Help : 1941 Censored Cover From Curacao

Could someone pls advise as to why would this 1941 censored cover from Curacao should have 268 c in total postage when the international postage rate was far less?

Thanks in advance

I count 1.38 guilders postage plus 1.25 surcharge for airmail. There was a considerable surcharge for airmail

Thanks .. could you kindly explain the postage and the surcharge?
Which stamps are the postage and which ones are the surcharge?
Was the high surcharge due to ww2?

Thanks in advance

Interesting.
Never seen a horizontal time clock Pmk before.

It can be difficult finding airmail rates as they changed frequently, particularly before WW II.

Based on the rates beginning March 24, 1941, we can guess:

Letter weighed between 30 and 35 grams.

Postage 12½ (0-20g) plus 7½ (20-40g) for 20 cents.
Airmail surcharge 7 times 35 (per 5 gm) for 245 cents.

Total 265 cents.

Your letter appears to be 2 cents underpaid.

Jan

rod, I think the clock is a private marking and not postal. After all, it says "mailing dept." which is too obvious even for the P.O. You may be thinking of the ones used in the earlier days of US special delivery service. Perhaps John Becker can say if clocks were being used postally in this era.

I am sure that is company receiving mark, not from the PO.

Right, thanks guys
Thanks HB
Looks obvious now

I had immediately thought of the Aussie clock Pmks

The most extraordinary one was the 1891 Turkish Revenue
with an actual clockface and hands in violet.

Many thanks everyone

I've done a little more digging into the air rates. The problem is that in some cases the air rate is a surcharge (so doesn't include postage) but in other cases it is an inclusive rate (so does include postage).

In this case, as far as I can understand the tables, this air rate (35 cents per 5 grams to the US) includes postage.

Thus for a letter which weighs 35-35 grams, the rate would be 7 times 35 or f 2.45. This leaves 18 cents postage which I can't account for.

Jan