Hello I from germany and have a question but I am not sure if I am right here. I am looking for people with whom one can enter into an exchange on the subject of special stamps. I imagined it this way: I get letters with special postmarks from the German Post and would send them to interested members here from the forum. Other members in the United States could obtain letters with special USPS cancellations and send them to me. I find letters with special postmarks that were actually also transported by post more interesting than FDC without an address and postal transport. For example, I created this letter myself, had it stamped by the post office and then sent to me:
You could get this stamp from the German post office between 03/23/2020 and 04/23/2021.
I could have this stamped on a letter with the appropriate picture of the four-masted barque “Sedov” and send it to interested parties from the USA and Canada.
For some years, I used to collect pictorial postmarks on cover. It got to be a hassle. I say that because you need to understand how the USPS treats these postmarks.
About 99% of mail that the USPS processes is automated. That being so, cards or envelopes that have pictorial postmarks occur outside of normal USPS fulfillment. The process of getting a pictorial postmark is time-consuming:
¶ You prepare the card or envelope…addressing it and applying the appropriate postage.
¶ Then you insert your piece into and envelope with a note to the Postmaster of that city offering the postmark to your piece.
¶ Always always, you need to insert your piece into a protective sleeve. If you don’t your pictorial postmark will be ruined with a double-cancel.
Thanks for the information. I had already found the procedure for the pictorial postmarks on the Internet.
The problem I have is that I can’t make a postage-paid return envelope in Germany because I can’t buy American postage stamps in Germany. I could do a single stamp such as the “Mayflower” directly from the USPS. But the shipping costs to Germany for a single stamp are too expensive for me just to stick it on an envelope and send it back to the USA.
So I found it easier if there is an exchange partner in the US who can get the American postmarks, and I get the German ones, and then you send the letter to the exchange partner. So I asked this question here in the forum, hoping to find an easier solution.
