Blog Reference Pages

▼

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Faststamps can be used forever anywhere

A correspondent reports confusion at his local post office over the validity of Faststamps.  

I suppose it is understandable that some sub-postmasters are unsure about restrictions which apply to methods of postage with which they are unfamiliar because they don't sell them.

Post and Go Labels have a 'use by date' which should be the day after purchase:

But these can be applied and posted anywhere: they do not have to be posted in the Post & Go box, they do not have to be posted at the same post office, nor even in the same town.  They can be used the next day hundreds of miles away, and handed over the counter.

Post and Go Stamps, known to all but Royal Mail as Faststamps are valid for all time, anywhere, for the current value of the service shown, in the same way that 2nd & 1st class stamps, and NVI airmail stamps, are.


To help collectors using old Frama labels, I'll add that these are also valid, still, for the price shown on them, in the same way as old (decimal) stamps are - and ½p values are also valid if used in even numbers to make up whole pence:



Let us know of any problems you have had using P& G labels 'out of area', or using old stamps: use the comment button.
at

2 comments:

  1. Rob22 October 2010 at 02:42

    Thanks for the note about the Frama labels. I bought some discount postage recently and it included a 12½p Frama - a real blast from the past!

    Can you clarify about the halfpenny values though? I'm sure I read that the halfpennies are ignored completely, even if they are in even numbers, so that, for instance, two 20½p stamps would only be counted as 40p rather than 41p. You seem to suggest otherwise - it would be good to know as I have lots of 20½p commems to use up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ian - Norvic22 October 2010 at 09:22

    Ron, there has been a lot of confusion in the past when Post Office Ltd and Royal Mail sent out entirely contradictory instructions at the same time. Half penny values are good if used in pairs - see http://norphil.blogspot.com/2009/09/saving-p.html

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading the blog and commenting: please use an identity (name or pseudonym) rather than being Anonymous; it helps us to know which 'anonymous' comments are from the same person to avoid confusion. Comments are moderated to avoid spam, but will be published as soon as possible.