Philately. Letter Box. and the. Glenn H Morgan. A handbook covering stamps, mini-sheets, booklets, stationery, cinderellas, postmarks and appendices

Transcription

1 4th edition 1,780 pages 3,615 scans 3,153 items listed Philately and the Letter Box A handbook covering stamps, mini-sheets, booklets, stationery, cinderellas, postmarks and appendices Glenn H Morgan

2 Why not join The Letter Box Study Group lbsg.org 2

3 Philately and the Letter Box A handbook covering stamps, mini-sheets, booklets, stationery, cinderellas, postmarks and appendices Glenn H Morgan FRPSL 3

4 Pre-Morgan editions compiled by Loudon Morton for the Letter Box Study Group. First Morgan edition. Printed loose sheets. 6pp. A Second Morgan edition. Printed stapled booklet. 24pp. A Third Morgan edition. Printed stapled booklet. 40pp. A Fourth and final Morgan edition. E-book in PDF format. 1,780pp. A Copyright Glenn H. Morgan FRPSL, 2018 Glenn H Morgan asserts his rights as set out in sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work wherever it is published commercially and whenever any adaptation of this work is published or produced, including any sound recordings or files made or based upon this work. The information contained within this publication is accurate and current to the best of the author's knowledge. The author and publisher make no guarantee as to, and assume no responsibility for, the correctness, sufficiency or completeness of such information. The front cover image is extracted from the Guernsey Post miniature sheet issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the introduction of the first pillar box on the island in Included here with the kind permission of Guernsey Post Ltd. 4

5 Introductory Notes 5

6 INTRODUCTORY NOTES SCOPE The listings that appear in the parts and sections that follow record most known examples of the letter box as depicted on postage stamps, miniature and souvenir sheets, stamp booklets and postal stationery from around the world until roughly late Postal markings and private cachets, plus Cinderella items have been included but, due to their great number and even greater difficulty in obtaining information about them, these parts are no more than an indication of the type of material that is available to the collector interested in the development of the letter box. Most are not priced. Extensive Appendices offer many more useful pages of information, imagery and display and exhibit pages that will assist you in collecting this postal-related theme. ACCURACY OF INFORMATION It will be appreciated that every effort has been made to be totally accurate on every page of the handbook. In reality, the occasional error is bound to have slipped through with such a large publication, especially where sources conflict or have been written in a different language to English or in a confusing manner. It is hoped that readers will forgive the odd faux-pas, for which your author accepts total responsibility. 6

7 INTRODUCTORY NOTES (continued) ASSUMPTION RE PHILATELIC TERMS As you are reading this handbook, it is reasonable to assume that you have more than a basic grounding in philately. However, do consider obtaining a copy of Philatelic Terms Illustrated published by Stanley Gibbons [GB] in one of the various editions down the years (or similar works published outside of the UK by other companies and possibly even in different languages) as this will enable you to delve deeper into the special language of philately if you feel the need to. COMPLETENESS The listings in each part are extensive, but certainly not guaranteed to be complete, for that is the elusive dream of all collectors. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT Many of the scans used in this handbook have been made from the collection of the author. However, lots of the illustrations used have come from hundreds of photostats taken down the years, or in more recent years from scans of online auction sales. Unfortunately, as each printed sheet / auction lot generally only had one relevant item on it, your author tended in the early days of his researches to cut them out, thus making the original source unknown to him. If anyone feels that he has infringed their copyright by reproducing any image then do please advise Glenn and he will either credit you or remove the offending image in any subsequent edition. 7

8 INTRODUCTORY NOTES (continued) IMAGE QUALITY With many images coming from examples of items on websites, online auctions or s to your author by collectors over many years (when lower resolutions than today, i.e. considerably under 300dpi, were the norm), some illustrations leave something to be desired. Poor quality images are generally to be avoided in a published work, but where this is the only example of an item seen it was considered better to depict a poor quality image than no image at all. Hopefully readers will agree with this policy and be forgiving of some of the less than perfect pictures that will be found within the pages of the handbook. Remember the adage a picture is worth a thousand words. NOT A STAMP DEALER The author of this handbook is primarily a researcher and, at one time, a collector and exhibitor of the material. He is not a stamp dealer, does not sell any of the material recorded within and is in no way involved in helping to set market prices. In fact, he no longer purchases letter box related philatelic material, having sold this particular area of study. SCALE OF IMAGERY In an ideal world, all of the philatelic material listed in the handbook would always be shown at a constant 100% when viewing a page, or at least wherever this proved practicable. However, many of the images are depicted at varying percentages to best suit the page layout that they are a part of. Full sheets, for example, would never fit life-size onto these pages. So, images are not to a constant percentage and the scale that applies is not recorded on the page, for often it is not known. 8

9 INTRODUCTORY NOTES (continued) If your author had owned every item listed, then scale would present no problem, but he did not, of course. Many items have only been seen as scans that may, or may not, have been taken at 100% of life-size in the first place, so simply treat the illustrations as an indication of what the item looks like to assist you in identifying what you already own or seek. STAMP STATUS Certain items may be considered dubious, that is to say they are contained in the Appendix section of Stanley Gibbons and other catalogues and do not merit a catalogue number by them. This is possibly due to availability restrictions at the time of issue, or a deliberate policy of issuing an excessive number of stamps. Other stamps, while most attractive, have obviously been issued for the benefit of the ever-growing band of thematic stamp collectors. It will be left to readers to decide whether these items should command a place in their collection. These Appendix items certainly should not appear in any competitive exhibition work undertaken. TECHNICAL PRODUCTION MATTERS For those interested in such matters, the text for this handbook was initially typed on a Hewlett Packard laptop using Microsoft Word for Windows From 2013, a Lenovo ideacentre computer was used. with specialist PagePlus page-making software from Serif. Headings are in Arial, while the body text used is Times New Roman. Images were initially scanned as 300dpi as.tif or.jpeg files using an hp C7280 all-in-one printer / scanner / copier and were cropped and edited using Google Picasa 3 software, once available for free via Google. 9

10 INTRODUCTORY NOTES (continued) Later scans were created using a Dell 1355cnw colour laser printer. Hundreds of the scans supplied by websites and collectors were created from many devices, hence the varying quality and shades of the printed image (see the Image Quality paragraph above). TICK BOXES Electronic tick boxes within the PDF document are provided for each appropriate item. To activate the box because you own the item, simply click within the check box area and a tick will magically appear. When leaving the document BE SURE TO HIT SAVE when prompted or the ticks that you have added during that session will not appear the next time that you access the PDF, as with any typing that is not saved. VALUATIONS Approximate valuations for material in the various parts of this handbook have been attempted, but only where the item has been seen for sale during the period of research. No attempt has been made at guessing a likely price, so where no price is displayed, the item has not been seen for sale by your author. The lack of a quoted price does not in any way imply scarcity of the item, but simply non-sight. 10

11 INTRODUCTORY NOTES (continued) LETTER BOX STUDY GROUP This Group exists for the benefit of all interested in their study. Actual boxes, models, photographs, postcards, stamps, postal history, ephemera, indeed all aspects of the subject are covered. Subscriptions offer good value and one receives quarterly newsletters, a unique postcard with every issue of the newsletter and members can attend get-together's that are held at varying locations across Britain. These offer enthusiasts the opportunity of meeting like-minded people. Fuller details and an application form are available from the Membership Secretary, Letter Box Study Group, 38 Leopold Avenue, Handsworth Wood, Birmingham B20 1ES in exchange for a stamped addressed envelope. Or why not visit the website of the Group, which is to be found at Please mention this publication. USE OF ABBREVIATIONS Append An appendix entry in Gibbons catalogue. Item dubious c. (circa) Approximate date LB Letter Box MS Miniature Sheet N/A Not Applicable PO Post Office DEDICATION This handbook continues to be dedicated to Loudon Morton, past Treasurer to the Letter Box Study Group, who died in Loudon was the first compiler of such a list for the Group and was instrumental in encouraging your current author to branch out into the many joys of thematic collecting letter boxes in particular. 11

12 CHECK BOXES The ability to keep a record of the material that you own has been built-in to this PDF edition of Philately and the Letter Box. To utilise this facility, simply hover your mouse over the pale blue box that appears at the beginning of every catalogue entry, click once and a tick will appear. Test here: If ticked in error, click on the same box again and the tick will disappear. When exiting the PDF catalogue you MUST respond 'yes' to the suggestion to save, or your ticks will not be there the next time that you enter the document. 12

13 The Author 13

14 ABOUT Glenn was born in the British county of Essex in 1956 and his career was in banking for more than three decades. Later, he was a freelance writer for the Royal Mail Group where for several years he contributed to its Philatelic Bulletin, covering numerous aspects of the modern British philatelic scene. In more recent times he has been a contributor to Gibbons Stamp Monthly magazine primarily covering aspects of stamp printing. He has collected stamps without a break since the age of eight, following acquisition of his uncle s and father's childhood albums. He has written and had published several philatelic works (recorded in next section), together with around 500 magazine articles, letters, newsletters and columns since Various new monographs are in different stages of completion, and further editions are in preparation for some of the works already published. Glenn Morgan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London in 2002, while in an official capacity he founded a junior stamp club in his school at the age of 11, is an ex-vice President to the National Philatelic Society in London and was its librarian for more than 15 years and on two of its committees, plus Council for several years. Mr. Morgan launched for the Letter Box Study Group, Philately and the Letter Box, a quarterly newsletter that he compiled for 35 issues before pressure of his business life caused him to stop. He organised and managed the literature reading area at The Stamp Show 2000 and was a director and Board Member of the Friends of The Postal Museum in London until it was disbanded in 2017 in favour of a membership scheme. Glenn was a finalist in three of the once-annual Rowland Hill Awards, jointly winning the Royal Mail Innovation Award in 2004 for his journalistic excellence in philatelic writing. 14

15 ABOUT (continued) Some of his philatelic interests are shown at world stamp exhibitions, including letter boxes, testing booklets, stamp vending and the whole gamut of stamp printing. International qualifying standard was reached with his stamp exhibit entitled Through the Letter Box and a gold medal was achieved in the thematic class at national level in 2008 at the ABPS Harrogate Stamp Show, missing a large gold by just one point. The exhibit has since been retired and disposed of. Later stamp exhibits 'A Stamp is Made' and 'Harrison Dummy Stamps of King George V' have both attained Gold medals at Britain's national stamp exhibitions. He belongs to several philatelic societies worldwide, favouring the Cinderella and thematic disciplines - areas that he feels have the greatest potential for new research, fresh discoveries and for attracting noncollectors to the great hobby of stamp collecting. Glenn was especially proud to have been elected to the Roll of Notable Cinderella Philatelists by the Cinderella Stamp Club. 15

16 PHILATELIC WORKS 1. POSTAGE PAID FRANKS AND CANCELLATIONS OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS (Previously serialised in Les Isles Normandes). Reprint published by the author in A catalogue of PPI's, Official Paid envelopes, labels and markings used to indicate prepayment of postage in the Channel Islands. Award: Silver-Bronze medal at PhiLITex 92 in New York, USA. 2. BRITISH POST OFFICE SANTA MAIL SERVICE Monograph One, Published by the author. A record of the cards and cancellations used for this valuable service provided free on Santa's behalf by Royal Mail. Award: Bronze medal at PhiLITex 92 in New York, USA. 3. WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF QUESTA Monograph Two, Published by the author. Transcript of a lecture on stamp production given by Wally Rodgers, a director and founder of Questa. Awards: Not entered for competition.. 4. LETTER BOXES ON STAMPS AND POSTAL STATIONERY Monograph Three, Published by the author. A catalogue of items relating the theme of the letter box and the postage stamp. Awards: Bronze medals at the National Philatelic Literature Exhibition 1991 in Christchurch, New Zealand, PhiLITex 92 in New York, USA and Orapex '93 in Ottawa, Canada. Silver-Bronze medal at the th Philatelic Literature Fair in Massachusetts, USA. 5. ROYAL HOUSEHOLD MAIL Published by the British Philatelic Trust, A handbook on the postal services provided for the benefit of British Royalty from 1199 to the time of publication. 16

17 PHILATELIC WORKS (continued) Awards:Vermeil medal at Stampex '92 in London, UK. Large Silver medals at NPLE 91 in Christchurch, New Zealand and Hafnia '94 International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Large Silver medals at NPLE 91 in Christchurch, New Zealand and Hafnia '94 International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Silver medals at PhiLITex 92 in New York, USA and Bangkok '93 International in Bangkok, Thailand. Also awarded the prestigious Great Britain Philatelic Society Field Award for Literature in BRITISH STAMP EXHIBITIONS A Priced Catalogue of Sheets, Cards and Labels. With a Foreword and Bibliography by James Negus. Monograph Four, Published by the author. Souvenirs produced for the hundreds of stamp exhibitions held in Great Britain between 1890 and Awards: Silver-Bronze medals at C3NPLE '95, Ottawa, Canada and at Stampex '95 in London, UK. Silver medals at Stampshow '95 in St Louis, USA and NPLE95 in Christchurch, New Zealand. 7. BRITISH STAMP EXHIBITIONS A Priced Catalogue of Sheets, Cards and Labels. CD-ROM With a Foreword and Bibliography by James Negus Compiled and published jointly by the author and Graham M Wilson. Souvenirs produced for the hundreds of stamp exhibitions held in Great Britain between 1890 and Awards: Large Silver medal at HARROGATE 2008, Harrogate. 8. PHILATELY AND THE LETTER BOX A Thematic Handbook. DVD Published by the author, A greatly expanded Monograph Three recording items produced relating to the theme of the letter box. Now including postal markings. Herewith. Awards: Not yet entered for competition. 17

18 PHILATELIC WORKS (continued) 9. AN ONLINE WEBSITE 2000 to date. Published and maintained by the author. A free worldwide philatelic resource designed to bring together information gleaned about stamp printers and production techniques. Includes additional writing on other subjects. 11. DUMMY STAMPS NEWSLETTER. PDF 2006 to date. Published by the author every quarter since the summer of A Quarterly Newsletter covering the World of British Dummy Stamp Material. Awards: Vermeil medal at IPhLA in Germany, Awards: Large Silver medal at IPhLA in Germany, BRITISH STAMP PRINTERS Publication N o. 12, Royal Mail, UK, Issued free with the British Philatelic Bulletin. A brief history of all printers known to have printed stamps in Britain, whether as a one-off job or part of their portfolio of security printing. Awards: Bronze medal at NPLE07 in Christchurch, New Zealand in BRITISH STAMP EXHIBITIONS. STAMP BOOKLETS A Priced Catalogue. CD-ROM Compiled and published jointly by the author and Graham M Wilson. Souvenirs produced in the form of stamp booklets for stamp exhibitions down the years. Awards: Not entered for competition. Copies of the above are deposited in the libraries of the National Philatelic Society and the Royal Philatelic Society, both in London. Some other philatelic libraries around the world also have certain of these works. 18

19 Thanks A small word with a massive meaning 19

20 THANKS I especially wish to single-out the following individuals who have regularly provided me with useful discoveries and philatelic items relating to the letter box theme, often over a long period of time: David Alison, South Africa Robert Clark, Wales Ron Hall, England Ann Mette Heindorff, Denmark (deceased) John R Holman FRPSL, England (deceased) Clifford Holmes, Northern Ireland Steve Knight, England Loudon Morton, Scotland (deceased) Brian Warren, Ireland Simon Vaughan Winter, England For their regular encouragement and/or for sharing their special knowledge of thematic collecting, and exhibiting techniques my thanks are offered to: Steve Boorn, England (deceased) Christine Earle FRPSL, England Graham Eyre, England Sheila Foster, England Julian Stray, England Richard J West MBE FRPSL, England Invaluable help, knowledge and/or philatelic material has also come from each of the following companies, stamp dealers, museums and organisations: The Postal Museum (ex NPM and BPMA) ebay Online Auctions Exponet Virtual Philatelic Exhibition The Letter Box Study Group National Philatelic Society Library Postbeeld Netherlands, new issue stamp dealers Finally, to the numerous often unnamed authors and collectors who have recorded philatelic letter box snippets of information in the countless thousands of philatelic periodicals and books examined at the National Philatelic Society Library for over a quarter of a century I offer my sincere and grateful thanks on behalf of all thematic collectors and postal historians everywhere. GLENN H MORGAN,

21 Handbook Summary 21

22 HANDBOOK SUMMARY Pages Scans Listed Introductory Volume Postage Stamps Countries A-C Countries D-K Countries L-R Countries S-Z Late additions (recorded in this volume) Miniature and Souvenir Sheets Countries A-C Countries D-K Countries L-R Countries S-Z Late additions (recorded in this volume) Stamp Booklets Countries A-C Countries D-K Countries L-R Countries S-Z Late additions (recorded in this volume)

23 HANDBOOK SUMMARY (continued) Pages Scans Listed Postal Stationery Airletters / Aerogrammes Envelopes Post Cards / Postal Cards Postnotes, Letter Sheets and Cards Official Mail Late additions (recorded in this volume) Cinderella Material Post Office Seals, Labels and Sheets Alternative, Charity, Local and Strikes Private Seals, Labels and Sheets Other Collectibles Postal Markings Countries A-C Countries D-K Countries L-R Countries S-Z

24 HANDBOOK SUMMARY (continued) Pages Scans Listed Appendices Worldwide Box Histories: A Primer Letter Box Languages A Letter Box Bibliography Philately and the Letter Box Newsletters Collecting the Letter Box Display Through the Letter Box Display Letter Box Automation Display , Totals for Handbook Introductory Volume Postage Stamps Miniature and Souvenir Sheets Stamp Booklets Postal Stationery Cinderella Material Postal Markings Appendices 458 1, TOTALS: 1,780 3,615 3,153 24

25 Late Additions A philatelic work such as this is never finished, but at some point a line has to be drawn in the sand if the publication is ever to be released. The pages that follow therefore list material found since the main body of the handbook was finalised and provides basic scanned imagery and year of issue only. Note that they are not always in alphabetical order of country, but simply dropped into the next available page. As a stamp theme, letter boxes are becoming very popular, (especially in miniature sheet format), which is probably a mixed blessing for collectors! 25

26 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) POSTAGE STAMPS CUBA FRANCE RUSSIA

27 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) POSTAGE STAMPS CHINA MALTA BELGIUM FRANCE HUNGARY

28 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) STAMP BOOKLETS BELGIUM CYPRUS UKRAINE

29 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) STAMP BOOKLETS (continued) GREAT BRITAIN GREAT BRITAIN

30 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) STAMP BOOKLETS (continued) JAPAN. 2016, 2016,

31 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS BURUNDI

32 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) CHINA, People s Republic JAPAN

33 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) MARSHALL ISLANDS OMAN

34 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) OMAN (continued) GREAT BRITAIN

35 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) GREAT BRITAIN (continued) 35

36 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) SOUTH AFRICA GREAT BRITAIN

37 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) HONG KONG SAR ARGENTINA

38 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) TURKEY CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

39 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) DJIBOUTI GREAT BRITAIN

40 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) EGYPT FAROES GUERNSEY

41 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) INDONESIA KENYA KOREA, SOUTH

42 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) MALDIVES MALDIVES

43 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) MEXICO. c2000 MOZAMBIQUE

44 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) NIGER REPUBLIC OMAN

45 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) SIERRA LEONE SOLOMON ISLANDS

46 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) SRI LANKA SWEDEN TAIWAN

47 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) THAILAND

48 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) TOGO

49 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) UNITED NATIONS TAIWAN

50 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) MINIATURE AND SOUVENIR SHEETS (continued) KOREA, SOUTH

51 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) CINDERELLA MATERIAL GERMANY (Alternative Posts) 51

52 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) POSTAL STATIONERY BULGARIA (Postcard) HUNGARY (Postcard) CHINA, People s Republic (left. Envelope), 2011 (right. Postcard) 52

53 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) POSTAL STATIONERY (continued) KOREA, SOUTH (Envelope) 53

54 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) POSTAL STATIONERY (continued) CUBA (Aerogramme) 54

55 LATE ADDITIONS (continued) POSTAL STATIONERY (continued) TAIWAN (Postcards) CUBA (Aerogramme) 55

56 56

57 57

58 58

59 Why not visit The Postal Museum and Mail Rail Experience postalmuseum.org 59

60 Philately and the Letter Box A thematic handbook covering letter box stamps, mini-sheets, booklets, stationery, cinderellas and postmarks together with useful appendices 60 Glenn H Morgan Fourth and Final Edition, 2018