STAMPS of TURKEY - A Book by Adolf PASSLER

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Postal Rates.-  At the beginning the postage of letters up to 3 drams (1 dram= 3.3075 grams) was 1 para for one route hour, the rate being raised by a 1/2 para per route hour for each additional dram, and for printed matter 1 para for 5 drams for every four route hours. The route hour is a conventional term; its length differed according to the difficulty of the country; in mountainous regions the distance was, of course, shorter than on the plains. The distances according to route hours between various places were fixed by the Government and placarded at the post offices.

When, in 1863, the first Government stamps were issued, the rates of postages were: for inland according to distance, 20 paras to 2 piastres, and for abroad 8 piastres, rising by 8 piastres.

In 1865 the inland postage for ordinary letters was reduced to 1 piastre, and in 1876, when Turkey had joined the Universal Postal Union, it was fixed at 20 paras for ordinary letters to sea-board towns, 1 piastre to inland towns, and 50 paras (1-1/4 piastres) for foreign letters.

A postal tariff was found lately in a Bulgarian post office, which was reported to have been valid in the 'seventies of the 19th century. This date may be correct, as the rates were noted in gold, i.e. at a time when there was a premium for gold, shortly before the Turkish State bankruptcy about the middle of 'seventies.  The rates for for the letters were 60 paras, gold up to a weight of 3 drams, for a distance of 100 Turkish hours, 310 miles, 3 gurush, up to a distance of 200 hours, and 6 gurush for a distance of more than 200 hours, and 30 paras for each additional dram. Registered letters were to be sealed and the post paid an indemnity of 100 gurush, gold, for lost registered letters.

The rate for newspapers was 10 paras, gold, per 5 drams without regard to distance, and for samples and printed matter 10 paras per oka and per hour. Printed matter, produced in Government printing works, was charged half fee. One oka=400 drams.

I have at present no particulars about the postal rates between 1876 and 1914.

For public use small booklets of stamps of the issue of the 14th March, 1913, were sold at the uniform price of 12 piastres, containing either 48 copies of the 10 paras on 8 leaves of 6 each, or 24 of the 20 paras on 4 leaves of 6 each, or 12 of the 1 piastre on 2 leaves of 6 each. The rates of postage were noted on the inside of the booklets (See table 1).

TABLE 1:

In the following year similar booklets appeared containing stamps of the issue of the 14th January, 1914, printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., London. The subsequent postal rates will be added later.

Obliterations. - Before the introduction of stamps in 1863, letters were franked by postmarks of various types, usually circular or rosette-shaped with very deeply cut inscriptions, the impression of which appeared in the color of the paper, on a black or dark ground. The inscriptions varied, the most usual being "an janib postayi and the name of the town," i.e. "on behalf of the post of..."; or-"Brusada kirasi alinmishdir," i.e. "postage has bee paid at Brusa." In places where no post office existed the officials, whose duty it was to accept letters, used smaller postmarks of similar type inscribed "ujreti alinajaktir," i.e. "the postage is to be collected"

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