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A postmark is a postal marking made on an
envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a ...
, parcel,
postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as woo ...
or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. Modern postmarks are often applied simultaneously with the cancellation or killer that marks postage stamps as having been used. Sometimes a postmark alone is used to cancel stamps, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. Postmarks may be applied by handstamp or machine, using methods such as rollers or inkjets, while
digital postmark A Digital Postmark (DPM) is a technology that applies a trusted time stamp issued by a postal operator to an electronic document, validates electronic signatures, and stores and archives all non-repudiation data needed to support a potential cour ...
s are a recent innovation.


History

The first postmark, called the "Bishop mark", was introduced by English
Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
Henry Bishop in 1661 and showed only the day and month of mailing to prevent the delay of the mail by carriers. In England during the latter part of the 17th century, several postmarks were devised for use with the
London Penny Post The London Penny Post was a premier postal system whose function was to deliver mail within London and its immediate suburbs for the modest sum of one penny. The Penny Post was established in 1680 by William Dockwra and his business partner, R ...
, a postal system that delivered mailed items within the city of London. The postmarks bore the initial of the particular post office or handling house it was sent from along with a separate time stamp. Postage was prepaid and the postmark was applied to the mailed item by means of an inked hand-stamp. Some historians also consider these postmarks to be the world's first postage "stamps". In the 19th century and early 1900s, it was common for letters to receive multiple postmarks, or backstamps, indicating the time, date, and location of each post office transporting or delivering the letter, and this is still occasionally true. While almost every contemporary postmark includes a location as well as a date, in 2004,
New Zealand Post NZ Post ( mi, Tukurau Aotearoa), shortened from New Zealand Post, is a state-owned enterprise responsible for providing postal service in New Zealand. The New Zealand Post Office, a government agency, provided postal, banking, and telecommuni ...
announced plans to eliminate the location on their postmarks and include only the date; however, information about this can be determined by a three-number code on the postmarks. In Great Britain, the first postmark employed for the cancellation of the then new adhesive postage stamps was the
Maltese Cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which develope ...
, so named because of its shape and appearance. This was used in conjunction with a date stamp which was applied, usually to the rear of the letter, which denoted the date of posting. Different types of postmarks include
railway post office In Canada and the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly tr ...
s (RPOs) and maritime (on-board ship) postmarks. Postmarks on
naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inclu ...
vessels during sensitive operations in wartime are sometimes "clean", showing less information than usual to prevent route of travel or other details from falling into enemy hands. Similar to this is the "censored postmark", overprinted with a black obliteration of the time and place of mailing, for similar reasons. The
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pike ...
used a variety of different
postmarks A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...
on the mail it carried across the Western United States. There are only 250 known examples of surviving Pony Express mail/postmarks in various collections today bearing one of more than a dozen different types of postmarks. Hawai'i Post, a discontinued personal delivery service, once had a
surfboard A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa he'e ...
mail postmark, for covers that traveled by surfboard. A colour postmark is on the United States Postal Service-issued collectible envelope commemorating the 2004
inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
of George W. Bush. While postmarks are applied almost universally by or under the authority of the official postal department, service, or authority in the United States it is possible to receive "a permit to apply your own postmark", called a Mailer's Postmark Permit, and under certain conditions specified by the private express statutes in the United States, a privately carried letter may be cancelled with a private postmark. Unofficial entities that issue
artistamp The term artistamp (a portmanteau of the words "artist" and "stamp") or artist's stamp refers to a postage stamp-like art form used to depict or commemorate any subject its creator chooses. Artistamps are a form of Cinderella stamps in that the ...
s may use postmark-like markings as well. Marcophily is the study of postmarks and there are many published work on postmarks covering the topic from before 1900, such as the fancy cancels, until the present day. These include the so-called fancy cancels of the United States to modern
machine postmark {{Globalize, article, USA, 2name=the United States, date=November 2016 A machine postmark or machine cancellation is a postmark or cancellation on mail that is applied by a mechanical device rather than with the use of a handstamp. Nearly all m ...
s. Fewer postmarks are used now than previously, with the advent of meter labels, some types of
computer vended postage A postage meter or franking machine is a mechanical device used to create and apply physical evidence of postage (or franking) to mailed items. Postage meters are regulated by a country's postal authority. A postage meter imprints an amount of ...
, and
computerized postage A postage meter or franking machine is a mechanical device used to create and apply physical evidence of postage (or franking) to mailed items. Postage meters are regulated by a country's postal authority. A postage meter imprints an amount of ...
that people can print from their own
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or te ...
s (called "PC postage" in the United States, these services have been offered by such companies as
Stamps.com Stamps.com is an American company that provides Internet-based mailing and shipping services. Until its acquisition by Thoma Bravo Stamps.com was a public company traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol STMP. The company's main offices ...
and
Neopost Quadient is an international company specialized in mailing equipment, business process automation and customer experience management. It was originally founded as Neopost. As of 2019, the company had about 5,693 employees and annual sales of € ...
). These indicia are not always postmarked by the post office but if put into the mailstream later than the date listed on them, they are postmarked about 50% of the time. Because of this, it is a bad idea to try to use the date on your postage as a postmark. An official example relating a
numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also incl ...
item to postmarks occurred on April 13, 1976 when the U.S. issued a new two-dollar bill. People could buy the bills at face value, add a first class stamp (at the time 13 cents), and have the combination postmarked to show they were the first day of issue. Large numbers of these were produced and they remain common.


Ink colour

When the first universal postal system was started in the United Kingdom with its
Penny Black The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom (referred to in philatelic circles as Great Britain), on 1 May 1840, but was not valid for use until 6 May ...
, the postmark used red ink for contrast. This was not successful, and the stamp was changed to non-black colours so that the postmark could use black ink. The majority of postmarks today are in black, with red (particularly in the United States with local post offices' handstamps) following, though sometimes they are in other colours. This is particularly true in the case of pictorial postmarks if the colour in question has some connection to the commemoration.


Digital postmarks

In 2004 the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...
announced plans to introduce first day digital colour postmarks to be used to cancel some first day covers for commemorative stamps in 2005 and this practice continued and was ongoing as of 2015.


Postmark advertisement

Singapore Post offers a "postmark advertising" service which, strictly speaking, applies to the "killer" rather than the postmark. Hungarian Post Co., Ltd. offers a similar service.


Unusual postmark techniques

There have apparently been some postmarks producing a stereoscopic or "3D" effect where a special viewer is required. They are considered more as a novelty than as a practical postmark. The local post Hawai'i Post had a rubber-stamp postmark, parts of which were hand-painted. At Hideaway Island,
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of ...
, the Underwater Post Office has an embossed postmark.


Valuation of cancellations

The study of postmarks is a specialized branch of philately called marcophily. It may bring added value to the stamps by their historical significance. Other parameters are the rarity and the attractiveness. In particular, the stamps issued by the Empire of Austria during the 1850–1867 period (the 5 issues before the Austro-Hungarian compromise of 1867), are collected for their variety and beauty. More details can be found in
Valuation of cancellations of the Austrian Empire The study of postmarks is a specialized branch of philately called marcophily. It brings added value to the stamps by their historical significance. Other parameters are the rarity and the attractiveness. In particular, the stamps issued by the Habs ...
. A special or rare postmark can substantially add to the value of a stamp. Also, in addition to everyday postmarks there are postmarks indicating the first day of issue of a particular stamp and pictorial cancellations commemorating local events, anniversaries, and the like' and slogan postmarks which advertise an event or pass information to the public. (There has been a recent change to the term "pictorial postmarks" rather than "pictorial cancellations" by the USPS.) There are some examples of "faked covers" produced by philatelic forgers, most usually to increase their value, in which the postmark has been altered in some way; for example, by changing the date.


Practical uses

The postmark is often considered as an official confirmation that a cover (letter, packet, etc.) mailed item was mailed at a given location at a specific date. For example, the date of the postmark can be quite important. In the United States, the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory t ...
will still consider
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...
returns as filed on time though it receives them late if they are postmarked on time, and this date (with, perhaps, other proof of mailing), may have significance in the context of legal filings and proofs of service or of delivery (though in this case the date may viewed as "on time" if the date of the postmark is no more than one day after the date service is supposed to have been made). Postal voting ballots may be accepted in some places if postmarked by the date of the election, though other places require receipt by a certain deadline. Historically, postmarks, known as backstamps were also applied to the reverse side of a cover to confirm arrival at the post office on a specific date.


Similar marks

A postmark should not be confused with the killer which are lines, bars, etc. used to cancel a postage stamp. The killer acts as the cancellation, though the postmark can also serve this purpose. Neither should a postmark be confused with
overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...
s generally, or pre-cancels (stamps that have been cancelled before the
envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a ...
or package to which they are affixed is submitted or deposited for acceptance into the mailstream, they most commonly have taken the form of a pre-printed city name on the stamp) specifically, which generally do not indicate a date. Flight cachets, more or less elaborate rubber-stamps on an envelope indicating on which flight (typically a first flight), a
first flight cover In aerophilately, a branch of philately, a first flight cover, also known by the acronym FFC, is mail that has been carried on an inaugural flight of an airline, route, or aircraft, normally postmarked with the date of the flight often of the ar ...
has traveled via airmail, are in addition to the postmark and are not postmarks either.


Clubs

There are many clubs devoted to the hobby of collecting postmarks. One of those clubs is the Post Mark Collector's Club, founded in 1946 and based in the USA. Another is the British Postmark Society, founded in 1958.


See also

* Indicia (philately) * Postal marking *
Postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is at ...


References


External links


Anonymous Postmark Mailer

British Postmark database

World postmark primer: how to decipher dates


* ttp://members.tripod.com/~pennyreds/mystery.html A Mystery Postmark
London 2012 – New postmark kicks off 2012 day in London
(backing London's bid to host
2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
)
Post Offices with Christmas Names of the United States Postal Service

November 17, 2011, Postal Bulletin 22324 Philately Pictorial Postmarks Announcement
* Museum *
Post Mark Museum and Research Library
* Precancels *

* Clubs *
Post Mark Collectors Club
*
Bullseye Cancel Collectors Club
*
British Postmark Society
{{Postal system Postal systems Postal markings Philatelic terminology