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- Auxiliary handstamp, PAID
Auxiliary handstamp, PAID
Object Details
- Description
- PAID was an auxiliary marking that pre-dated the requirement of prepaid postage with stamps. The postal employee accepting a mail piece and receiving the cash payment for postage would rate the letter. Applying the PAID marking indicated that the postage required had been collected at the origin office.
- Postmasters often procured their own marking devices. They sometimes purchased a handstamp from a postal supply house, but sometimes they created a device on their own.
- Linen markers were often adaptively used by post office employees. They featured a mortised slot into which lead or type-metal type could be inserted and then secured in place by a set screw.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- 19th century
- Object number
- 1987.0905.16
- Type
- Mail Processing Equipment
- Medium
- wood; metal
- Dimensions
- 1 x 3 x 3.38 in (2.54 x 7.62 x 8.57 cm)
- Place
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- Mail Processing
- Record ID
- npm_1987.0905.16
- Usage
- CC0
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