Here's a section that will be of interest to British Commonwealth banknote collectors.It is about British Armed Forces & British Military Authority banknotes & British Postal Orders,which are issued at various Field Post Offices.Here is a list of some of the B.F.P.O.-issued postal orders that I have in my collection; British Armed Forces in Afghanistan 2004 50p. Kabul BFPO 758. 11JU04. British Armed Forces in Croatia 2000 50p. Zagreb BFPO 545. 26AU00. British Armed Forces in Kosovo 2001 50p. Field Post Office 390. 6DE01. (This is an issue from BFPO 559,Pristina,Kosovo, which has not been issued with a datestamp with the location name.) British Armed Forces in Egypt 1945 6d. (1d. poundage). Field Post Office 309. 17DE45. Christmas Island 1962 1/- (2d. poundage) F.P.O. Christmas Island 23JU62. Paid at Maldon,Essex (date can't be read). (This is the Christmas Island in the Pacific,not the one located in the Indian Ocean). England 1962 2/- (3d. poundage) Admiralty (purple skeleton datestamp) 2/7/62. Paid at Devonport South Devon 6JY62. England 1962 2/6 (3d. poundage) Admiralty (red skeleton datestamp) 2/7/62. Paid at Devonport South Devon 6JY62. England 1962 4/- (3d. poundage) Admiralty (black skeleton datestamp) 29JNE.62. Paid at Chichester Sussex 7JY62. (Note; These are all Royal Navy F.P.O. issues from London). Most of the following require identification of where these were issued; 4/- (3d. poundage) Field Post Office 997. 16JU62. Paid at William St Herne Bay Kent 6JY62. 10/- (3d. poundage) Field Post Office 177. 3JY62. Paid at Chesterton Road Cambridge. 6JY62. England 1962 10/- (3d. poundage) Coltishall R.A.F.P.O. Norwich Norfolk. 29JU62. Paid at Maldon Essex 3JY62. 12/- (3d. poundage) Field Post Office 246. 28JU62. Paid at Duxford Cambridge. 5JY62. 15/- (3d. poundage) Field Post Office 782. 2JY62. Paid at Devonport South Devon.6JY62. 15/- (3d. poundage) Field Post Office 949. 2JY62. Paid at Devonport Plymouth Devon.5JY62. 18/- (3d. poundage) F.P.O. 953. 22JU62. Paid at Saltash Cornwall. 4JY62. For more information about British Field Post Offices,you can visit here; www.bfpo.org.uk . Aidan.
Do you know if Royal Mail will sell money orders without a date stamp? I wanted to ask for some the next time I am in the UK. I do have some 50 pence orders that I got there in 1997. They are an interesting collectable.
JBK,there is a big difference between money orders & postal orders.Postal orders from Great Britain always have the reigning monarch's portrait on them,which is why postal orders look like banknotes. Money orders are very plain like cheques.I don't regard them as numismatic items. Aidan.
Well, in the US they are called Postal Money Orders - does the PO in the UK also sell Money Orders? What I have are iussued by the PO - call them what you want, but they have a pic of Queen Lizzy and they get date stamped. My question was, can you get them without the stamp at issuance (sale), and are these worth collecting that way?
BTW, I am just curious about your reasoning. Why do you consider Postal Orders numismatic items, but not Money Orders? I could see how someone would consider a Postal Order a philatelic item.
JBK,all British postal orders that were printed prior to 1923 were printed at the Bank of England's printing works.They were declared legal tender during both World War I & World War II to save on both labour & paper.This means that they were able to be used as banknotes.Great Britain was not the first country to declare postal orders to be legal tender.That honour fell to the Orange Free State & the South African Republic,which put them into circulation as banknotes. Another reason why I classify postal orders to be numismatic items,is the very strong resemblence to banknotes.I have got nearly 200 postal orders (also called 'postal notes' in some countries) from a range of British Commonwealth countries,especially those in Africa.Some countries never issued either coins or notes,but issued postal orders. Aidan.
There is one place in Canada that is issuing British Postal Orders.It is the British Field Post Office at Suffield,Alberta.Here's a link; http://www.lyngsat-address.com/ab/BFBS-R1-Canada.html . Aidan.
Why would you want P.O.'s without datestamps? JBK,why would you want postal orders without datestamps? No post office will sell postal orders without datestamps, except in the British Virgin Islands,& only to a collector who is attending a special stamp exhibition which is held in Road Town from time to time.They buy them without datestamps so that they can get them stamped at the exhibition. Aidan
I figured that an unstamped money order is the most "uncirculated" type there is. Maybe MO collectors do not recognize, this, however. I am sure I could beg, bribe, or trick a postal employee into giving me an unstamped one, but I do understand that it would likely not be negotiable. BTW, if no one collects them unstamped (now), then I smell a future rarity.
