US Registered Mail to foreign destinations 1883-1911

Falschung:

The request to post a series of label only images is reasonable, but as an alternative, I would recommend that an interested viewer simply download the two Exhibit pages which illustrate the ten label types, and perhaps print them as a handy reference.  These encompass the types most commonly seen, and it is very helpful to have all of them visible when attempting to determine which of a particular type is present on a cover.

There are three additional types of labels besides the ten described in these two tables, each of which exists in only one variant.  Two of these are found on a cover shown on pages in this Exhibit, and the third is one that was missing from my collection when this Exhibit was prepared several years ago.

I would also caution interested viewers that my descriptions in this Exhibit, and particularly the dimensions, DO NOT consistently match those found in the Scott Catalog.  I believe my dimensions are more precise, but have not at this time undertaken the exercise to try and convince the editors at Scott and Amos Press.

If you use the Scott Catalog and examine the sections for the New York labels, I would also note that the valuations given are for labels used on cover, and that with a few exceptions, there is no (or more precisely, I have not observed) a market or collector interest in the individual labels off-cover.  

The values for covers with these labels can range for $10 to "the skies the limit", and one should keep in mind that the particular stamps present, and the origin and destination of a cover, all have a greater impact on the value that the presence of a particular label.  Covers mailed from "exotic" locations  are more likely to have higher valuations than those which were mailed domestically, as are any to a uncommon destination.  Obviously, covers from the 1880's are more likely to have value than those from the final years, when ten times the number of covers were processed each day.

Registered covers sent to foreign destinations during this 1883-1911 period also exist WITHOUT these labels, but for the most part, I believe that these were labels that were removed by a collector (the Postal Clerks often attached them over the stamps - to the annoyance of future collectors), or lost because they were not well attached to the cover.  These labels were not authorized for use on foreign registered letters which were mailed to addresses in the United States, although a few exist, and several are illustrated in the exhibit.  These are  anomalies for which I do not have an explanation at this time.

I also see instances where a label has been added to fabricate such a registered cover, but the wrong type of label was use, because the literature which currently exhibits does not make it obvious as to which types or styles were used during the time period.  My records - not yet published - allow me to determine in many instances when a label was added improperly simply because the number is out of sequence, even when the correct label was added to fabricate the cover.

Additional questions invited.

Mike