Cover of the Month
A great cover presented by club member Ingo G. Nessel. A great example of postal history. Thanks Ingo!!!
Rural Route Postage Due Card with Commemorative Stamp.
FRONT
BACK
Commemorative stamps are primarily purchased by stamp collectors and either saved in their collections in mint condition, placed on First Day Covers or used to enhance the appearance of letters and eventually become a treasure for collectors of used stamps. It is uncommon for commemoratives to be used as payment on commercial mail, and even more scarce to find them used as postage dues.
The illustrated O.H.M.S card was used by rural route letter carriers to make the collection of postage due convenient for customers outside of urban areas. The card would be placed in the customer’s rural mailbox showing an amount due. The customer would then place postage in that amount on the card and replace it in the box for the carrier’s next pick-up. The customer was also given the option of paying the postage due in cash, leaving it in the mailbox at their own risk.
In this example dated July 13, 1961 the postage due was 10c. This was paid by a pair of the then current E. Pauline Johnson 5c commemorative. In this instance the customer was a prompt payer, as the stamps were cancelled at North Sydney, Nova Scotia on July 14, 1961.
The front of the card is also shown with the O.H.M.S. marking. Neither the postmaster nor the rural route letter carrier filled out the form. The reverse of the card shows printing data in the lower left corner indicating a print run of “20M” (20,000) and issue date of November 30, 1953.
To me, this is a nice way to illustrate non-philatelic usage of commemorative stamps.
A super cover of Canadian postal history. Thanks Ingo for your contribution.
To take a look at past Cover's hit the links below. You will find more interesting items.