues ALWAYS applied to underpaid covers?

Realistically, this would be true of ANY precanceled stamp: postage due, postage, air mail, special delivery, percel post, revenue, you name it. Precanceling was a prevalent practice at large companies and post offices and for processes where stamps needed to be applied quickly.

You try to align characteristics of the precancel with other attributes of the cover/document. Sometimes you cannot.




Not if they weren't caught.

How exactly would the recipient have tendered a half cent to pay the fee?

They would have paid the next highest full cent and received a half cent stamp as change.

See some of the examples I posted in this thread:

https://goscf.com/t/57969

What I meant was did they sometimes collect the amount without applying PD stamps?

Here is an example of a postage due cover from Canada to the US, and no PD stamps were applied. There are no backstamps on it.

BeeSee, in the case just shown, the business likely got more than 1 due cover that day and the stamps were applied to the top of the stack or to a postage due bill form and collected as a group. Saves a lot of labor that way.