Field Guide to Postal Uses of the Americana Series      
 
 
 

Chapter 18 -- $2 Kerosene Lamp

 
 
Fig. 18-1.  (select any pic to enlarge)
 
 
< Fig. 18-2
   
 Fig. 18-3 >
 
 
Fig. 18-4
 
 
Bonus 18-5
 Two $2 stamps with two Great Americans 40c stamps, a 4c stamp and a 3c stamp on 1st-class letter sent registered, return receipt requested, Jan. 14, 1985.  Of the $4.87 total in postage paid, 60c would pay for the simplest return-receipt fee, leaving $4.27 to account for.  Since this was mailed in the last weeks of the 20c letter era, the 7c of the amount hints of the 17c additional-ounce rate.  As a two-ounce (28-57 g) letter cost 37c, then $3.90 remains for the registry fee.  $3.90 happens to be the fee for indemnity of $500.01 - $1000.
 
 
< Bonus 18-6 (front)
   
 Bonus 18-6 (reverse) >
 Two $2 stamps with 3c stamp and three Prominent American 25c stamps on 1st-class letter sent registered, return receipt requested, May 3, 1982.  Of the $4.78 total in postage paid, 60c would pay for the simplest return-receipt fee, leaving $4.18 to account for.  Since this was mailed during the 20c letter era, the 8c of the amount hints of the five-ounce (114-142 g) rate, 88c.  That would leave $3.30 for the registry fee, which was the minimum fee available (indemnity to $100).
 
 
Bonus 18-7
 $2 stamp with three 30c stamps and a Great American 5c stamp with two 22c commemoratives on half-ounce (14 g) airmail letter sent special delivery to UK May 21, 1985.  The 44c in commemoratives paid the airmail rate, with the remaining $2.95 matching the special delivery fee.  Both rates were part of the rate changes that occurred in mid-February.
 
 
Bonus 18-8
 $2 stamp on insured five-ounce (114-142 g) 1st-class packet, April 24, 1986.   90c paid for the postage and $1.10 covered the insurance fee for contents valued at $25.01 - $50.  Technically a "late use", as the Great American $2 replacement had just been issued on March 19 [W] (although post offices didn't have to order it if they still had sufficient $2 Lamp stamps onhand).  (Note there is about a year's window before March 19 to find a more desirable postmark for this $2-stamp use.)  Interestingly, the $2 Lamp was withdrawn from sale through the USPS Philatelic Catalog six days after this mailing.
 
 
Bonus 18-9
 $2 and 30c stamps on one-ounce 1st-class letter sent special delivery, date unknown.  Like the normally postmarked cover in Figure 18-2, 20c applied to postage and $2.10 was the special delivery fee.  However, incredibly for the amount paid for a one-ounce letter, there is no postmark date.  With no need to be presented in person to a postal clerk, the item evidently missed cancelation in postal plant processing.  The handstamp used is a special delivery receiving timestamp that was designed without a year date.  Here, only a tiny smudge shows for the month (just to the left of the day "13").
 
 
 
 
   Contents (c) 2009, Ronald Blanks.  Contact by e-mail:  rblanks_stamps@yahoo.com
 
 
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