Centennial Period Domestic Acknowledgment of Receipt Fees

Dozens of posts dealing with the Canadian Centennial definitive issue (1967 - 1973) have been published in the nearly four years Postal History Corner has been on-line. Many of the posts will be revamped. The original post dealing with Centennial period acknowledgment of receipt fees was published on June 11, 2014.

Acknowledgment of Receipt (AR)

The sender of a registered article could obtain an acknowledgment of its receipt by an addressee for a fee in addition to the ordinary postage and registration fee.

 At Time of Despatch of Registered Article

A card of acknowledgment was filled in by the postmaster at the office of mailing and forwarded with the registered article. The postage stamp paying for the acknowledgment of receipt card was to be affixed to the card and not to the registered article. The stamp on the card was to be cancelled with the date stamp of the despatching office.

Postmasters were required to stamp the letters "A.R." (signifying Acknowledgment of Receipt) on the address side of the registered article which was accompanied by acknowledgment of receipt cards.

The acknowledgment of receipt card was returned after delivery and signed by the addressee and the postmaster.

Subsequent to Despatch of Registered Article

An A.R. card could be sent after the registered had been despatched. In such case the fee was higher.

AR Fee Periods

There were two Acknowledgment of Receipt periods during the Centennial era:

1. To May 31 1967
2. From June 1, 1967

1. To May 31 1967

AR fee at time of mailing-10 cents
Subsequent AR fee- 20 cents

The 10 cent AR fee was introduced on October 1, 1921.

Fort Frances local registered mail, March 29, 1967

Acknowledged March 30, 1967

2. From June 1, 1967

AR fee at time of mailing-15 cents
Subsequent AR fee- 25 cents

a) At Time of Despatch Fee (15c) :

Registered mail from Drumheller to Rosedale, September 23, 1971

Acknowledged September 29, 1971

15c AR fee

Fort St. James, B.C., local registered letter, May 18 1972

Letter unclaimed and returned to sender

AR card still attached to letter

b) Subsequent to Despatch of Registered Article Fee (25c) :

Acknowledgment of receipt requested December 27, 1967

Acknowledgment that item sent from Goderich to Toronto was received June 10, 1967

 25 cents subsequent to mailing AR fee

Registration Records, Toronto Postal Terminal "A"

December 28, 1967

 Acknowledgment requested August 30, 1971

Acknowledgment that the item sent from Malton to Waterloo was received August 5, 1971

25 cents subsequent to mailing AR fee