MORE ON THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENCASED POSTAGE

There have been many instances in the course of human history that have required the innovation of an emergency currency. The first instance of stamps being used as a currency substitute was circa 1843 in England. However, in only two major emergencies has the solution been postage stamps: the U.S. Civil War and the aftermath of World War I, both in the form of encased postage stamps. Terms used to describe this genre include encased postage, kapselgeld, enkapselmarken, notgeld, timbres-monnaies, jetons-monnaie, emergency money, tokens, or simply capsules.

An often-neglected area of numismatics, encased postage is as interesting a pursuit as any, combining numismatics and philately, art, and history. In fact, it has been said that encased postage is the link between philately and numismatics. I ask where can you start a collection with as little as $20 that combines all these things and has such a variety of issues, colors, and merchant advertising? Even a nice example of U.S. encased postage from the Civil War, a variety which may have only 100 pieces known, can be had for around $200-300. ALL encased postage is scarce and is a worthy challenge for any numismatist or philatelist.

In Europe after the First World War, most metals were in very short supply and governments were not able to produce small denomination coins because of this. Tokens in base metal (aluminum, zinc, etc.) and emergency currency were produced to fill the gap, but it wasn't enough. In certain circumstances, stamps were granted official legal tender status, such as during the Boer War in South Africa. Stamps became a medium of exchange, but after a few uses, they became sticky and dirty and ultimately lost their value. Next, putting the stamps in containers such as envelopes or cellophane pockets was tried, but these could not hold up to intense circulation. At about the same time, some merchants were putting together small booklets of stamps together which held the stamps for use and had advertising on the outside, but these were found to be inconvenient and not much protection from moisture. Clearly, a more durable material that protected the stamp was needed, something resembling a coin.

It is unclear if the use of encased postage after World War I was inspired by John Gault's invention or if the idea sprung up independently from a pressing need for emergency small change. The idea of a clear protective substance to cover a stamp and use advertising is not a complicated one after all, and the style of the encasements that were developed does differ quite a bit from the U.S. pieces. They come in a large variety of case types, including various metals and plastic. Adding yet another variable to the mix, many world types have a background color around the stamp which can be quite varied and adds another dimension to collecting them. Most world issues are also different from Gault's in that the stamp generally is not folded over its backing and is shown completely. This is at least one reason why world encasements tend to be larger than their U.S. counterparts. In 1919, a Frenchman, M. Bouchaud Praceiq, received a patent for an encased stamp, which was further granted in Italy, Austria, and some other countries. The German Patent Office refused to issue a patent, however, as they were aware of the previous American patent by Gault. This is why in Germany there were so many kinds of encased issues, whereas in many other countries, only a few firms were licensed to produce them.

Austrian encased postage began appearing somewhat later than did the extensive French, German, and Italian emissions. The earlier issues were mainly produced for use as emergency money, particularly the higher denominations. Some of the later issues were made for advertising purposes or even as collector's items. In some countries, scarce stamps were used by stamp traders in producing their own souvenir items! When regular coinage was resumed, encased postage disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Not all encased postage was produced to relieve coin shortages. Some were produced strictly for advertising purposes or as collector's items. It can be assumed that the items with the largest production were made for the purposes of circulation. After the periods of use, many encased pieces were destroyed to get the stamp out by collectors. I don't think this is done today, but clearly it has happened in the past.

For more information, or to order, see:
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENCASED POSTAGE (https://www.numislit.com/pages/books/7855/paul-montz/encyclopedia-of-encased-postage)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENCASED POSTAGE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n25a03.html)

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