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International Reply Coupons - Introduction

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Reply Coupons - Introduction

The 1nternational Reply Coupons were introduced from October 1st 1907. From 1879 it was possible to send (double) Postal Stationary Cards with Reply Postage Paid to 13 Member Countries of the UPU (forerunners), this lasted to 1969.
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At the end of  the 19th Century there was an increasing demand for sending letters with Reply Postage Paid as well. This demand was fulfilled with the introduction of International Reply Coupons from 1. Oct. 1907.
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It was the UPU Rome Congress in 1906 that decided to introduce International Reply Coupons from 01.10.1907. The Congress had to choose between several Essays, introduced by some of the member countries. None of the Essays were accepted, that was however the british proposal of a prepaid coupon for return postage.

The imperial Nations of early 20th century issued coupons for single weight letters between countries within their economic zones.

Later on some countries with multilaterale interests issued the same kind of coupons for their regions.

Intro     Forerunners     Watermarks     Essays     Errors

Norway IRCs

 Rome Design London Design Vienna Design Lausanne Design Beijing Design Arab Postal Union

Americoespanol

 British Empire CAPTEAO Commonwealth French Col./Union Japanese influence Spanish influence