Postage Due Mail Study Group
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U.P.U. Procedures for Foreign Mail to and from Germany, Hungarian Hyperinflation 1945-1946 and Mail to China Since 1976
This quarter in the Journal we offer articles on U.P.U. Procedures for Postage Due on Foreign Mail to and from Germany; Postage Due During the Hungarian Hyperinflation 1945-1946; and Postage Due on Mail to China Since 1976 There are also articles about a Belgian imprimé mail item sent in 1902 and deficient postage covers from the Antipodes dating from the Victorian era. Sample illustrations from three of these articles are shown below. The full articles are available to members in our Journal. To become a member and see it please go to the Join Us link.
An 1878 double-weight letter from Worthing in Sussex to Mannheim in Germany paid at single-rate.
An 18f postcard from Sárvár to Budapest cancelled on arrival on 30th April 1945 but taxed in Sárvár. Domestic postcard rate 40f. Amount owed by recipient 44f.
October 1991 letter from Vietnam to China. The 200ð paid was the inland rate. The foreign rate was 5100ð, giving the taxe fraction 4900/5100.
The Postage Due Mail Study Group was formed at the start of 1997, and has brought together collectors and
researchers all over the world. Current membership is 110 – with a quarter overseas.
The Study Group's scope is worldwide postage due mail - meaning anything posted without full prepayment, from the times when prepayment became usual, until the present day. The influence of the Universal Postal Union and the interchange of ideas amongst countries, together with the fact that insufficiently prepaid mail is a problem faced by all postal administrations make this a coherent subject. Themes include:
- postage rates: UPU, concessionary (e.g. British Empire), domestic, local, etc
- postal regulations affecting eligibility for certain rates, and breaches of them
- tax and postage due calculation methods
- postal markings of all kinds relating to postage due
- procedures of all kinds for handling insufficiently prepaid mail
- use and cancellation of adhesives in the collection of postage due
The Group publishes an illustrated, quarterly A4 Journal in March, June, September and December of each year, 30
to 40 pages per issue. The main emphasis is on original articles of lasting value, at all levels of
specialization. The subject matter reflects members' interests: items on aspects of British postage due mail
appear in every issue, along with at least one article per issue on another country or topic. There is a strong
commitment to material relating to the UPU, which has had relatively little exposure in philatelic circles and
will be relevant to a large proportion of members, whatever their specialities. Tables of postage rates are often
included. We also have regular columns for questions and answers, appeals for help by members undertaking specific
research, and reviews of useful books or articles published elsewhere.
Each
quarterly Journal is accompanied by a Newsletter, to keep members informed of relevant philatelic events,
including forthcoming displays by members the Study Groups activities and plans, and so on.
We hold auctions from time to time and occasional local meetings.
The Group is willing to consider offering financial assistance to authors writing books on subjects which we study.