Show your Australia Pre-Decimal stamps on Commercial Covers

[Temora22]

Dick,

Do you think it is possible that a 1/- Lyre stamp may have been affixed at the time of posting and has later fallen off? 1/6d was the rate for the Horseshoe route service applicable in August 1940.

Regards,

[roninrr]

Temora22

I’m sure you are right now that I examine it more closely - lines of slogan stop at left of stamp.

Thanks

Dick Roennfeldt

[MJ's pet]

Do you think it is possible that a 1/- Lyre stamp may have been affixed at the time of posting and has later fallen off? 1/6d was the rate for the Horseshoe route service applicable in August 1940.

Yes. Or steamed off by a collector.

[agondocz]

Perhaps an interesting notice:

The notice concerned the removal of a name from a voters' list.

The notice was postmarked on 10 JUL 16 and mailed to a local address in Richmond, Victoria.

The postmark includes "Paid at Richmond" and "12½". I am unsure of the meaning of the latter. There is also a "20 POSTED" cachet underneath the "Not Known by / Letter Carriers / Richmond" cachet.

A very fragile notice!

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[MJ's pet]

The postmark includes "Paid at Richmond" and "12½". I am unsure of the meaning of the latter.

Possibly 12.30PM.

[agondocz]

Hi MJ's pet,

Thank you, that is something that I had not considered.

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[agondocz]

Hi,

An airmail cover from Australia to the United States in 1940:

The cover was franked with a 2d KGVI, a 6d Kookaburra and a 1/6d Hermes for a total of 2/2d. This may have paid the fee for the airmail rate to England, surface rate to New York City and then the American airmail rate to Los Angeles.

There is a faint 9 FEB 1940 postmark from Melbourne.

The cover includes a large three dots censorship tape and a Passed by / Censor 24 cachet.

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[MJ's pet]

The censor at the left is Australian of course. Probably US censor tape at the right now missing (that very thin cellophane type) which has left a residue.

[agondocz]

Hi MJ's pet,

The Americans liked to use cellophane, I guess.

Thanks,
AndrewG

[roninrr]

Andrew

Breckon confirms your surmise that 2/2d paid for airmail to UK via Singapore, surface carriage across the Atlantic and then air mail across USA.

A rather tortuous route with some uncertainty with U-boat activity just getting started in the Atlantic.

The sender had a couple of other more expensive options, 3/2d all the way air mail via UK and 4/8d air carriage across the Pacific.

Perhaps he was saving money?

Still not a bad time of 5 weeks for delivery (as good as today).

If he was saving money why not a standard 3d surface across the Pacific which would probably beat that?

I have a couple of surface rate covers using a 3d KGVI which show a 4 week delivery time from Sydney to Milwaukee so Los Angeles would be shorter.

An intriguing item.

Dick Roennfeldt

[roninrr]

I meant to include this cover which most closely matches the date of your cover. Date of receipt stamp on front.

Dick Roennfeldt

[agondocz]

Hello Dick,

Your cover does not appear to have been censored and yet mine was. Perhaps yours was to a company, mine to a private person?

I also like the biplane that appears on the Los Angeles backstamp.

Thanks for your comments.

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[agondocz]

Hi,

An Australian wartime cover:

The cover was mailed from Brisbane and postmarked on 25 SEP 1944. Apparently it arrived in Oakland, California on 11-6-44.

The 1/6 Hermes may have overpaid the ½ to 1oz airmail to the United States in 1944 by 1d. The rate at the time was 9d for the first ½oz then 8d for each subsequent ½oz. From Breckon, The Australian Philatelist, October 1988, pg 56.

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[RogerE]

Two comments on the post by AndrewG = agondocz

1. The red '1' on the CENSOR label indicates censorship in Brisbane.

2. "The cover was mailed from Brisbane and postmarked on 25 SEP 1944. Apparently it arrived in Oakland, California on 11-6-44."
The dates stated are in two different conventions. When the month is shown as a word abbreviation (as in 25 SEP 1944) there is no ambiguity. But when it is just shown as a number (as in 11-6-44) there is usually ambiguity about whether the American date convention or the British date convention is being used. In the context with 25 SEP 1944 as the posting date, uncertainty is removed in this case. However, why not add an explicit clarification? I think it is clearer and more user-friendly to add something along these lines, which does not require the reader to repeat the deductive reasoning which the commentator has presumably had to do, so knows he can help others skip the necessity:
"Apparently it arrived in Oakland, California on 11-6-44 [= NOV 6, 1944]."

/RogerE

[agondocz]

Thanks RogerE,

I will remember to do so.

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[RogerE]

/RogerE

[agondocz]

Hi,

I am not sure about this and the next registration envelope:

The 1/½d envelope was mailed from Wittenoom, Western Australia to Perth, also in Western Australia. The envelope was postmarked 5 JE 56. The registration fee was 9d and the domestic rate was 3½d, thus 1/½d.

Question: does the 3d QEII pay for the additional £5-10 compensation or overpay by ½d the 2½d for the 1-2oz domestic rate?

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[agondocz]

This registration envelope:

is a 1/½d registration envelope franked with an additional 6d Kookaburra. The envelope was postmarked on 5 SE 56 from Muree, New South Wales and was mailed to Elwood, Victoria.

The 1/½d already includes 3½d for the domestic rate. The 6d could include payment for the ½-1oz airmail rate or for the up to ½d rate plus 3d for the £5- £10 compensation rate. For me a bit of a puzzle.

Best wishes,
AndrewG

[roninrr]

Andrew

I reckon it would be for compensation notwithstanding lack of marking identifying that additional compensation was payable.

Something ordered from Wittenoom in the far NW and paid for (by cash or cheque) from Boans Department Store mail order catalogue.

Envelope does not look stressed or fattened to suggest it was overweight.

Dick Roennfeldt

[roninrr]

Andrew

For your second cover I’m going for the double airmail fee.

These printed registered envelopes often exceeded the 1/2 oz weight thus incurring a second air mail fee if used.

Dick Roennfeldt

[agondocz]

Hello Dick,

I appreciate your comments. I thought as much for the second envelope, although I must admit I was hoping that I was wrong.

Thank you,
AndrewG

[Lundy]

A couple more I bought following a few I added to the decimal covers thread,

A 1/5d rate calendar cover sent October 1966 to England

and another large 1/5d rate cover sent 1 Nov 1963 with the 1/- Colombo Plan stamp

Lundy