Collecting modern British franking machine impressions

 Hi.

 

Franking machines, as a method of paying for mail, has been used by mainly mid-sized companies and business for many years. A franking impression is printed or pressed (on older systems) onto a piece of paper, instead of a stamp, but working similar to one. This is presumably recorded and reported to the postal authority to charge the user. They are often at a discount from the regular private postal rates, sometimes depending on the volume of mail sent. Larger organizations or companies often use PPI's or Postage Paid Impressions, which are typically pre-printed onto envelopes and tend to be significantly less interesting. 

 

The contemporary British version of such impressions, similarly to "Horizon" labels or some Post & Go kiosk products, have a sort of Service Indicators displayed alongside a barcode, code, value, Royal Mail logo, date, and sometimes return address. I have been saving covers using these for a while, as they are an interesting but often overlooked aspect of modern British postal history.

 

 I've included a few scans of different variants. I would love to have a play-around with one of these machines, maybe try generate every available service, but I've not got such access.

 

Special Delivery(?) by 1pm - Polish Consulate, Edinburgh

2nd class letter - eBay order


 

2nd class large letter - JudoScotland

1st class letter- RI Hospital Edinburgh 


2nd class small parcel - eBay order  

1st class letter - Dundee City Council

 

If anyone has any other interesting examples, I'd love to see them.

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