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Ohio Stampless Covers
Manuscripts
Manuscript postmarks are perhaps the most consistent of all the varieties of Ohio stampless postmarks, occuring from the very earliest Northwest Territory covers all the way into the 1850s and beyond. Virtually every post office started with the simplest of postmarking devices--the postmaster's own hand. The government didn't provide postmasters postmarking devices unless a certain amount of income was derived from the office, so if a postmaster of a small town did not wish to purchase a handstamp he was forced to rely on his pen.
Manuscript markings are rarely much to look at, but they are an extremely important part of Ohio postal history; many of the early post offices are only known from their manuscript markings.
Pricing of Ohio manuscripts will depend as much on date as on the post office; pre-1820 Ohio stampless will fetch a good price even if it is from a large city such as Cleveland or Cincinnati.
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Straightlines
Straightlines, as you may guess, are markings in which the town name and date are in one or more lines. Typically, these markings were created from loose printer's type by postmasters who did not wish to continue postmarking their mail in manuscript. Straightlines, on the whole, are among the earliest, most popular, and most expensive of the Ohio stampless markings. Accordingly, there are only a few to show below, both of which are not true straightlines but "boxed" straightlines, most of which are quite a bit more common than true straightlines.
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Ovals
I'm particularly fond of Ohio's oval stampless postmarks. There are a wide variety of different types, some of which are very scarce and some of which are fairly easy to come by. They range from the extremely crude to quite refined. Some were made by machine and similar types were used in more than one post office. The vast majority of ovals will be found in
black ink though other colors, especially red and blue, may be found.
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Circular Markings
Circular markings are far and away the most common markings from Ohio. This said, they also exist in wide profusion, from the crude and handmade to the machine created, with similar types used in many towns across the state. Some circular markings may be found without outer rims, such as the Cincinnati shown below. The earliest of the Ohio circular markings were standard government markings and tended to abbreviate quite a bit. The one below dates to 1817 and was from Marietta.
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Integral Rate Markings
As postal rates became less complicated after 1845 (depending on distance and weight rather than on more categories of distance, weight, and sheets of paper), postmasters came to realize that time could be saved by processing mail with postmarks already containing popular rates.
Many larger towns took advantage of the labor-saving device of an integral rate handstamp. I'm not aware of any that appear before 1845; Ohio didn't use very many and only a few towns have them. However, among the integral rate markings of Ohio are several drop rate or circular rate markings, which are
quite scarce and popular (and expensive!). Cincinnati furthermore produced a marking that is so far as I know unique in the country, for a "1 cent unpaid" rate. While other cities certainly had 1-cent rate handstamps, Cincinnati is so far as I know the only one to include the "unpaid" designation within the dial of the postmark.
Most Ohio integral rate markings, however, are for the 5 and 10 cent rates of 1845 and for the 3 cent rate of 1851.
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Transatlantic Covers
Ohio stampless covers to foreign destinations range from the relatively uncommon to the downright rare. Very few Ohio post offices had markings that they applied to foreign mail; typically an Ohio cover sent abroad will bear an Ohio postmark and then a variety of markings from large East Coast cities such as Boston or New York, as well as foreign markings.
I show three transatlantic covers here, but because I've scanned the whole covers I post links here in order to keep the loading time of this page manageable. Of the three covers, only the Cincinnati cover bears an Ohio marking unique to transatlantic mail; it's the rate numeral "30" at upper right.
Marietta to England, 1866
Croghan to Wurttemberg
Cincinnati to Wurttemberg, 1860
Free Frank Covers
Just like any other state, a wealth of Ohio stampless covers may be found that were mailed free. Most often such mail will be either to or from a postmaster; postmasters could send and receive mail up to 1/2 ounce for no charge. While such privilege was supposedly only for postal business use, the free franking privilege was widely abused.
Many government officials, such as United States Representatives and Senators, also had the franking privilege. Usually the official or postmaster was required to sign the letter; many towns also had "free" handstamp markings to use on franked mail; some of the larger cities had postmarks with integral "free" rate markings. A few free covers are below; the Hudson cover
features a "traveling postmaster"; it's franked by the postmaster of Brandywine Mills.
Cincinnati Free integral marking, c. 1850
Marietta to a Vermont Postmaster, 1844
Hudson to Poland, Ohio, 1849
Champion to Canandaigua New York, 1850
Other Rate Covers
Postal rates of the stampless period make a fascinating study. I hope to eventually set up a page with the major stampless rates
as they can be quite confusing. After 1845, many towns began to use handstamp markings for their rates; those are also quite interesting though not well studied.
Just a very few rate covers below; many more interesting ones exist!
Piketon, 2-cent local drop rate, 1847
Sandusky, 50-cent (quadruple rate 80-150 miles), 1842
Cincinnati, "paid" only circular, no town marking (1 cent), 1854
Late Usage Stampless
Domestic letters were required to have postage prepaid, with adhesive postage stamps, starting January 1, 1856. Foreign mail and some other categories of mail, such as drop letters, could still be sent stampless after this time.
Nonetheless, domestic letter rate stampless covers may sometimes be encountered. Typically this would occur when a town found itself without postage stamps of the proper rate; the Massillon cover below is an example. More commonly, during the Civil War soldiers were permitted to send mail without stamps, the postage to be collected from the recipient.
Two such covers are shown below.
Massillon, year dated stampless, June 13, 1856
Marietta, 36th Ohio, 1861
Miamiville, 77th Ohio
Reference Books and Study Group
The best reference for Ohio stampless covers is the 1997 edition of the American Stampless Cover Catalog, published by David Phillips. A number of Ohio collectors, myself included, are listed as contributors to the catalog.
A good run of the Ohio Postal History Journal will present you with some wonderful articles and illustrations.
This being said, there is much work to be done in the study of Ohio stampless covers and markings. The ASCC doesn't always give proper attention to dates, colors, handstamp rate markings, and the like, and of course there are always new markings to be found. The Ohio Postal History Society has recently established a study group for stampless markings, which I coordinate. I would welcome photocopies or decent color scans of ANY Ohio stampless covers you may have, particularly those that are unlisted in the ASCC.
