This section of The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues is dedicated to mail sent to or coming from foreign countries before 1894. Prior to the first postal agreements with foreign governments in the mid-nineteenth century, letters going overseas could be prepaid only for their transit within the United States. Upon reaching the foreign destination, postage due was collected based on the postal laws of the arriving country or those through which the letters traveled. In 1847, the first of many bi-lateral postal agreements that the United States negotiated with European governments went into effect. Now letters could be fully paid to destination according to the agreement between the two countries.

Until 1875, when a number of countries agreed to a General Postal Union with common postal regulations for the movement of the mail between each of the member countries, United States mail to foreign destinations was governed by many separate and different postal agreements. As a result, numerous different rates and postal routes were available to send or to receive mail in the United States from other countries. For example, in 1860 it was possible to send a letter to India by seven different routes, with fees ranging from 5¢ to 72¢ for a single letter of 1/2 oz. For mail sent to most countries, multiple choices of rates and routing were available. Of course, these choices were not all ones where the mail was paid to its destination. Nevertheless, this wide range of possible choices suggests a very complex system for handling foreign mails.

Since July 1963, when The Chronicle first was published in a slick-paper format that allowed for high quality illustrations, the journal has had a section in each issue devoted to the foreign mails. For almost thirty years these articles have methodically addressed many aspects of the foreign mails in which research has been completed, allowing us to share this information with the Chronicle readers. The special markings associated with foreign mail, the rates of postage, steamships that carried the mails across the oceans, and often the markings and handling of the mail in foreign countries has been addressed in articles by many of the leading postal history students. A typical example of a letter to a foreign destination with the explanation that appeared in a recent Chronicle foreign mail section article will demonstrate the type of information available from this section.

The above illustrates a handsome cover that was prepaid 21¢ with adhesives for the open mail rate by American packet. The letter was posted in Maquon, Illinois on 17 September 1857, addressed to Stockholm. All three adhesives were cancelled with one strike of the large circular datestamp of Maquon. On 26 September the letter left New York on the Collins Line steamship Baltic and arrived at Liverpool on 6 October 1857. A backstamp shows arrival at London the next day, 7 October. Here it was marked U.S.P^K.T. to show transatlantic service by an American contract steamer. The debit to Prussia for transit from the United Kingdom to Prussia was 3 1/2 silbergroschen, but London failed to mark this debit even though there was a handstamp for that purpose. The letter was sent to Prussia where the debit to Hamburg of 7 silbergroschen was marked in blue pen for the accumulated transit fees. Backstamps show arrival of the letter at the Hamburg city post office and the Prussian office in Hamburg on 9 October 1857. The letter was sent to Stralsund, Prussia (circular datestamp on the reverse of 11 October) for conveyance to Sweden. The postage due at destination was 36 skilling banco, 21 skilling banco for the Prussian debit of 7 silbergroschen plus 15 skilling banco for the 5 silbergroschen fee from Stralsund to Swedish destination. This was marked in the upper left corner.

This 2.3MB PDF powerpoint presentation was created by Richard Winter and presented at an Annual Society Members Meeting coinciding with the release of his most recent book entitled “Understanding Transatlantic Mail, Volume I,” published in 2006. Richard has made this available to researchers to assist them in their examination of transatlantic postal history.

Analyzing Transatlantic Covers

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Postal Conventions

The following link contains multiple PDF documents containing the many Postal Conventions the United States of America entered into with the United Kingdom, Bremen, Prussia, Hamburg, and France from 1847 through 1874.

The Postal Conventions

In October of 1874, a treaty for the formation of a General Postal Union (GPU) was signed in Bern, Switzerland. Known as the First Bern Postal Convention, it called for the adoption of uniform postage rates and regulations for international correspondence. The GPU became effective on July 1, 1875. The GPU was later renamed the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1879.

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Interesting Links

StamPhil Transatlantic Mail 1840-75, The British & North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company "The Cunard Line"

Post Office in Paradise Hawaiian Foreign Mail Postal History

The Ships List Fleets & Descriptions, Passenger Lists, Resources etc.

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