WORLD ENCASED POSTAGE STAMPS

Algeria

The only issue from Algeria originated with the Exposition d'Alger in April and May of 1921. The history of the fair is a bit vague today, as some references seem to classify it as a World's Fair, and others not. In any event, it clearly was an important exposition which was organized by the General Confederation of Algerian Farmers under the honorary presidency of the Governor General. Featured attractions included a modern art gallery, an automobile show, trade and industry exhibits (including indigenous industries), horse racing, tourism caravans, Moorish festivals, flower competitions, etc.

There were only two issues from Argentina. The more common one is from Framacia Franco-inglese, which billed itself as the largest pharmacy in the world. Two denominations were issued, the 1-centavo and 5-centavos. The other piece is rare and was produced for Allemandi D.D.T. insect poison, a 5-centavos issue.

   

This group of encased postage is larger than most, generally about 37mm in size, perhaps to accommodate the elongated stamps in circulation at the time. Stamps of 1919-22 were used (Post Horn, Coat of Arms, Allegory of New Republic, Symbols of Agriculture, and Mercury designs were used), and were placed against backings that were foil, multicolored, or mother of pearl. Various materials were used for the case, including zinc-plated steel, aluminum, and celluloid. There are reports of copper-finished steel, tin-plated steel, and plastic (cellon) capsules also used. The metal capsules did not note the manufacturer, whereas the celluloid and cellon capsules did. In general, Austrian encased postage stamps are not common, but not rare, with a few exceptions. Initially, the issuance of encased postage was limited to a one-year period. Austroreklame in turn sold advertising space to Austrian companies. While the metal capsules were suitable for only simple depictions, plastic allowed the variation of color and artistic advertising. Austroreklame (later called Union-Vienna) advertised that each capsule would change hands at least 3 times a day, meaning that an issue of as little as 10,000 pieces would have a great advertising impact. If one wanted to redeem capsules for banknotes, one could contact Austroreklame, but whether or how this was done is not known. There is one issue which carries the name Austroreklame, which may be a pattern or sample. The first commercial quantities of encased postage made their appearance in August 1923. Initial reports were that it was viewed suspiciously, with some people refusing to accept it, but after a month, the people of Vienna had gotten used to the new money. When the Austrian capsules started appearing, they were immediately identified as a collector's item, but mainly in other countries such as Germany and the U.S. Apparently, no large collections were amassed in Austria, at least at that time. Most types are from Vienna. In general, the celluloid capsules trade at a higher price than the metal ones, with the exception of the two Hammerbrot types, which are usually a bit less. Some of the capsules appear to have circulated only regionally. Also, many capsules were distributed aggressively by some of the advertisers, partly explaining why some are common and some rare today.

Belgium used encased postage during 1920-21. There are 5 advertisers who used Belgian stamps, and two that were from Belgium but used German stamps (Chidez and the celluloid Cycles Scaldis pieces).

 

Among the merchants that advertised on encased postage stamps were banks and coin and stamp dealers. After the Japanese invasion of August 1937, minor Chinese metallic coins disappeared from circulation. Emergency currency of many types, called Fa Chia Ch'uan, was pressed into service, encased postage being only a small part of the solution. One source says that encased postage was used until 1945, as the Japanese withdrew a large quantity of the copper coins in Shanghai.

Of the 21 known varieties, four have only Chinese characters on the stamp side to identify the issuer. All the known varieties have an orange background card, except for two where the card is green. These known varieties are all from Shanghai, except for the Hankow and Szechuan issues, and the two issues of unknown origin. It is possible that other cities also issued encased postage stamps. Stamp dealers utilized encased postage to attract customers from the masses of refugees pouring in from Austria and Germany in 1939 to escape the Nazis. The stamp market boomed in 1939 and later years because stamp collections were a portable item of value to bring out of Europe.

Encased postage from Czechoslovakia is rare. They were issued by very few merchants and little information is available. Celluloid and rectangular metal cases are extant. These were produced early post-World War I. Capsules were made in 1920-1 from the stamps of those same years in metal (Carlsbad) or celluloid (Prague). It appears that encased postage here may have been mainly for advertising, as very little emergency money was produced in the Prague area or for the city's electric railways.

There were several different issuers of encased postage ("Reklampengar" or "Postskillemonter") from Denmark. Cases were made of tin-plated steel and painted metal (polychrome) and are round in shape. Again, these were made shortly after World War I. Due to a shortage of change in Southern Jutland (Northern Schleswig) after the reunification with Denmark in 1920, the Director-General of the Post Office allowed the issuance of the 10 and 25 øre denominations of encased postage. Initially, in Southern Jutland, day-to-day transactions were handled using unused stamps, but Superintendent Jacob Andersen, head of the Temporary Overpost Inspectorate in Sønderjylland, suggested that the French idea of encased postage be used as a temporary solution to the coin shortage. The Ministry of Finance approved this on February 12, 1921, after obtaining opinions from the National Bank and the Royal Mønt. It was planned to put 500,000 pieces of the values 10 and 25 øre in circulation from the Sønderjian post offices. These were intended to circulate in Southern Jutland for one year. The first 28,000 pieces of each value were put into circulation on April 4, 1921. The last were placed in circulation in July 1921. There are 10 different advertisers known, with roughly equal numbers of the 10-and 25-øre denominations produced for each. There are examples of privately made stamp money, with several different types known in addition to those made by the postal service. There is also a type with a German 50 pfennig stamp. In addition, there are known examples of removing the intended regular stamp and inserting a Christmas stamp. We know of Christmas stamps from the years 1909, 1914, 1919, and 1921 being used. The practical work on the encased postage artwork was carried out by A / S Postreklamen, who, upon the imposition of a tax, had permission to place an advertisement on the back. The advertiser was The American Tobacco Co. A / S. In fact, the American Tobacco Co. later offered to finance the manufacture of encased postage for the entire country, but the authorities rejected the idea.

 

The need for small change was again the reason for a substitute in the case of France. Although there were examples of coin shortages going back to the French Revolution, substitutes in modern times began appearing during the First World War, as there was no availability of non-ferrous metals. Municipalities, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, communes, associations of merchants, and some individual businesses had tokens minted and/or notes of necessity produced as a form of paper money, but in insufficient numbers. Some local traders began to use postage stamps as change for their customers. It was soon seen that the stamps were too fragile, so they were then affixed to printed cards, but these deteriorated rapidly. Stamps were then used by putting them in small translucent cellophane pouches called "pochettes", but this method didn't hold up to repeated use (there were several kinds of pochettes—envelopes, translucent pouches, tissue paper,

After pochettes, some commercial companies at the beginning of 1920 did what the government had already done, which was create booklets of stamps. The Government had started issuing these in 1908, which usually held 20-40 stamps in the denominations of 5, 10, 15, and 25 centimes. A cover on the booklet protected the stamps to some degree. Still, some entrepreneurs wanted to make a product with more protection for the stamp and for more convenient handling. Even though encased stamps had been already patented in the United States by Gault in 1862, a French patent was received by a Frenchman, Edouard Bouchaud-Praceiq, on March 29, 1920. On April 8, the Tribunal de Commerce de la Seine accepted the patent (Coffing). He also applied for (and received) patents in Italy, Austria, and some other countries, as the European patent offices were not aware of the old American patent. The German authorities refused the patent request, as they knew of the American patent. French encased postage (or Timbres-Monnaie) used two different types of cases, aluminum and painted metal. The backgrounds weren't always cardboard, but were often painted or a colored translucent plastic disc. Most of the stamps used were from the 1920 issue, but some were from the 1921 emissions. Issues with the earlier 15 centimes and the later orange 5 centimes stamps are scarce. The Sower No Ground design stamp was used with values of 5, 10, and 25 centimes. Values of 20, 30, 50, 60, and 75 centimes are known. None of the French encased issues are common, and some have a high degree of rarity. The 20 and 35 centimes capsules are thought to be unique. France used encased postage during the years 1920-1924, when small change was again being produced in adequate quantities. The Government never officially sanctioned the use of capsules, but as they helped to alleviate the coin shortage, they were allowed to circulate. There is no record of any legal challenge to their use. As far as rarity goes, the most common piece would have to be the Credit Lyonnais 5c green, as the firm had far more than 12 orders of 1000, although it is almost certain that the total number was much more. According to Christoph Gaertner, there have been 88 different varieties of the Credit Lyonnais issue alone! The painted iron issues deteriorated easily. Unlike several of the embossed aluminum issues, none of the iron issues are common. The French pieces in painted iron often rust, many times where the other side is quite nice.

 

Kaiserreich coins were melted for their metal content during World War I, which created a severe small change shortage in Germany towards the end of the war and especially in 1920-1. Postage stamps themselves were first used as small change in October 1915. The use of stamps in transparent envelopes began in late 1916. The first coin-like capsules appeared in 1919. The repeal of the law requiring the redemption of paper currency in gold caused the general public to hoard coins. These factors were responsible for the conditions that caused the need for emergency small change, and encased postage (kapselgeld) was one of these solutions, along with many other types of private emergency issues. Since the penal code only addressed imitation and counterfeit Reich money, the use and production of emergency private tokens, of which encased postage was a part, was tolerated and even promoted by the authorities in some areas. Germany was the most prolific user of encased postage in the post-WWI period with hundreds of firms issuing multiple denominations. While the vast majority of these issues contain Germania or Numeral type stamps, a few used different types, including the worker and posthorn stamps of 1921 and countermarked Bavarian stamps. These later types are scarce. Whereas in France only one factory made encased postage, there were multiple companies in Germany which produced capsules. The firms Alfred Zoelzer in Elberfeld and Meise & Moecking in Vohwinkel produced celluloid pieces, and C. Rembold in Heilbronn and Haenel & Schwarz in Berlin manufactured cardboard kapselgeld. The aluminum capsules were mainly from Richard Beator in Leipzig and F.E. Feissler in Saalfeld, whereas the Opel pieces were produced by Fathos-Reklame in Frankfurt am Main. Generally German encased postage has a colored paper background behind the stamp, and many colors were used (and can be collected by color varieties). In rare cases the paper background has been printed with advertising in addition to the advertising on the reverse. Whereas there are many scarce and rare types, most German encased postage is relatively common. A variety of materials have been used for the cases: iron, embossed zinc, aluminum, tin-plated steel, brass, colored lacquer on metal, celluloid with metal rim, celluloid alone, cardboard with celluloid cover (scarce), and cardboard with glassine (plastic or celluloid) cover (scarce). A few celluloid issues have a photograph in place of the advertisement and are scarce. Denominations run from 5 pfennig all the way to 3 mark, with 5 and 10 (especially) pfennig most often encountered. Larger denominations tend to carry a small premium. Diameters generally run 32-34mm. The side with the advertiser's name and location is considered the obverse. Germany used encased postage from 1919-23. The era of kapselgeld ended when hyperinflation occurred, and the denominations became meaningless.

According to Courtney Coffing, during a small change shortage in 1922-1923, encasements appeared of 5 and 10 lepta Greek stamps (Scott A26 green and A24 carmine, respectively). These apparently circulated widely and were apparently produced with no advertising. While over 100 varieties of encased postage are said to have been produced in Greece during the postwar period, they are exceedingly rare today, with the exception of an issue by Singer Sewing Machines, which is still fairly rare.

As in other areas after the war, extreme shortages of small change developed, in fact to the point where customers of businesses would buy commodities in quantity in the amount corresponding to the paper money they had. But this was not an ideal solution. Next, postage stamps were tried as before but failed for the same reasons as before (were lost easily, got sticky and dirty, etc.). Finally, encased postage solved this problem and helped facilitate transactions until enough small change could again be made and distributed.

The Milanese company Solari (a liquor producer) started to encase stamps in aluminum cases embossed with a legend advertising their own company. These capsules circulated mainly in the 1919-20 period and were made of plastic or aluminum. 5, 10, and 25 centesimi stamps were used, with the end product 32mm in diameter. The operation was a success and soon they formed a new company, FYP. It. Brevetti Solari, to produce capsules for themselves and other companies. This was under license from Robert Binds-Shedler, the French patent holder. The circulation of encased postage was useful and profitable for about a three-year period, although they continued to circulate to some degree through at least 1923. These issues circulated not only in Italy but also in the Mediterranean islands and Asia Minor. There have been more recent coin shortages in Italy during which encased postage was pressed into action again. These are the periods after World War II and during the 1970s.

The only encased postage from Monaco is the Musée Océanographique / Aquarium de Monaco piece with French stamp. According to Courtney Coffing, Prince Albert I of Monaco willed the Oceanographic Museum to the French government, accounting for the use of French stamps in the capsules. These were in use in the early 1920's. Capsules with other values or Monaco stamps have been tampered with and are not original (cf. de Vos).

Issued by the Banque L'Indo-Chine (Noumea) after the end of World War I, these encased postage stamps came in 10, 25 and 50 centimes denominations. Produced in 1922, both have aluminum cases and are very scarce. Mica was apparently used as the clear cover over the stamp.

There were very few issuers of encased postage in Norway. There are several types of cases, including heavy paper with metal rim, round aluminum, brass, or rectangular aluminum. These were used around 1917-20 and all types are rare. Stamps of the olive-gray 1 ore were used for the Alf. Chr. Nielsen pieces from Kristiania (old name of Oslo), which were on cardboard with a metal frame, in the diameter of 33mm. Other issuers include G.K. Hartmann of Kristiania and Marcovitch Cigarettes, which produced metallic rectangular capsules.

Because of the lack of coins in circulation, some private organizations, such as banks and insurance companies, issued encased postage ("Monedas de Emergencia"), encapsulating "Ceres" stamps in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, and 10 centavos in metal cases. Later, to alleviate the shortage of 5 centavos coins (the last issue of which was minted in 1927), an emergency issue with the stamp of the Temple of Diana was produced, which circulated until 1945.

Encased postage stamps were used in the Barcelona area shortly after the end of the Civil War. The Franco issue "El Cid" stamp types were used in the denominations of 5, 10, and 15 centimos. The cases were aluminum or cardboard with metal rim, bearing the advertisements of various Barcelona firms. Some pieces have a celluloid cover made from unexposed clear photographic film, which still shows the perforations (probably from the discarded ends of film). Apparently, this was due to the intense shortages of supplies in postwar Spain. These are all rare and were issued between the Nationalist victory in 1938 and the resumption of small denomination coinage in 1940. From what I have been able to gather, most if not all of these were produced after the Civil War. A few of the issues contain Franco stamps (including Bazar La Union, Joyeria Oriol, Almacenes Segura, Mutua General Seguros, and Café Restaurante Suizo).

Upper Silesia issued their own stamps from 1920-22. One of the merchant advertisers was Hans Rotter, who also produced encasements with German Stamps.

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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