Postal stationery

U.S. postal card of 1881 with an imprinted stamp.

A United States stamped envelope of 1876.

A scarcity of postage stamps during WWI in German East Africa was the cause for this handstamped envelope. Any indication that postage is prepaid (see top right handstamp) is what makes the item postal stationery. The fact that this indicium was applied to an envelope makes this a stamped envelope.

Wrapper printed in US for occupied Cuba, 1899.

A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related service has been prepaid.^[1]^[2] It does not, however, include any postcard without a pre-printed stamp,^[3] and it is different from freepost for preprinted cards issued by businesses. In general, postal stationery is handled similarly to postage stamps; sold from post offices either at the face value of the printed postage or, more likely, with a surcharge to cover the additional cost of the stationery.^[4] It can take the form of an official mail issue produced only for the use of government departments.^[4]^[5]

^ "Postal Stationery in Linns.com Reference section". Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
^ "United Postal Stationery Society's Postal Stationery 101: What Is Postal Stationery?".
^ "Baadke, Michael; Postal cards are another stamped collectible in Linns.com Refresher Course section". Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
^ ^a ^b "Miller, Rick; Postal stationery offers collecting variety in Linns.com Refresher Course section". Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
^ Horning, Otto; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Stamp Collecting (1970).

[postalstationery-1] "Postal Stationery in Linns.com Reference section". Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2010-11-30.

[2] "United Postal Stationery Society's Postal Stationery 101: What Is Postal Stationery?".

[3] "Baadke, Michael; Postal cards are another stamped collectible in Linns.com Refresher Course section". Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2010-12-01.

[Miller-4] "Miller, Rick; Postal stationery offers collecting variety in Linns.com Refresher Course section". Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2010-12-01.

[5] Horning, Otto; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Stamp Collecting (1970).

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