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20 New Listings 5-17-2010
Hi, I'm
Ken Hall, a collector of Stampless Folded Letters and Stampless Covers.
I specialize in the Stampless era, but I also have some Stamped Covers.
Stampless letters are letters that were written before the issuance of
postage stamps. A letter was written and folded in such a way that the
contents were not visible. It was then sealed with a wax seal, and
taken to the post office for mailing. The post office applied the name
of the city by a hand stamp, or by writing the name of the city in
manuscript. If the postage was collected at the time of mailing, the
letter was marked PAID, if not, it was collected at time of delivery.
Even though the first stamp was issued in 1847, many letters were still
sent as stampless. However, beginning January 1, 1856, the use of
stamps became mandatory, and the stampless era was about over.
I collect these old letters from all states, and prefer letters with
content, thus this web site, OldLetters.com. Every once in a while I
get a stampless letter or stamped letter that can be researched, and
the fun begins. The information that can be obtained from researching
these letters can be very interesting. I have had articles published in
the Postal History Societies of Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Also, I was a
contributor to Dave Phillip's "American Stampless Cover Catalog, Vol 1"
(ASCC-1997), "The Postal Markings of New Jersey Stampless Covers an
Update" (2004), and "Encyclopedia of United States Stamps and Stamp
Collecting," Rodney A. Juell, 2006.
Each month, a "Cover of the Month" will be featured. Types of covers
that will be shown, will include unusual hand stamps, manuscript post
marks, letters with interesting content or signed by prominent people,
various rates, and anything else that I feel might be of interest.
If you
enjoyed looking at my site, please add it to your bookmarks. From time
to time, I place items on Ebay, so please go to their web site and see
what I am offering at the time. My Ebay I.D. is "oldltrs".
If you
have stampless material that you would like to sell or trade, please
contact me.
Thanks, Ken
I am
a member of the following organizations:
| APS |
GaPHS |
VPS |
WisPHS |
| CtPHS |
NHPHS |
VaPHS |
|
| ESPHS |
NJPHS |
PaPHS |
|
If
you would like to contact me,
E-MAIL kenhall@oldletters.com
|
