99 - Schweizerischer Ganzsachen-Sammler-Verein

Acceptable Swiss Pre-UPU Printed Matter
by Harlan F. Stone, Woodside, NY
Until January 1, 1876, when France implemented the Universal Postal Union’s
six-month-old international postage rates, it refused to receive Swiss
postal cards unless they arrived as other types of mail. Typically this meant
as fully paid letters with 30-centime postage or partially paid letters with
postage due for the 50c penalty rate minus the amount of any prepayment.
Figures 1 and 2 show a Swiss pre-UPU postal card that went to France at
much less cost as printed matter. The treasurer of the Swiss Society of Fine
Arts in Geneva printed its 1874 dues notice on the backs of January
1874 domestic cards. He then mailed this particular notice on February 6,
1874, to a society member in Vichy, Department of Allier, France, but it
ended up there in poste restante where the post office held it for pick-up.
The society’s treasurer used black ink to note in the lower left front corner
that the amount of
Remb[oursement]
(cash to be collected
by the post
office and returned
to the society) was
2 francs and 15
centimes. A Swiss
postal clerk used a
black crayon to
repeat this total in
larger, more legible
figures.
Figure 1. Unacceptable Swiss postal card
accepted as printed matter by France.
The Swiss cash
collection procedures
required the recipient to pay not only the membership dues of 2
francs but also the society’s cash collection expenses. In this case the
postage for printed matter up to 40 grams to France amounted to 5c, the
rate from October 1, 1865, to December 31, 1875; and the collection fee
was 1% of the owed amount, or a minimum of 10c for any amount up to 10
francs. The total of 2 francs and 15 centimes not only gave the society its
dues but also reimbursed it for the postage and fee it had paid the Geneva
post office. The card’s 5c imprinted stamp paid the printed matter postage,
and the 10c supplemental adhesive stamp paid the minimum cash collection
fee.
There is no indication, however, that the addressee picked up the notice at
the post office or paid the amount to be collected.
2070