As a former Postal Clerk, I was surprised at Terry Palmersheim, KC7LDP, Helena, MT (as posted to the Hard Corps DX List)being unable to buy International Reply Coupons at his post office. Since most post offices have a regional center that answers all phone calls, I am unable to check locally, so I checked online:
>From "Postal Explorer" -> United States International Mail Manual Source: http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc3_007.html#npLZq39wats 372 International Reply Coupons 372.3 Selling Price and Rate of Exchange a. The selling price of a reply coupon in the United States is $1.85. One coupon is exchangeable in any other member country for a stamp or stamps representing the minimum postage on an unregistered air letter. Unused U.S. coupons (that is those with the U.S. selling price stamped on them) may be exchanged only for United States postage stamps by the original purchaser at a discount of 1 cent below the purchase price. b. With the exceptions noted in 372.4d., international reply coupons purchased in foreign countries are exchangeable at U.S. Post Office facilities toward the purchase of postage stamps and embossed stamped envelopes (including aerogrammes) at the rate of $0.84 per coupon irrespective of the country where they were purchased. ============================= 372.4 Processing Requests d. As of January 1, 2007, the following international reply coupons issued by foreign countries are no longer redeemable at U.S. Post Offices: coupons issued before 2002, and coupons bearing an expiration date of December 31, 2006. The pre-2002 international reply coupons are approximately 2.5 inches by 4 inches and do not have a barcode on the back. The latest versions of the international reply coupons printed by the Universal Postal Union are approximately 3.75 inches by 6 inches, have a barcode on the back, and have an expiration date of December 31, 2009. Customers should return foreign-origin pre-2002 coupons and coupons with the December 31, 2006, expiration date to their correspondents in the country of issue for replacement or redemption through the issuing postal administration. This policy is only for international reply coupons issued by foreign postal administrations - U.S.-origin coupons are not affected. e. Reply coupons formerly issued by the Postal Union of the Americas and Spain are no longer valid. These coupons are printed in green ink and bear the caption Cupon Respuesta America-Espanol. Customers possessing any of these coupons should return them to their correspondents in the country of issue for redemption through the selling post office. Hope this helps....Terry, I have no idea why the IRCs can't be sold at your post office, but a knowledgeable Clerk, Supervisor or the Postmaster should have an answer for you. Very 73 de Mike Hardester, Jacksonville, NC _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
