Surface-Rate, International-Use Postal Cards

This area of postal card collecting is perhaps the most difficult and challenging, but also very rewarding. Some of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) overseas cards are extremely difficult to locate used during the proper rate periods. Many of these cards are true rarities, perhaps someday to become the 'key' items to seek for the assemblage of a complete collection. The surface-rate overseas and other worldwide receiving posts often add interesting and colorful auxiliary markings to make these items highly collectible. These markings and the correspondence on the cards are often written in languages other than english, adding to their challenge and charm.

Prior to the formation of the Universal Postal Union and the introduction of the UPU cards, additional postage was generally required to send postal cards abroad. Rates were not standardized prior to 1875. Even so, the United States did not issue a UPU-rate card until 1879. During this time it seems that the general public did not understand how much it cost to send a postal card abroad, and they are often found overpaid, usually by a penny. This may have had something to do with the availability of 1-Cent Stamps. Any of the domestic letter rate 2-Cent stamps would have been much more likely to have been at hand for those rare times requiring postal card communication abroad. Still, unusual overpayments on postal cards occasionally turn up and seem to defy explanation.

After the adoption of 'post cards' in Europe and America in 1897, a lower 'printed-matter' UPU rate was adopted for these items abroad. For postal cards to qualify, they could not be handwritten with the exception of the address. All other printed matter must be form printed on the card. These rules were not always followed, or enforced entirely by postal officials. The printed matter rate now made it possible to include domestic cards in a surface-rate collection which are legitimately absent of addtional postage. Early examples are quite scarce.

Wars and international tension can add even more auxiliary markings and historic interest to a collection of surface-rate postal cards. Ever since The Great War, there seems to have been discontent somewhere on this planet and we see it in these markings. Frequently they reveal evidence of censorship of messages, although I can't understand why they would bother to note it on postal cards, since no opening is necessary. The long-standing US-Soviet 'cold war' provided availability of these markings during peacetime in the post WWII era.

Modern-era surface-rate postal card usages are all scarce to rare items. The 4- thru 10-Cent rate periods seem especially difficult. Our expanding technology in the course of the 20th century has all but rendered them obsolete.

We also can find surface international usages for the FPO/APO system used by military personnel. Often, its hard to distinguish airmail from surface rates without the assistance and presence of both departure and receiving postmarks. The APOs have been around since World War I, and present 'stealth' international usages because they operate using domestic US postage rates.

At the end of the period for surface-rate international mail, there wasn't even a postal card issued for the 35-Cent surface rate. Also during this period emerged international cards intended solely for use to Canada. Finding these properly used is quite the challenge.

The surface rate became formally obsolete with the adoption of the 50-Cent international airmail rate in July, 1995 bringing an end to this collecting area.