The following is taken from QCs 133 and 134/135 and combined into a single work. In the original the illustrations were occasionally placed away from the main body of the text for editorial purposes. Only two of the many illustrations accompanying the article were referenced within the body of the article so they have all been linked at the end. A small amount of editing has been done to alter the formatting to suite a web page; otherwise it is essentially the article as published. |
METER MARKS and FRANKING MACHINES Metered franking machines and their markings as used in Egypt seem to have raised very little enthusiasm among philatelists. It is therefore not too surprising to find that information on this subject is limited to a few articles in the specialist publications of the philately of Egypt, and some notes made by Mackenzie Lowe, found in the records of Egypt Study Circle. This article makes no pretence at completeness and it is hoped that Circle Members will be able to contribute information (and good illustrations). It would have been possible, in presenting this outline of the usage of meters in Egypt, to have adopted a chronological arrangement of the material: it has been preferred instead to deal separately with the various machines used. BACKGROUND INFORMATION. The following extracts are taken from a survey entitled THE MAILS BY Horace N. Soper, published 1948 by Universal Postal Frankers Ltd. This publication looks at the history and organisation of postal franking, and the methods of payment: it is an informative resume of the mails, generally. "Backroom boys in many countries of the world more clearly saw that the system itself involving the purchase, moistening and affixing of fragments of paper to the mail for subsequent obliteration by the Post Office might well be replaced by some mechanical means whereby prepayment of the mails might be made by the approved use of a machine to imprint the mail and keep a register of same. The originator of such a system would appear to be Carle Bushe of Paris who took out a British patent in August 1884, covering an apparatus for impressing and registering stamps to supersede adhesive stamps. The foreword of his patent is of particular interest :- It is indisputable that the adoption of movable stamps did away with a great deal of trouble and annoyance, but it is impossible for progress to stop there, for that system still presents numerous inconveniences not only for the Government, but for the public. In fact the application of adhesive stamps which is so easy and convenient when a few only are to be used at one time, becomes a serious matter, and entails a serious loss of time when hundreds of letters, circulars, newspapers and so forth have to be despatched daily. Before the end of the century a dozen or more patents were lodged in the British Patent Office, developing the system of metered mail. S H Hannay of London appears to have been the originator in 1888 of an improved machine for affixing to Pillar Boxes to frank letters against the insertion of a coin." Both of these inventors would appear to have lived a generation before their time; their ideas for several reasons met with no success whatsoever. General Introduction to Meter Franking Machines. The first Government to sanction the substitution of franked impressions for adhesive stamps was that of New Zealand in 1904. The inventor was Ernest Moss, his early models being of the coin-freed slot variety. The 1906 model was set for One Pound coins and printed, through a ribbon, any one of five fixed values. The machine locked off when the value of One Pound had been expended. This new machine gave satisfaction but, the gold coins being a temptation to larceny, a credit machine was submitted by Moss, and was duly approved. Moss later patented a pre-set locking meter. Meter mailing revolutionised despatch of business mails throughout the world. Unlike adhesives, meter franks cannot be chemically cleaned and the imprinted impressions are non-negotiable. Meter mailing was also beneficial to the Post Office by the fact that metered mail reaches them prepared, cancelled and postmarked, ready for sorting. Quoting again from The Mails (Soper, 1948): "After the first World War the problem in central Europe was to design a machine capable of dealing with wide variations of currency; this was met by the Francotype Company of Berlin with a model to print any value from 1 Pfennig to 99.99 Marks. In America the high speed printing of stamp impressions was visualised, the Postage Meter Company of Stamford used a power-driven Cancelling machine fitted with a locking meter." "The Postage Meter Company's Impression Franking machines were first licensed by Congress in 1920. There was a separate meter for each value, to print, register and lock off when credit was exhausted. They were the first power-driven high-speed machines." TERMINOLOGY The terminology of meter mark collecting differs in some areas from that accepted and understood by philatelists generally. The descriptions in the following paragraphs quote heavily from The Meter Postage Stamp Catalogue by S.D. Barfoot and W. Simon. TYPES OF METERS Firstly, what are meters ? Correctly designated "metered franking machines", but being generally referred to as "meters", these are machines which print, directly onto the mail, impressions of franks of different denominations. The categories of their usage fall into three basic types :- A. Use by private firms or government departments under licence from a postal authority. B. Use by Post Offices to frank mail handed in. C. Coin-freed machines installed in public places for the use of the general public to frank their own mail by the insertion of a coin or coins to the required value. (This type of machine should not strictly be described as a meter, since it is really a mechanical or automatic franking device to be used on bulk mailings etc. by private firms or by Post Offices and is extensively used in the U.S.A.)." The classification of franking machines is derived from the method used to produce the imprint, the different types being as follow:- Fixed-Value Machines These machines are equipped with a separate dies for each value of its franking range, the denomination figure being an integral part of the die. (Some fixed-value machines have only one die [F.V.1]) Limited-Value Machines Equipped with a single-frame die with a limited number of separate value segments which are brought into position for use by the operation of a lever or dial. Multi-Value Machines These have a single-frame die into which can be printed a figure of any denomination by the operation of a key or lever on a cash register principle, the number of possible denominations depending on the number of banks of keys. Essays, Proofs and Specimens ESSAYS are impressions produced by the manufacturers for submission to postal authorities for their approval or rejection, and therefore may resemble impressions from machines actually used, or not, as the case may be. For example: essays of early British Pitney Bowes machines are known, of different designs, only one of which resembles that actually used on the machines after they were licensed. Essays of Midget machines for Czechoslovakia and Bermuda, and of Neopost machines for Poland and China are found, but no licences for their use were granted. PROOFS These are impressions or 'pulls' taken when a machine is ready for despatch to the Agents for sale or renting, and are often kept by the manufacturers for reference purposes. In the case of Fixed Value and Limited Value machines, the proofs usually show all the different values produced by the machine. In Multi-Value proofs the maximum value is often shown. Some proofs are found on blank envelopes, or small sheets of paper, others on envelopes or cards bearing the imprint of the manufacturer; these sometimes have the addition of the word "SPECIMEN". The date shown is usually that when the proof was taken, and can therefore earlier by some time - even years- before the first date of use. In other cases the date is fictitious, or an impossible one. In some instances the Town Mark may have a solid circle, or the identity[ number may be uncut. This occurs when the engraving work is normally done in the country of use. Through misunderstanding, machines have been used in this condition, e.g. in Belgium and India, Neopost impressions have appeared with solid circles for the town mark; in Kenya and Uganda, with a solid rectangular plate in place of the identity number. Occasionally "proofs" are found which have been obtained by favour of the user after the machine has been licensed. From Multi-value machines these often show a "00" value. SPECIMENS These are mainly employed for advertising purposes and are often produced from special machines kept for demonstrations, the impressions often being made on advertising cards and incorporating 'SPECIMEN' or similar wording in the frank or Town Mark. An equally important use for specimen impressions, however, is concerned with slogans which are of course in nearly all cases unofficial and designed at the request of the user of the machine. Each new slogan die is generally placed in the demonstration machine and impressions obtained for reference, the date usually being that of the day when the impression was made. It will be appreciated that it is often difficult to distinguish between essays, proofs and specimens, especially when cut from envelopes or cards. From the collecting point of view essays are by far the most interesting, but proofs may be of great use in establishing what values were originally produced on certain Fixed Value or Limited Value machines. MACHINES USED IN EGYPT Three Moss NZ model D (FV5) machines were imported into England from New Zealand, as manufactured by Universal Automatic Postal Franking Machine Co. Ltd, the parent company of Universal Postal Frankers Ltd, London. This type of machine had been used in New Zealand from 1911, but earlier types were in use from about 1904. One machine, no. 1, was sent to India, another (no. 3) being kept in London for demonstration purposes by Universal Postal Frankers Ltd, which had been formed to introduce the machines into Europe and other foreign markets. The remaining machine (no. 2) was delivered on a trial basis to the Postal Administration in Cairo. It was then rented to the National Bank of Egypt in Cairo, being delivered on 27th February 1922, the first postal franking machine to be used in Egypt (and the only machine of this type). On 1st April 1922, after being in use for only about one month, the National Bank informed the Egyptian Postal Administration that the machine was malfunctioning: frankings were being applied, but not being recorded. The dial readings of the machine were recorded at the time and show how the amount paid by the bank to the Post Office, £E 162.289 mills, was made up. The meter reading was 45,860 on opening on 27 Feb 1922, and 204,418 on 31 March, on closing. There was an addition of 4,001 mills for units which had failed to register, and an allowance of 270 mills for spoiled impressions. The National Bank machine was fitted with dies for 2, 4, 5, 10 and 50 mills. In the centre of each die is the figure 2 in a circle, identifying this as machine no. 2. The 4 milliemes is known only as specimen impressions and until recently it was believed that the same applied to the 50-milliemes die. However, there are now three known examples. Mr Gabriel Pustel has found an example correctly postmarked CAIRO 14 III 22, Mr D H Clarke has one on piece postmarked CAIRO 4 MR 22 4.30; there are no details of the other. To comply with postal regulations in Egypt at the time, and be treated as normal mail, all mail franked by a meter had to be postmarked in the usual manner. Consequently, all genuinely used covers etc. should be cancelled with a CAIRO postmark within the dates 27th February to 31st March 1922. Proofs are known to exist on Government paper both with and without watermark. Ink: it had been decided at the Madrid Postal Convention in 1920 that the colour for all postal franking marks would be red. In the case of the first Egyptian franking machine, however, magenta ink was used during its operational life, up to 31st March 1922. This is explained by the fact that it is the identical colour which had been in use in New Zealand for a considerable time. When the machine was sent from London to Cairo it was apparently overlooked that the magenta colour was incorrect - had the period of use been longer it is likely that it would have been corrected and a red ribbon substituted. red exist but they must be regarded as reprints or posthumous proofs. In 1926 Universal Postal Frankers Ltd introduced a new hand-operated meter into their range, the Frankopost "MIDGET" (F.V.3), with dies for 3, 5 and 10 milliemes. This machine was never used in Egypt but is mentioned here because the company prepared essays for Egypt in 1933. Illustrated is an example in the Pitney Bowes Ltd records at Harlow. It is likely that the essays were submitted to the Egyptian Postal Authority for a licence which was apparently not forthcoming, and was subsequently abandoned by Universal. The design was essentially the same as that currently used in Gt Britain, and this may have had something to do with its non-acceptance. From 1933, up to 1953 with the deposing of King Farouk, all franking dies had the symbols of Egyptian sovereignty incorporated in the die design: the Royal crown and Toughra (cypher), first of Fuad I then, from 1937, that of Farouk I. However, the dies made during Fuad's reign continued to be used for a considerable time after his death. 1938 saw the re-entry of Universal Postal Frankers Ltd into the Egyptian market with their Universal (M.V.) model I machine which continued to be used until the company produced an improved model 0 machine in 1951. Some of the pre-1951 machines had identity numbers which were in Arabic and appear below the Town Mark. Between 1938 and 1951 there were at least ten different types of dies, many of them later being adapted for use under the Republic. This was done by removing the crown and toughra, and can be viewed as "Provisional" until replacement dies were installed with a modified design. These, again, later became obsolescent as the country adopted several changes of title, i.e. EGYPT, EGYPT/UAR, A.R. EGYPT. This impact on the die designs will, of course, have applied to all the various suppliers of postal franking machines in the post-revolution years. Pitney Bowes introduced their Automax Postage meter, the 800 series, in 1957 with a franking range of 000.01 to 999.99 inclusive which could be applied in a single operation. Revenue or fiscal designs were prepared by Pitney Bowes for their Automax - see illustration of their drawing L1025AX - which was later adopted for the 6300 revenue meter. There is no evidence to suggest that the Automax was used in Egypt for either postal franking or fiscal purposes (so that examples are in the nature of essays). By 1958 Universal Postal Frankers Ltd had merged with Pitney Bowes and full details and histories of both companies can be read in the book The History of Pitney Bowes Ltd. 1974 saw the introduction of Pitney Bowes' new range of meters, the 5000 series, which were used in Egypt. No machine identity numbers were used but an uncut blank was incorporated in the franking die leaving only the Pitney Bowes indicia. The franking dies were inscribed A.R.EGYPT. Two companies to use the 5000 series were The Bank of Cairo and The Egyptian International Bank, Cairo. Also in the Pitney Bowes, Harlow, records is a design prepared for use on the 5000 series of meters in Egypt, and a similar item prepared in June 1977 for the 6000 series: there were alterations of design. In April 1933 the National Bank of Egypt took delivery of another franking machine, this time a Neopost (F.V.3) having the machine number 1, and it was operational from 6th April to 9th June 1933 (64 days). A year later, on 3rd March 1934, the machine was brought back into service after repair and a month later was fitted with two additional dies to meet the requirements of overseas postage rates as, until 1934, meter usage had had a restricted validity, limited to Egypt and the Sudan. Most references give this as an F.V.5 machine but it must have been fitted initially in 1932 with three dies only as there is no doubt that two more dies were added, for the reason given, making it a Fixed Value 5 machine. Number 1 machine must have been withdrawn from service some time between late June and November of 1934 as it next appears in a smaller, lighter, modified form used in early December with the slogan of A. Buccellatti (who were agents for Neopost systems at the time) and with an Alexandria Town Mark. An essay exists for Neopost F.V.5 machine number 1 showing the Town Mark in sans-serif typeface, no date indicia, but with a complete die and the bi-lingual figures of the monetary values. On 3rd May 1934 the National Bank employed a second Neopost machine, an L.V.6 (machine number 2), power-driven model. In the case of Egypt, where there appeared bi-lingual figures of value which nearly fill the lower part of the die impression, the individual value segments in the L.V.6 each carry part of the frame-line which then appears "broken" in the impression(s). These breaks make it possible to distinguish between Limited Value machine franks and the Fixed Value machine dies which have a similar format, but whose frames appear complete. The L.V.6 series carrying number 2 upwards were popular machines, used by the following companies:- Machine No.2 - National Bank of Egypt, Cairo Machine No.3 - Imperial Chemical Industries Egypt S.A. Machine No.4 - Wm Stapledon & Sons Ltd., Port Said Machine No.5 - Worms & Co., Post Said Machine No.6 - Unconfirmed, but a specimen is known for Agenzia Marittima, Giulio de Castro & Co. Port Said, dated 19-XI-36 Machine No. 7 - Specimens are known with slogans for P. & 0. and B.I. (two different), and with a Khedivial Mail Line slogan, all dated 19.XI.36 and hand-stamped with the word "SPECIMEN". This machine was commercially used by the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., Port Said. Machine No. 8 (No information available) Machine No. 9 Société Royale d'Agriculture, Cairo. Machine No. 10 Sequestive General des biens des Ressortissants Italiens, Cairo. There was also a Neopost L.V. machine in use in 1939 by P.F.Bagani, Office Machine agents, Cairo, which had a singularly-designed Town Mark. Information on Neopost machines for the post-war period appears to be nonexistent. The Neopost model 205 was licensed for use in Egypt, Roneo Vickers having supplied their Alexandria agents with the following:- 10.7.74 model 205. One machine, identity number 001, machine number E12318 11.7.74 model 205. Fifteen machines, identity numbers not required, machine numbers E12319/12333. In addition to these there were twenty model 305 and fifteen model 405 and 505 machines, of which the 405 and 505 machines required no identity numbers, but it is not clear if this also applied to the model 304 machines. The dies were prepared with A.R. EGYPT. Germany first entered the market in 1934 with a coin-operated machine which will be referred to later. The first Francotyp meter model Cc was used in 1937 and superseded an earlier 1925 model C. The Cc model was a Multi Value machine with a franking range of 001 to 999 (these are singularly distinguishable dies which cannot be confused with those of other companies' machines) and could be hand operated or electrically powered. The slogan appears between the town mark and the franking die, and above the slogan there is a consecutive registering number which identifies each piece of mail. From about 1953 new die types were brought into use, the Town Mark having a two line enclosure, the inner being a circle and the outer being a semi-circle at top and bottom with straight vertical sides. Another German meter to be marketed in Egypt is the Postalia, successor to the Komusina (MV). In the John Mann meter mark collection there is a proof of a "suggested" Postalia design 9.1.60, which was later modified and licensed for use. D.H. Clarke has an example in his collection used from Camp Cesar to London. inscribed EGYPT UAR 13.viii.63. The Swiss firm Hasler S.A. of Berne appear on the Egypt meter scene in 1949 with a multi-value machine, the Hasler F88. This machine had dies similar to the Universal M.V. of 1937, but there are differences: the crown appears more as a Tudor Crown than that of the Universal dies, it has a four-figure Arabic machine number below the franking die, and there are further differences in the design of the stars. As with other machines, the dies were mutilated to remove the royal insignia and continued in use until about 1965-66 when the dies were replaced. It would appear that new machine numbers were also recut as, prior to the replacement, the Arabic figures were quite large, but later were more petite. Some business houses or firms using Hasler machines are Credit Lyonnais, The International Bank of Belgium in Egypt, Cairo, Carey Brothers & Co., Port Said, The National Bank of Egypt, Cairo and Misr Rayonne, Kafr el Duwar. The Satas model C multi-value machine had first been introduced to the French domestic market in 1937 and was used in Egypt in 1951. The format has a slogan at the left of the franking die, the town mark and franking date are immediately below the slogan in a straight line with bars at each end as :- = 1 DEC 50 = CAIRO = with franking denomination of 001 to 999. On machines 1 and 2 only, the identity number is within the frank, in the lower left-hand corner. From machine number 3 upwards this occurs in Arabic and below the frank at left. As with other meters, Satas' die designs changed considerably in the post-republic period. Finally there is one other type of meter which was in use in 1934 and this has been separated from the general meter machines as it was a "coin-in-the-slot" machine. As 1934 was the year of the tenth Universal Postal Congress, held in Cairo, it may well be that the installation of this meter was considered by the Postal Administration as a novel contribution to that occasion. The "Nessim" Automatic Franking Machine - so-called after its inventor, Kamel Chowkah Nessim - was manufactured by Heinwick H. Klussendorf, of Spandau, and was a coin-freed franking machine for the general use of the public. It was installed for a trial period in the Central Post Office, Cairo, the first day of usage being 1st January 1934. Up to the time of the introduction of this machine all previous postage stamping machines had to be fed with a coin of the value to which a particular machine had been designated. However, the Nessim machine had been designed so that the denomination unit automatically adjusted to the value of the coin of coins paid into it. If the required amount of postage was 10 milliemes, this could be made up of a five millieme coin, plus five one millieme coins, and the machine would stamp the envelope with impressions of one 5m and five 1m franks. This applied to any combination from 1 to 99 milliemes in relation, to the coins fed into the machine. The machine was a two-bank multi-value franker designed so that a person having paid money into it could observe the amount through a view panel. If satisfied that this was correct, the user then pressed a release mechanism which set the franker into action, duly impressing the item with a circular date stamp and bi-lingual Town Mark and value die. The letter then fell into a box within the machine and the die and indicator both automatically reverted to zero. Two singular features in the design of the Nessim value dies are that it is the only franker to have the Egyptian Royal Crown and Toughra outside the value die, and that it is the only franker not to have bi-lingual denominations (i.e. no Arabic figures). The machine was withdrawn from use on 25th May 1934, after 145 days of service, and returned to the makers. Fiscal and Revenues There are many countries where Government Fiscal, Legal and Revenue departments employ modified Meter Franking Machines for the collection of taxes, including Departments of Social Insurance, Stamp Duty, Ad Valorem Duty, Prepayment of Telegrams, etc. There are a number of revenue dies, for use in Egypt, which have been recorded but it is unconfirmed whether they were ever granted licences by the respective Egyptian Administrations. In conclusion., I would like to thank the firms of Pitney Bowes and Roneo-Vickers for their co-operation and their permission to use information supplied by them within this survey; thanks also to Mr John Mann of the Meter Mark Society for his help and permission to include illustrations from material in his own collection. [ A copy of The History of Pitney Bowes, and a copy of The Meter Postage Stamp Catalogue by S.D. Barfoot and Werner Simon were kindly presented to Mr Dennis Clarke, for the Egypt Study Circle Record, during his visit to the Pitney Bowes' Harlow premises ]. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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