POSTMARK INDEX! [Latest update: 27th March 2021]
- Åland Islands: Machine
- Algeria: Hand (1, 2)
- Antarctica: Machine, Hand
- Armenia: Hand
- Australia: Hand (1, 2)
- Austria: Machine (1, 2), Hand (1, 2)
- Bahrain: Hand
- Belarus: Machine, Hand (1, 2, 3)
- Belgium: Machine, Hand
- Brazil: Hand (1, 2)
- Bulgaria: Hand (1, 2, 3), Machine
- Canada: Inkjet, Hand (1, 2, 3), Pencil
- Chile: Hand
- China: Machine (1, 2, 3), Hand (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- Croatia: Machine, Hand
- Cuba: Hand
- Czech Republic: Machine, Hand
- Denmark: Inkjet
- Estonia: Machine
- Finland: Machine, Hand
- France: Inkjet (1, 2), Hand
- French Polynesia (France): Inkjet, Hand (1, 2)
- Germany: Inkjet (1, 2, 3), Machine (1, 2, 3, 4), Hand (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- Guernsey: Machine
- Hong Kong: Inkjet, Machine, Hand (1, 2)
- Hungary: Hand
- Iceland: Inkjet
- India: Machine, Hand (1, 2)
- Indonesia: Hand
- Iraq: Hand
- Ireland: Inkjet, Hand, Pen
- Italy: Machine (1, 2), Hand
- Japan: Hand (1, 2)
- Kazakhstan: Hand
- Latvia: Machine, Hand
- Liechtenstein: Hand
- Lithuania: Hand (1, 2, 3)
- Luxembourg: Machine (1, 2)
- Macau: Hand
- Malaysia: Inkjet, Machine, Hand
- Martinique (France): Inkjet
- Moldova: Hand (1, 2)
- Nepal: Machine, Hand (1, 2)
- Netherlands: Inkjet (1, 2, 3)
- New Caledonia (France): Inkjet
- New Zealand: Machine
- North Korea: Hand (1, 2, 3)
- Norway: Machine, Hand
- Oman: Hand (1, 2)
- Philippines: Machine, Hand (1, 2)
- Poland: Hand
- Portugal: Machine, Hand
- Romania: Hand (1, 2)
- Russia: Machine, Hand (1, 2)
- Senegal: Hand
- Singapore: Inkjet (1, 2), Machine, Hand (1, 2)
- Slovakia: Machine, Hand (1, 2)
- Slovenia: Machine, Hand
- South Africa: Hand
- South Korea: Machine, Hand
- Spain: Machine, Hand
- Sweden: Inkjet, Hand
- Switzerland: Machine, Hand (1, 2, 3)
- Taiwan: Machine, Hand
- Thailand: Machine, Hand
- Turkey: Inkjet, Hand
- Turkmenistan: Hand (1, 2)
- Ukraine: Inkjet, Hand (1, 2, 3, 4)
- United Arab Emirates: Hand
- United Kingdom: Inkjet (1, 2, 3), Hand (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Pen
- United States: Inkjet (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), Machine (1, 2, 3, 4), Hand (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- Venezuela: Hand
The travel scars thread is full of postmark-related discussions and, since it’d be highly unfair to classify postmarks as “scars”, I decided to open this new topic where we can talk about these fascinating blotches of ink! Here are some of the things we could talk about (N.B. all the scans and pictures, except for the last one, are from my own collection):
SORTING MACHINE CANCELLATION
Sprayed-on inkjet cancellations
Countries such as Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and France cancel their stamps by spraying ink on them. I think France and Canada have the best inkjet technology – the results are always sharp and legible… The British and American versions, on the other hand, are often fuzzy and smeary… To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of this cancellation method.
Automated postmark cancellation
Italy, Germany, Norway and many other European countries prefer these more traditional stamps – they resemble your average handstamps; however, those wavy lines always reveal the fact that they’ve been issued by big sorting machines. Apart from how, many times, they don’t even manage to be on the postage stamp itself (and, sometimes, they’re even on the wrong side of the postcard), I don’t really mind them. I guess I’m just too used to these postmarks!
HAND ISSUED POSTMARKS
Stamps on outgoing mail
The majority of the countries don’t use big sorting machines – postage stamps are cancelled at local post offices by postal clerks themselves. I absolutely love handstamps: they show the names of the post office from which the cards are sent, whereas big sorting centres are, obviously, super centralised. And, since they’re issued by hand, it means that the postage stamps are never missed!
The most prominent countries that use this system are Russia and China. Both countries seem to have extremely skilled postmarkers, as the cancellations are always super legible. India and the Philippines, on the other hand, seem to only have very old rubber stamps that are falling apart, which is why their postmarks are always unintelligible (and often use too much ink).
Stamps on incoming mail
Countries that use handstamps generally also mark their incoming mail, which is basically a lost art in places with big sorting centres. I really like them, and I really wish I received mail with an extra stamp as well. From what I can see, both Russia and China stamp their incoming postcards.
The image I provided is the only one I have (it’s an old postcard I sent to a Chinese friend of mine back in 2016, when I was 16 years old – she then showed me a picture of my card, which is how I learnt that China stamps incoming mail as well).
If you have more pics of such cancellations, I’d be delighted to see them. Please send all the material you have though. I’d love to talk about everything postmark-related and look at your photos! I swear, I just love them too much
EDIT: I decided that we shouldn’t talk about commemorative stamps (i.e. the ones issued by hand in occasions such as first day of issue events), because they deserve a topic of their own. Here we are just going to talk about the super ordinary postmarks!