Thursday, May 5, 2011

Edward VII Period International Rates
1903- 1911

(Rates to foreign destinations other than the United States are shown in this post. See here for U.S. rates)







1. Letter

a) To September 30, 1907

A preferential letter rate which was the same as the domestic forward rate was in effect for letters addressed to Great Britain and Empire destinations.

Great Britain and Empire

The letter rate to Great Britain and the Empire was 2 cents for each one-half ounce.


North Vancouver to Kennington, England, March 19, 1907
2 cents per one-half ounce letter rate to Great Britain

Undeliverable and Returned

The above letter could not be delivered and was returned to Canada. Undeliverable mail to foreign destinations was returned to the Canadian Dead Letter Office (DLO). The DLO forwarded the undelivered mail to the sender in an ambulance envelope and charged 2 cents for this service.


Ambulance envelope mailed from the Ottawa DLO to the sender, North Vancouver on May 3, 1907
Numeral 2 handstamp indicating the charge for the return of the dead letter
2 cent postage due affixed and cancelled North Vancouver, May 9, 1907


Ottawa DLO handstamp



Hamilton to Vereeniging, South Africa, October 21, 1907
2 cents Empire letter rate


UPU

The rate to all other foreign destinations (the UPU rate) was 5 cents for each one-half ounce.


Quebec to Geele, Sweden, May 11, 1905
5 cents one-half ounce UPU letter rate



C.R. Somerville (Chewing Gum) London to Liechtenfels, Germany, September 11, 1906
5 cents one-half ounce UPU letter rate



Toronto to Kobe Japan, March, 1906 (Vancouver transit March 13, 1906)
5 cents one-half ounce UPU letter rate



Campbellford to U.S. Naval Hospital, Yokahama, Japan
5 cents one-half ounce UPU letter rate

The letter was forwarded to California and eventually returned to the addressee.






b) From October 1, 1907

Great Britain and Empire

The new letter rate to Great Britain and the Empire was 2 cents per ounce.


Welland to Cheltenham, February 28, 1911
2 cents per ounce letter rate



Niagara Falls and London Ry. P.O. to London, May 13, 1909
4 cents paying the 2 ounce letter rate
Forwarded by Canadian Bank of Commerce, London to Edinburgh, June 8, 1909


Paquebot


Liverpool "Paquebot" cancellation, May 23, 1909
Posted on board a Canadian Pacific Railway Company ship and addressed to London





Paquebot Liverpool


UPU

On October 1, 1907, the UPU letter rate was reduced from 5 cents for each one-half ounce to 5 cents for the 1st ounce and 3 cents for each additional ounce.


German Consulate Toronto to Leipzig, Germany, January 10, 1912
5 cents UPU letter rate for one ounce



Humboldt to Gorlitz, Germany, November 6, 1911
8 cents UPU letter rate for 2 ounces : 5 cent 1st ounce + 3 cents 2nd ounce


Redirected

The letter below was mailed from Como, Quebec to Croydon, England, and was properly prepaid 2 cents, the rate to Britain. The letter was redirected to Lausanne, Switzerland, for which the rate from Canada would have been 5 cents. A charge of 15 centimes was levied by the Swiss post office which represented the difference between the amount of postage already paid and the postage which would have been paid if the letter had been originally sent to Switzerland.

Rate to Great Britain...................................2 cents
Rate to Switzerland (from Canada)...........5 cents
Rate difference.............................................3 cents
Rate difference in centimes.........................15 centimes (1 cent= 5 centimes)


Como to Croydon, September 10, 1910 (2 cents rate to Great Britain)
Redirected from Croydon to Lausanne, September 21, 1910
Taxed 15 centimes for the redirection at Lausanne
Further redirection to Lugano


"Parti" label affixed
The addressee had left


"ANNULE" (Void) handstamp on postage due stamps

The letter was returned to Canada (Lugano September 26, 1910) . Montreal receiver October 9, 1910 and forwarded to the Ottawa Dead Letter Office on October 17, 1910




Ottawa Dead Letter Office handstamp
October 18, 1910


2. Post Card

The post card rate to all destinations was 2 cents.


Phoenix, B.C. to Little Bay, Newfoundland, April 3, 1909
2 cents post card rate


2 cent booklet stamp



Toronto to Auckland, New Zealand, August 16, 1905
NOT KNOWN BY LETTER CARRIER AUCKLAND handstamp



Charlottetown to Cairo, Egypt, June 3 1907
2 cents post card rate


Port Said TPO cancellation, June 19, 1907



Montreal to Berlin, June 4, 1906
2 cent post card rate


Esquimalt Crown Cancel


Esquimalt to Bogawandalawa, Ceylon, January 5, 1905




Esquimalt fancy cancel
Crown in a sunburst of rays




Insufficiently Paid


Montreal to Milan, April 8, 1904
2 cents post card rate
Shortpaid 1 cent and taxed single deficiency, 5 centimes by the London post office

The amount to be collected was double the deficiency. Since 25 centesimi (Italian) = 25 centimes, the amount due was 10 centisemi.


UPU Post Card


Montreal to Shidawaka-Ken, Japan, December 9, 1908
2 cent UPU post card


St. Lawrence St. Centre Montreal to Brussels
2 cents UPU post card rate
Brussels arrival April 14, 1911


3. Printed Matter

The printed matter rate to all destinations was 1 cent for each 2 ounces.

Canadian Pacific Pictorial Post Cards


Montreal to Paris, July 31, 1908
1 cent printed matter rate





Montreal to Helston, England, October 29, 1909
1 cent printed matter rate


Henry Hechler Correspondence

Henry Hechler was a prominent stamp dealer in Halifax. He served with the 63rd Halifax Regiment that was sent to quell the North-West rebellion of 1885, and arranged for printers to overprint "Service" on current postal stationery for military use, although only a few of his overprinted stationery were legitimately used. Hechler was one of the organizers of the Canadian Philatelic Association (now the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada).


Post card mailed at the printed matter rate
Henry Hechler correspondence, Halifax to Vienna, May 14, 1906
1 cent printed matter rate



" Hechler was a master penman. He prepared covers addressed to himself in care of relatives and others, and these were usually in beautiful script, an ornament to any collector."
Fred Jarrett, BNAPS Topics, September 1963, pg. 204




Signed by Henry Hechler Capt. 63 Regt.


4. Special Services

Registration

The registration fee was 5 cents.


Vermillion Bay to Porto Alegre, Brazil, July 10, 1909
Registration label added at the New York Exchange Office
5 cents UPU letter rate + 5 cents registration fee


Registered Commercial Papers


Victoria to Valparaiso, Chile, September 1904
5 cents printed matter rate for 10 ounces + 5 cents registration fee

Montreal transit September 23, 1904
New York transit September 24, 1904
Registration labels affixed at New York and Valparaiso post offices

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Edward VII Rates to the United States
1903 - 1911


This post is the second in a series of articles dealing with rates during the Edwardian period. The earlier post dealt with domestic rates.







1. Letter

The letter rate was 2 cents for each ounce.


American Patent and Promoting Co.
Brantford to Fort Thomas, Arizona Territory , December 9, 1908
2 cent letter rate to the United States


Fort Thomas, Arizona Territory, receiver
December 13, 1908


The Territory of Arizona existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state.



The Manitoba Anchor Frames Co. Ltd.
Winnipeg to Cincinnati, November 16, 1906
2 cents letter rate to the United States



Charles Cremin Sportsmen's and Angler' Guide
Nictau, N.B., to North Haven, Maine, August 31, 1911
2 cents letter rate to the United States



Parliamentary Librarian, House of Commons
Ottawa to Hartford, August 1, 1903
2 cents letter rate to the United States


House of Commons, August 1, 1903



The Leeming Miles Co., Limited
Montreal to New York, June 7, 1905
Stationery with embossed stamp


2. Post Cards

The post card rate to the United States was 1 cent.

a) To March 1907

Until March 1907, the United States Post Office did not permit writing on the address side of the post card. Cards with writing on the address side were charged the letter rate.




House of Assembly, Toronto to Altoona, Pa., August 21, 1906
1 cent post card rate to the United States


House of Assembly postmark





Writing on the picture side of the post card


Joseph Adlard Dubeau, Member of Parliament
House of Commons to Brooklyn, March 21, 1905
1 cent post card rate to the United States


House of Commons postmark

"Divided-Back" Post Card

Divided-Back post cards were cards with address and message on the same side of the post card. The U.S. did not permit these card until March, 1907.


Divided-Back post card
Fredericton to Arlington, Mass. August 27, 1906
Charged at the 2 cent letter rate
Taxed 1 cent, the difference between the letter rate (2 cents) and the post card rate (1 cent)


b) From March 1907


Canadian National Exhibition


Divided-Back post card mailed at the Canadian National Exhibition and addressed to Friendship, N.Y., September 3, 1908
1 cent post card rate to the United States


Can. National Exhib'n circular date stamp
September 3, 1908

Paquebot

Paquebot mail was correspondence mailed on the high seas. The article could be prepaid by means of the postage stamp of the country to which the vessel belonged. The post office receiving the ship mail stamped the items with its date stamp and added the word "PAQUEBOT"


Paquebot handstamp and Boston cancellation, August 25, 1909
The sender of the card had been in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia


Leather Post Card

Postal regulations required that post cards be made out of card board. Cards not conforming to the regulations were treated and taxed as letters.


"Just Arrived in Winnipeg"


Winnipeg to Dundee, Ill., March 16, 1905
2 cents correctly paying the letter rate


Reply-Paid Post Card

St. Hyacinthe ( Is. Pond and Montreal RPO) to Cherry Brook, Mass., February 5, 1909 (?)
1 cent reply post card - reply half still attached








3. Printed Papers

The first step printed papers rate to the United States was 1 cent.


Montreal to the Consul General of France, United States (E.U.) [Washington, D.C.]
Undated roller cancellation


4. Special Services

a) Registration

The registration fee was 5 cents.



Toronto to New York, January 10, 1907
2 cents letter rate + 5 cents registration fee



Carleton Street, Toronto, to Cambridge, March 1, 1909
2 cents letter rate + 5 cents registration fee


Carleton Street, Toronto postmark



3 ounce registered letter
Ottawa to Milwaukee, October 1910
6 cents letter rate for 3 ounces + 5 cents registration fee


11 cents franking


b) Special Delivery

Until January 1, 1923, if special delivery service was required for a letter addressed to the United States or from the United States to Canada, the letter had to be franked with a 10 cent special delivery stamp of the receiving country.


New York to Montreal, February 20, 1909
2 cents letter rate to Canada + 10 cent Canadian Special Delivery stamp to pay the fee


The special delivery stamp was correctly cancelled in Montreal, February 21, 1909