Hi everyone. My name is Kent.
A fellow collector let me know this topic was active. I'm excited to see what y'all have already posted!
If you have ANY questions about Postal Notes issued 1883 to 1894, I can answer almost any conceivable question. I have been researching these since about 2009, and have teamed up with Charles Surasky to continue the "census" the late Jim Noll had been working on.
Charles and I have a book in the works, but much more research is needed, so it will be a while before we are ready to go to print. (I have yet to visit over a dozen archives across the United States to review documents with Postal Note data needed for the book.)
One useful section of the book will show a list of ALL post office that were authorized to issue Postal Notes. (Only a fraction of all post offices was allowed to issue Postal Notes or Money Orders. The postmaster's annual compensation was the key factor in determining if a post office could handle the monetary requirements. An additional bond was also required.)
When Jim Noll passed away in 2014, there were 1,460 Postal Notes known in his "Index of U.S. Postal Notes in Collectors Hands", which he last updated in 2004. With the help of many philatelists and currency enthusiasts, we have grown the census to 2,315 Postal Notes believed to have survived as of my August 2024 update on the Paper Money Forum that was mentioned by postagedueguy. (I update that posting once each month. It seems these are collected more by the paper money collectors than the postal history collectors.)
I am still seeking images of about 800 of the notes that were in Jim's "census" to verify his data regarding each of those notes. So if you have been holding any Postal Notes for more than a decade or two, please let me know about it. I NEVER publish images without prior permission, and keep owners' information private.
While Charles and I are not making the entire census public yet (it is destined for the book), I am more than happy to provide data regarding quantities for specific states or towns on request and if within reason.
While I do collect these, my primary goal is collecting data. If you provide information on any of your notes, I will NOT bother you by asking if it is for sale.
Now to address some of the previous posts in this topic:
To orstampman:
First, a minor correction to a statement commonly seen on the internet, and I presume you came across this statement somewhere in your research. Postal Notes were NOT precursors to postal Money Orders. The Postal Money Order system began operations on November 1, 1864, with 139 postal Money Order Offices operational on that date. (This number differs from 141 Money Order Offices mentioned in some official documents. Two offices in the original list of 141 offices did not begin operations until later, due to "rebel activities" in parts of Missouri.) Another post office became a Money Order Office in February of 1865 and ceased Money Order operations by June of 1865 (prior to the end of the fiscal year.) Also, some other official documents suggest 481 Money Order Offices were operational at the end of fiscal year ending June 30, 1865. That number is incorrect. The 481 number was as of the date of the Postmaster-General's annual report in November 1865.
Postal Notes were introduced as a less secure method of sending money through the mail, were less expensive than Money Orders, and were issued concurrently with Money Orders. In fact, Postal Notes were meant as a replacement for the Fractional Currency that had been withdrawn in 1876.
Both of your Postal Notes, Station A, New York, NY #2982 Type I and Station B, New York, NY #470 are new additions to the census. Postal Notes from the state of New York are quite common, with 366 known from that state. (That number will increase to 368 with the addition of your two notes to the census.)
From the data on other known surviving notes from the same location, I can state your Station B, New York, NY #470 was without doubt, issued on March 22, 1884.
To mml1942:
You are correct, most known survivors were issued for one cent. We consider any Postal Note issued for five cents or less as a souvenir. Postal Notes issued from $1.00 to $4.99 (the maximum) are known, but much scarcer, and worth a premium.
To postagedueguy:
You've got quite a few Postal Notes!
The Station J, New York, NY #12013 is what I refer to as a Type V.01 (other references may be Type V.1 or Type V-a). This is in the census, but I could use your help. Could you provide a close-up image of the plate number and plate position letter? I can't quite make it out in the image you posted. It is located on the front, just Northeast of the word "SIGNATURE". Thank you.
The Portland, Oregon #107578 Type V is in the census. It was issued on the last day Postal Note were allowed to be issued. Saturday, June 30, 1894.
The New York, NY #324229 Type V is in the census.At $.02 it is a souvenir.
The Dolgeville, New York Type I is in the census (is it one of three known from that location.) The $0.05 denomination suggests it too, is a souvenir.
The Grafton, Vermont Type I is the sole survivor from that location and is in the census. Nice low serial number too! Have you been able to determine that day of issue in October, 1883? The date stamp is nearly illegible--a common problem with the Type I Postal Notes!
The New York, NY #1230 Type I has an interesting value of $0.10, but was never redeemed. It is already in the census. Interestingly, we have data that shows some Postal Notes issued for that amount were redeemed.
The joint pair of Portland, Oregon Type V Postal Notes are attributed to a person who we believe was an editor or publisher in Oregon who accumulated the vast majority of the known examples from that post office. The signature E.O. Norton on the line for the redeemer indicates these notes went through their hands.
***All Postal Notes were provided to postmasters in booklets containing 500 postal notes (1883-1894) and in booklets of 300, 200 and 100 Postal Notes (1887-1894) and we believe in booklets of just 50 Postal Notes in the waning days of issuance in 1894 (more research needed to confirm the last fact.) There are quite a few joint pairs known, but they are much scarcer than the single notes.
The Coggon, Iowa stub pairs 1241-1242 and 1251-1252 with the dollar coupons are already in my crazy stub census that I am compiling. (I've been told I'm crazy for keeping this census!) They are a neat piece of Postal Note history. To date, I have 2,141 stubs in the stub census, which includes stubs that are still in complete booklets, sans Postal Notes.
To everyone:
Here's an image of the first booklet of Postal Notes from the Hartland, Vermont post office. Notice the statement on the cover that none were to be issued before September 3, 1883. All 500 stubs (#1 to #500) are still in it:
If there is interest, and if the moderators will allow it, I am willing to start a topic similar to what I have posted on the Paper Money Forum. I can update my progress each month as I do on that site.
I provided tabulated data on the regarding issuance data per state and the number of known surviving that was published in "Paper Money of the United States", 22nd edition (pp. 253-256), by Arthur and Ira Friedberg.
As for pricing, over the past 15-20 years, I have seen sales data on thousands of Postal Notes. I left the pricing decision and story to Arthur and the author of that section for inclusion in the book--so there are some average prices shown. Be aware that prices can vary widely depending on overall desirability of each specific Postal Note. Many towns are unique--but that does not necessarily drive the price upward.
Posted 08/31/2024 09:26 am
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