Telegraph stamp

Telegraph stamps are stick-on stamps that were issued by private or state telegraph services to acknowledge the payment of Telegram fee (or fee - ).

History

The first public telegraph stamps appeared in 1861 in British India, but 1853 marks the private English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Co. had already appeared.

Not all countries gave out telegraph stamps, there are well-known brands from 60 countries. Since postal and telegraph services were often considered as one authority, came to acknowledge the telegraph charges and postage stamps for use. These are then applied to the special cancellations ( telegraph stamps, perforations ) to detect.

With the proliferation of the telephone in the home the importance of the message and thus the telegraph stamps took in the first half of the 20th century greatly. Probably the last telegraph stamps were issued mid-1990s, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

Use

There are two types of telegraph stamps that differ in their use. Telegraph stamps, which were glued to the admission form of a telegram or a delivery receipt and canceled with stamp, perforation or lettering, were used solely to acknowledge the amount paid for a telegram. In some countries, two-piece stamps were issued, one half received the consignor on a receipt, the second half was glued to the telegraph form. This practice was, for example, in Argentina, India and Uganda temporarily usual.

Another type of telegraph stamps was not the telegraph office, but used by the post office. In places without a telegraph post acted as agent for the telegraph service. Customers were able to send a telegram at the post office, which promoted it by post to the next town with a telegraph office. For this purpose, telegraph stamps were mounted at a height of telegram fee on the envelope. Since the post had taken fees tion states the telegraph service, put the latter to reimburse such fees, the envelopes with Telegrafenmarken the relevant postal authorities. After a storage period, these envelopes were destroyed to prevent abuse. These " settlement brands " include, for example, the first state telegraph stamps of British India (1861 ).

Telgrafenmarken were often spent in high denominations. Missing the post values ​​such state telegraph stamps were occasionally admitted as stamps. This practice is known from Western Australia and some South and Central American countries.

Collecting Telegrafenmarken

Compared to stamps and revenue stamps, telegraph stamps are now considered by only a few collectors. Telegraph stamps, which were used as a clearing trademarks of postal or officially approved as stamp Telegraph stamps are listed in stamp catalogs and obtain in good condition at auctions high prices. In contrast, especially the high denominations of stamps, which were used as a telegraph stamps and wear special telegraph stamp, more often than pieces postally used and are often traded at a discount.