Franchise stamp

A franchise stamp issued by the Allied Military Government in 1948 to exempt travellers from fees when crossing borders.

In philately a franchise stamp or frank stamp is a stamp given to an individual or organisation to enable them to send mail without charge.[1] Typical recipients include charities, refugees and soldiers on active service (military franchise stamps).

France overprinted a 90c stamp with an olive branch design for refugees from the Spanish Civil War (Scott No. S1)[2] and Brazil issued a franchise stamp between 1865 and 1870 for use by soldiers during the war with Paraguay.[3] In Portugal franchise stamps were issued to members of the military commission in charge of prisoners of war and to a number of other organisations, including the Red Cross Society, civilian rifle clubs and the Geographical Society of Lisbon.[4]

Franchise stamps have also been issued by Switzerland and Spain.[4]

In 1948, franchise stamps were issued by the Allied Military Government to permit exemption from the travel permit fee when crossing borders.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Franchise stamps removed burden of postage by Rick Miller. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  2. ↑ Linns.com Refresher Course Collecting stamps from the front to the back of the book by Janet Klug.
  3. ↑ War Stamps by James Mackay, sandafayre.com.
  4. 1 2 "New Collector" by John Holman in Gibbons Stamp Monthly, Vol.40, No.10, March 2010, p.31.
  5. ↑ "Germany: Allied Military Government Travel Permits 1947-51" by Theo J.F. Schalke in The Revenue Journal, Vol. XXII, No. 3, December 2011, pp. 129-139.
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