Q87 December, 2010   member 264 Insured Cover. I recently acquired this cover. It was sent from Suez on 7 March 1934, with a return address at "Hotel de Suez", insured for 2 Egyptian pounds at the time equivalent to 50 Gold Francs. Franked with a single 15 mills UPU (one stamp missing to complete postage and insurance). It bears a pink insured label inscribed "V 18 SUEZ". Two questions : 1. What should have been the face value of the missing stamp. 2. Is it possible that the number 18 on the label identified a Suez origin and that different numbers were used to identify each post office handling insured mail ? Hope some ESC members can help. One thing for sure, it is a rare item !

reply member ESC 188 I have been wrestling with the franking of Insured Mail for years, but I think that on this cover it may be calculated as follows, and have reconciled three or four Insured frankings using this method: The weight of the item (which has to be stated on the front) is G 16 (G=grams), and this has to be Translated into the basic surface rate, i.e. 20 mills The ordinary Registration Fee has to be paid - 20 mills The Insurance fee, on a packet with a declared value of less than 300 francs 25 mills Making 65 mills in all. With 15m already affixed, it leaves 50m, but the space on the cover seems enough to accommodate a stamp the same size again, BUT the 50m value of the UPU set is a larger stamp! Or, did it have a 50m 2nd Fuad? This area is a minefield, because we see so few covers work with. I think the pink label V 18 is a continuation number for Suez only, I have seen various examples for Alexandria which show different numbers. Apart from the “V” label, insured covers often have a red label (similar size to the ordinary Registered label) with INSURED and VALUE DECLARES below in black. I am surprised the envelope seems to have only three wax seals: five were definitely called for, one at each corner & one in the middle.