JeffS
Member 
Posts: 2,109
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Jun 4, 2020 1:37:28 GMT
No good deed goes unpunished. I sent this in February. A condolence card, no less. It came back yesterday after nearly four months marked ‘Not Deliverable’. Huh? ... The collector in me cries out - open the cover carefully, retrieve the contents, mail contents in a new envelope and keep the very neat cover. |
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kasvik
Member
Posts: 453
What I collect: Cancels mostly, especially Sweden Gävle and Lidingö, Switzerland Geneva, Germany Pforzheim
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Post by kasvik on Jun 4, 2020 2:31:46 GMT
The collector in me cries out - open the cover carefully, retrieve the contents, mail contents in a new envelope and keep the very neat cover.
I guess I could send Daniel a print-out of the cover scan. |
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Jun 19, 2020 0:19:26 GMT
Here is one that was missing in action for over a year and a half. I don't know whether it was lost in the U.S. postal system or that of Spain. Maybe someone can figure out the markings on the back for a better clue. I sent this envelope containing the two Spanish imperforate souvenir sheets for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Scott Spain #877a-878a) to a collector in Spain who had purchased them on eBay. Several weeks later, she contacted me to advise she had not received the shipment, so I issued a refund. The package was mailed on January 11, 2011. The only dated markings indicate it was then handled by the Spanish postal authorities on August 28, 2012. By that time, the addressee had moved and the package was subsequently returned to me in September of 2012. I e-mailed the purchaser to advise her the package had been returned to me. To my surprise, she still wanted the items! She re-sent payment and I re-sent the package, which she received this time. Where it was for a year and a half, I'll never know.   |
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JeffS
Member
Posts: 2,109
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Jun 19, 2020 1:11:44 GMT
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Mick
Member
Site Supporter
Posts: 856 
What I collect: Worldwide used stamps and covers. Really anything that takes my fancy.
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Post by Mick on Jul 24, 2020 23:27:55 GMT
A sign of the times. A postcard that I attempted to send to Eswatini was returned to me with this on the picture side:  |
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kosmo
Member
Posts: 308
What I collect: I can assist you in buying stamps at auctions in Russia.
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Post by kosmo on Oct 18, 2020 18:26:22 GMT
From the new arrival here is a return from new York to the USSR in 1988.  |
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JeffS
Member
Posts: 2,109
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Jul 25, 2021 14:24:38 GMT
Anyone is welcome to play . . .
. . . .
HAVE YOUR MAIL ADDRESSED TO YOUR STREET AND NUMBER New Dorchester Station, Boston 1901
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Post by gregalex on Aug 7, 2021 18:49:00 GMT
Here are a few. I think carrier back stamps would fall under this listing -- these have been a fascination of mine for some time.
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JeffS
Member
Posts: 2,109
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Aug 7, 2021 20:33:53 GMT
gregalex - the STAR AIR SERVICE cover is quite nice, emergency air from Alaska to the lower 48 at the first class letter rate. And it is not one of those philatelic inspirations of some time later. Good find!
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Post by gregalex on Aug 10, 2021 0:16:47 GMT
gregalex - the STAR AIR SERVICE cover is quite nice, emergency air from Alaska to the lower 48 at the first class letter rate. And it is not one of those philatelic inspirations of some time later. Good find! From what I've been told, Star Air Service was *intended* to be an emergency mail service, but in parts of Alaska there was no other way to get mail in and out, so it became the standard practice. |
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gatodiablo
Member
Posts: 403
What I collect: Places I've been, and places I want to go.
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Post by gatodiablo on Aug 10, 2021 0:26:59 GMT
And one has to wonder why mail to Colt Firearms would warrant emergency service. Perhaps there was a maurading brown bear in the neighborhood...  |
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Post by gregalex on Aug 19, 2021 1:32:38 GMT
Here's one of the oddest markings I've seen lately. You have to assume that this happened often enough to justify a rubber stamp. I wonder what was so sticky?
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kasvik
Member
Posts: 453
What I collect: Cancels mostly, especially Sweden Gävle and Lidingö, Switzerland Geneva, Germany Pforzheim
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Post by kasvik on Aug 20, 2021 2:55:55 GMT
Here's one of the oddest markings I've seen lately. You have to assume that this happened often enough to justify a rubber stamp. I wonder what was so sticky?
If they had this, there must have been a library of equally obscure counterparts. I imagine a pale, much ignored clerk, the go-to rubber stamp librarian, the only person who knew where to find them, and in all likelihood the man who ordered them. He brought them out only upon request, with the loving care of a parent, watched anxiously as a colleague roughly applied it, cleaned each one after and--if no one was looking--put it away with a small kiss. |
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hdm1950
Member
Posts: 1,126
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Aug 25, 2021 22:34:06 GMT
Another cover from the miscellaneous binder is this 1980 era item that was returned because it is smaller than the minimum size. Size is so over rated..  . Interesting that it has no cancel so maybe it was caught at the originating post office. The return address is embossed on the back and would not scan well as it is white on white. It is from Encino, California.  |
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Post by gregalex on Aug 30, 2021 21:09:24 GMT
Here's another interesting one. You've heard of mask mandates -- here's a box mandate. :-)  |
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WERT
Departed
Rest in Peace
Posts: 1,062
What I collect: Canada and Provinces
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Post by WERT on Aug 31, 2021 0:57:18 GMT
This is the oldest USA cover i have....Pic.2 where it came from and Pic.3 what post office it ended up at. Robert
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salentin
Member
collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
Posts: 5,172
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Post by salentin on Sept 1, 2021 13:21:23 GMT
I do not collect letters or stationery per se,but have put aside a number of them over the years,what seemed to me too interesting to cut the stamps out and throw them into the waste bin. Some of them bear auxilliar markings and labels.
Registration cancel from an illegible place in West-Pakistan.
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 1, 2021 14:17:16 GMT
AIR MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY Postage due ____ cents
Here is a cover that shows a locally applied auxiliary marking of AIR_MAIL \ SPECIAL DELIVER and a separate "Postage due ____ cents." They look like rubber stamps probably unique to this Houston post office?
But the really unusual thing about this cover is that one of the stamps is almost whole with another partial stamp partially stuck on top. Clearly done on purpose and then run through the cancelling machine at the post office. See images below.
Note the partially lifted stamp in upper right corner.
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 1, 2021 15:13:35 GMT
SHIP
Here is another old one that I don't think anyone has posted -- a ship marking. Letter from Rio to Boston via Philadelphia in 1824. Ship marking looks to have been applied in Philadelphia.
Letter
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 1, 2021 15:58:08 GMT
UNABLE TO FORWARD/FOR REVIEW
RETURN TO SENDER NOT DELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED UNABLE TO FORWARD
This is a returned (nixie labels) cover that I sent out last year. Still not sure why this was returned. I sent it on 3/12/20 just after Covid blew up the world and it eventually came back to me on 6/4/20. It never made it to the person addressed and I sent a replacement on 4/2/20 via first class package that took 2 days. To the same identical address!
Note that one of these labels still identifies it as NIXIE. They both look like they may have been applied by a machine rather than by hand. But I am not sure on this point.
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 1, 2021 16:12:43 GMT
Avis de Reception Return Receipt Requested
Here is one more I don't believe I have seen posted. Avis de Reception (Return Receipt Requested). From Oakland California to Hannover, Germany in four days. Not bad. Today it would be considered a near miracle! 
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 1, 2021 18:30:39 GMT
PASSED BY U.S. CUSTOMS
Anther customs mark, from Chicago P.O. This is a registered letter from Vryburg, South Africa to Chicago, Illinois from 1922. Does anyone know what the two different 5 digit numbers mean [36451, 40298]? They look like zip codes but obviously not in 1922.
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kasvik
Member
Posts: 453
What I collect: Cancels mostly, especially Sweden Gävle and Lidingö, Switzerland Geneva, Germany Pforzheim
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Post by kasvik on Sept 2, 2021 2:53:58 GMT
PASSED BY U.S. CUSTOMS Anther customs mark, from Chicago P.O. This is a registered letter from Vryburg, South Africa to Chicago, Illinois from 1922. Does anyone know what the two different 5 digit numbers mean [36451, 40298]? They look like zip codes but obviously not in 1922. |
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 2, 2021 10:56:20 GMT
Aaron (kasvik) said,
Thanks. This is a good lead, I will check if I have any more similar ones.
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 2, 2021 11:04:38 GMT
PASSED FREE (?) U.S. CUSTOMS
This is the last new one I have found. I am not sure it actually says "PASSED FREE" The FREE part is not clear and it could be something else. I also can't read the bottom line, it says BOSTON MGR perhaps. Any guesses? This is nice cover with great cancels from Eastbourne, Sussex, UK to Concord, Massachusetts from 1958.
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Londonbus1
Moderator 
Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 4,525
What I collect: Cinderellas and some Ephemera from Great Britain, France and Israel plus a few beautiful bits from elsewhere !! Topical interests include Flags & Judaica, the latter with an emphasis on the Jewish National Fund.
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Post by Londonbus1 on Sept 2, 2021 11:15:13 GMT
Boston, Mass. (Massachusetts)
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 252
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Sept 2, 2021 12:21:21 GMT
Too obvious. Duhhh. Thanks.
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Post by gregalex on Sept 5, 2021 7:47:25 GMT
Here are a few others I found on postcards. How this one went from Ohio to the Seattle Foreign Division on its way to New York is a bit curious. I suspect the NY was misinterpreted as NZ (New Zealand) and it headed off the other direction.
I think this card, which has no street listed, got sent to various city routes until someone recognized the recipient.
General delivery cards that went unclaimed were advertised in a local publication, searching for the intended recipient -- and leading to this nice circular marking.
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hdm1950
Member
Posts: 1,126
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Sept 29, 2021 22:38:31 GMT
Another item in the large collection I am sorting through included this 1938 cover from Philadelphia to Montreal. The large blurry auxiliary mark I suspect is from the Montreal post office as there appears to be some French. The 'NOT IN SPECIAL DELIVERY MAIL' may be from the USA side. JeffS may have the answer.  
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JeffS
Member
Posts: 2,109
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Sept 29, 2021 23:20:14 GMT
@hdm1950 - The international special delivery fee at this time was 20 cents, not 10 cents as was domestic special delivery. The rather extensive and blurry auxiliary marking in French and English explains this. Thus the NOT IN SPECIAL DELIVERY MAIL handstamp
What is more special is the large "10" (cents postage due) rate stamp which sure looks like a holdover from the Canadian Decimal Stamp era, 1859 - 1867. This causes me a bit of confusion as this should not have been charged 10 cents postage due as the cover clearly states that it is not in special delivery mail. So most likely this is simply spelling out the deficiency in the special delivery fee.
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