Unusual covers franked with Pošta Československá 1919 stamps

Published in Czechoslovak Specialist (www.csphilately.org)

The Pošta Československá 1919 stamp issue was valid only few months and because of surcharge paid to face values it was not widely used in postal operations. Majority existing covers franked with the issue was produced by stamp collectors for two main reasons:

1) To get rare stamps “on covers” – at that time it was quite common to collect cancelled stamps and many owners of rare stamps preferred them postally used.

2) To use cheap stamps for franking of philatelic mail ; this was caused by need to buy many normal stamps to get few rare stamps ; sometimes the collectors was pushed to buy 100 “normal stamps” to be allowed to buy stamps with low press run. Typical example of such covers you can see at fig. 1 .

Fig. 1 – philatelic cover franked with Hradcany stamp and with one Austrian and one Hungarian stamp overprinted with Pošta Československá 1919 overprint

(correct postage of 25 Heller for domestic letter)

There is no wonder, that the stamp collectors of that time hated the stamp issue and some of them stopped collecting of Czechoslovak stamps, because they were sure, that they can never get all issued stamps and their collection will be never complete. Very hard for collecting of stamp country, which first stamps were issued only one year before the stamp set … .

Sometimes we can find a cover really went through postal system franked with the stamp issue. I don´t talk about rare covers being sold now at leading international auctions houses for many thousands of dollars, but about “normal” covers being franked with usual values of the set and being really sent for postal purposes. Example of such covers you can see at fig. 2.

Fig. 2

This is original Austrian field post card being franked with 15 Heller Pošta Československá 1919 stamp and mailed in Jan. 1920 as confirms not very clear machine cancel of Prague. The franking is correct, 15 Heller was standard postal rate for domestic postcards. This card was sent without any philatelic interest, the sender remembers his friend, that he has not return him a book and strongly asked him to do it immediately.

The other example is yet more interesting, however this card is situated on the edge of philatelic and non-philatelic covers. But because it has not been returned to sender and the message seems like normal correspondence between two collectors of postcards, we can believe, that main purpose for its mailing was the message and not the stamp (fig. 3a+b). The card was sent from Prague to Beyrouth in Syria (today in Lebanon). Covers franked with the issue mailed abroad are very unusual. In addition, this card was prepared in way very popular at that time – with postage stamp being affixed on picture side. The postal cancel belongs to Praha – Hrad post office (Prague-Castle), which nicely accompanies the picture side showing Charles Bridge being situated below the castle. The postage rate of 20 Heller corresponds to the international postcard rate of that time.

Fig. 3a + b

However the above examples will never be sold at any auction for high amount of money, such cards are always welcome by collectors and there is no reason for their discrimination in our collections.

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