EDI Postal

 Hi.   When a letter cannot be delivered to someone, provided the sender included a return address, it will of course usually get returned to that person. This can happen for many reasons, for example incorrect addresses or bad customs declarations. This can produce interesting items, especially when the shipment is international and goes through multiple postal services before being delivered. I have a few interesting examples from my international eBay sales.   UK - Nigeria returned cover - "Insufficiently Address" On this one, the customer seemingly gave me an incorrect address. Postal services aren't used incredibly often in such parts of the world, so it's not entirely resprising. There are two unclear postmarks, from what seems to read "General Post _____" or "Federal Post ____". The last word may read "Office". There is also a blue return stamp, with multiple questionable examples of English grammar and "Insufficiently Address...

 Hi.   International Reply Coupons, or IRC's, are a Universal Postal Union scheme of printing coupons which can be used to aquire a stamp worth the current airmail rate in the country they were redeemed in. The UK stopped issuing these in 2011, and while technically it is still bound by treaty to continue accepting them, none of the multiple Port Offices I tried had any idea about what they were looking at. Many countries still issue them, but it can be hard to find one for sale..    When I tried getting them in Poland, the first time I asked, the postal clerk said she hadn't heard of them in years. After my insistence, she told me to come back on the next monday, by when she would have spoken to someone with more experience, basically "corporate". When I came back, I was asked how much I need and what "type"; I wasn't aware there is multiple, but I just asked for the international one. She then ordered them, and they were available within the week for 1...

 Hi.   Prepaid postal stationery, as in envelopes or items with postage already paid and printed on, is a concept which was once very popular but has now largely died out. This is definitely the case in the UK. I don't mean things like PPI/Account graphics or frankings. I have 2 items to share.    The first is still used and has been for many years, a House of Commons envelope. These are available to members of parliament to mainly reply to their constituents' enquiries.        My example was interestingly postmarked at Edinburgh Mail Centre, where the constituency is, and not Mount Pleasant or another London area facility. Two-wave postmark often used on non-standard size/type mail. Date 07/03/2025(?)      One thing to note is how both items shown here have the Machin image used to represent Queen Elizabeth II. Of course, we have a new monarch, so while the second item is now discontinued, the House of Commons envelopes join a stil...

 Hi, and welcome to this new blog. I had a number of interesting items to share but nowhere to share them, so hopefully things I post here will find their way onto, for example, Google images.    Cecogrammes, meaning literature for the blind, are a UPU-mandated type of postage material that may be sent free of charge by, in the UK's case, 1st class mail, or by the standard Air Mail service to another country. Registration fees and such must be paid seperately. They typically include text encoded (or punched) onto a piece of paper in Braille, for the blind or partially sighted to read. However, other materials, such as audio CD's/cassettes with text recorded read aloud or Braille printers are also eligible. It is used/talked about in differing extents in different countries, but in the UK it is well described on both Royal Mail and Post Office websites (even if specific instructions or details are missing or outdated.)   I first became interested in these when, furing...