It is not missing a stamp. It is a type of official sometimes referred to as Penalty Mail. It is used by government officials/departments. The Scott catalog does not list "penalty mail" issues, not even in the US Specialized.
There are probably at least a hundred different penalty mail cards/envelopes. If you specialize in the different departments and different fonts, it can easily get into the thousands of different varieties. In the last quarter of the 1900s, you will often see the Postal Service eagle logo on the card/envelope, along with the "penalty" inscription.
Based on the postmark date, your penalty mail card was issued in the 1940s or earlier and was used by the Library of Congress. I do not know the exact time period of use.
Not very many people who actively specialize in Penalty Mail. I think in the past year, I've only run into 2 that I can recall.
(Message edited by khj on February 08, 2011)
these things are neither rare nor common. I have a number of PSEs that were overprinted for official use.
I dont know if this is missing a stamp or what??!!
re: US penalty envelopes
It is not missing a stamp. It is a type of official sometimes referred to as Penalty Mail. It is used by government officials/departments. The Scott catalog does not list "penalty mail" issues, not even in the US Specialized.
re: US penalty envelopes
There are probably at least a hundred different penalty mail cards/envelopes. If you specialize in the different departments and different fonts, it can easily get into the thousands of different varieties. In the last quarter of the 1900s, you will often see the Postal Service eagle logo on the card/envelope, along with the "penalty" inscription.
Based on the postmark date, your penalty mail card was issued in the 1940s or earlier and was used by the Library of Congress. I do not know the exact time period of use.
Not very many people who actively specialize in Penalty Mail. I think in the past year, I've only run into 2 that I can recall.
(Message edited by khj on February 08, 2011)
re: US penalty envelopes
these things are neither rare nor common. I have a number of PSEs that were overprinted for official use.