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notify about forwarding, missending, letters received in bad condition, letters received too late for delivery by a certain time, or the reason for a delay in mail delivery. (For example, a letter may be marked "snowbank" if snow accumulation not cleared by the potential recipient, or for whatever
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Although it is technically possible to query postal services to find out what kinds of postal markings they use, in practice they may not know about all the kinds of handstamps used in their offices, and previously unknown types of postal markings, both early and modern, regularly come to light.
107:, and other transportation organizations to transport mail. Many of these organizations applied their own markings to each item, sometimes saying simply "Steamship" or similar, while others had elaborate designs. Similar routing notations were also used in the early days of
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would use various markings to keep track of their progress in finding the addressee, such as a notation that the letter had been advertised in the local newspaper. The tracking process for
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invalid and issued new types. Letters using the demonetized stamps received a marking "Old stamps not recognized", an unintentionally humorous comment much prized by collectors today.
144:, modern postal markings may appear in the form of yellow adhesive labels with the text printed on them. Many postal administrations now have the ability to print
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are applied by an organization other than the postal administration. For instance, 19th century mail delivery often relied on a mix of private ships,
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other reason, makes it difficult or impossible for the carrier to deliver the mail.)
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19:"Postal mark" redirects here. For the symbol used to denote a postcode in Japan, see
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The traditional way to apply a postal marking is with the use of a rubber or metal
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Postal
Markings of the German U-boat Arm During the First World War 1914 to 1918
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is the identification of postal markings, their purpose, and period of use.
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provide information to the sender, recipient, or another post office.
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This 1953 cover has a normal postmark and two French service markings.
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United States Postal
Markings and Related Mail Services, 1851 to 1861
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notices and explanations, such as for damaged or delayed mail, and
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Catalogue of the postal markings of Dublin, c. 1840-1922
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Any annotation applied to a letter by a postal service
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118:, the Northern authorities declared the existing
42:by a postal service. The most common types are
148:annotations directly onto a cover, either as a
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152:for reading by other equipment, or as text.
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156:Hundreds of specialized works make up the
85:may entail multiple marks, notations, and
54:addresses, routing annotations, warnings,
205:Simpson's U.S. Postal Markings, 1851-61
38:is any kind of annotation applied to a
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560:Mail Isolation Control and Tracking
565:Multiline Optical Character Reader
114:Shortly after the outbreak of the
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62:or inspected mail. A key part of
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207:(revised and enlarged ed.).
654:most expensive philatelic items
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129:for special events such as a
687:List of entities that have
427:Post box / Mailbox
185:Konwiser, Harry M. (1980).
180:Some representative works:
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314:Timeline of postal history
203:Simpson, Tracy W. (1979).
194:Simpson, Tracy W. (1959).
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623:Postal systems by country
392:Information-Based Indicia
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600:Institutions and systems
555:Intelligent Mail barcode
508:Surface Air Lifted (SAL)
262:Hawaiian postal markings
298:Mail and postal systems
257:British postal markings
778:Philatelic terminology
676:Philatelic terminology
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339:Pan-American countries
231:Leathes, John (1997).
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689:issued postage stamps
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158:philatelic literature
125:Post offices may add
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727:Philately portal
467:Variable value stamp
357:Envelope for mailing
160:of postal markings.
21:Japanese postal mark
170:Indicia (philately)
79:Dead letter offices
580:Package forwarding
539:Postmaster General
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334:Oceanian countries
329:European countries
116:American Civil War
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344:Postal censorship
319:African countries
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661:Stamp collecting
493:Package delivery
372:Advertising mail
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618:Postal services
608:Postal entities
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442:Post office box
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324:Asian countries
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212:Kane, William.
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187:Postal Markings
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93:Auxiliary marks
83:registered mail
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120:postage stamps
64:postal history
36:postal marking
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48:cancellations
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628:Trade unions
575:Mail sorting
524:Mail carrier
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131:first flight
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101:stagecoaches
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74:Advice marks
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457:Postal code
437:Post office
412:Meter stamp
56:postage due
767:Categories
671:catalogues
570:Mail cover
548:Processing
534:Postmaster
498:Registered
397:Letter box
365:Components
176:References
97:steamboats
87:backstamps
52:forwarding
649:Philately
432:Relay box
377:Bulk mail
138:handstamp
105:railroads
44:postmarks
739:Category
476:Delivery
407:Mail bag
382:Envelope
164:See also
60:censored
751:Commons
644:Courier
637:Related
590:POSTNET
503:Surface
488:Express
483:Airmail
387:Indicia
306:History
150:barcode
127:cachets
109:airmail
585:PLANET
417:Parcel
239:
220:
146:inkjet
40:letter
517:Staff
402:Mail
237:ISBN
218:ISBN
46:and
706:M–Z
701:F–L
696:A–E
769::
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34:A
290:e
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23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
