The rate for incoming ship letters in the USA consisted of the Ship Fee and the domestic rate in the USA. As of 2 March 1799, the ship letter fee was 2 dollarcents. Letters addressed to the port of arrival were charged 6 cents (9 cents from 1-2-1815 to 30-3-1816).
The Dutch rates for ship letters were for the first weight class:
weight |
rate |
Dutch Indies |
rate |
|
05-02-1816 |
1 lood |
8 stuivers |
05-02-1816 |
8 stuivers |
19-04-1816 |
1 lood |
12 stuivers |
12-09-1818 |
15 stuivers |
04-04-1821 |
16 wigtjes |
12 stuivers |
01-01-1821 |
15 stuivers |
01-01-1827 |
16 wigtjes |
60 cents |
01-08-1826 |
60 cents |
01-09-1850 |
15 wigtjes |
40 cents |
23-07-1850 |
48 duiten |
01-09-1855 |
15 wigtjes |
30 cents |
08-12-1855 |
36 duiten |
As early as September 1783, a regular monthly parcel service came between Lorient in France and New York. Dutch mail could also be transported for 31 sol, which was later reduced to 26 sol.
In Circular 125 of 26 August 1818, regular transport by French paquebot appears possible. The postage to Bordeaux had to be paid in advance. The rate for a letter in the first weight class from Zwolle to the Border Post Office Bergen (Mons) was 7 stuiver and from the French Border Post Office Valenciennes to Bordeaux up to 6 grams 9 stuiver, a total of 16 stuiver. The same amount was charged for the reverse route.
In 1840, the British Admiralty signed a contract with the British Cunard Line (officially British & North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company) for regular two-weekly services between Liverpool and Boston. From 1848, Boston alternated with New York every other voyage. Several other shipping companies followed, including French and German ones. The N.V. Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart-Maatschappij (NASM), called later Holland-Amerika Lijn (HAL) sailed from October 1872 between Rotterdam and New York.
Cunard Line Caledonia was one of the first packets to America.
From 1844, this service could be used in the Netherlands without the intervention of a forwarding agent in England. Transport by packet was more expensive than shipping by ship, but benefited from regular service. For letters transported with the packets of these contracted companies, the following Dutch rates applied to the port on the east coast of the United States:
via |
grams |
Dutch share |
British share |
Transit Belgium |
Total franked |
Total unfranked |
|
01-01-1844 |
Great Britain |
15 |
20 |
100 |
120 |
n.v.t. |
|
06-10-1847 |
Le Havre, France |
7½ |
50 |
n.v.t. |
|||
21-03-1849 |
Great Britain, British packet |
15 |
20 |
80 |
100 |
n.v.t. |
|
21-03-1849 |
Great Britain, American packet |
15 |
20 |
40 |
60 |
n.v.t. |
|
01-12-1849 |
Oostende and Liverpool, British packet |
15 |
20 |
80 |
10 |
110 |
n.v.t. |
01-12-1849 |
ditto, American packet |
15 |
20 |
40 |
10 |
70 |
n.v.t. |
15-12-1853 |
Great Britain, British packet |
15 |
20 |
60 |
80 |
n.v.t. |
|
15-12-1853 |
Great Britain, American packet |
15 |
20 |
20 |
40 |
n.v.t. |
|
26-05-1855 |
France |
7½ |
45 |
n.v.t. |
|||
01-01-1857 |
Great Britain, American packet |
15 |
20 |
40 |
60 |
n.v.t. |
|
01-05-1857 |
France |
7½ |
10 |
50 |
60 |
60 |
|
01-06-1861 |
Great Britain, British packet |
15 |
20 |
75 |
95 |
n.v.t. |
|
??-03-1863 |
Great Britain, British packet |
15 |
20 |
60 |
80 |
n.v.t. |
|
21-09-1864 |
Great Britain, British packet |
15 |
5 |
50 |
55 |
n.v.t. |
|
21-09-1864 |
Great Britain, American packet, paid to the British port |
15 |
5 |
10 |
15 |
n.v.t. |
|
01-10-1864 |
Great Britain, American packet |
15 |
20 |
35 |
55 |
n.v.t. |
|
01-09-1866 |
Antwerpen, Belgium |
15 |
45 |
45 |
|||
01-09-1866 |
Great Britain |
15 |
20 |
50 |
70 |
70 |
|
01-01-1868 |
Not any more via Great Britain or France |
||||||
01-01-1868 |
Nederlands directly |
15 |
40 |
||||
01-02-1868 |
Bremen or Hamburg |
15 |
30 |
n.v.t. |
|||
01-10-1868 |
Bremen or Hamburg |
15 |
30 |
40 |
|||
01-02-1870 |
Great Britain |
15 |
25 |
40 |
|||
01-07-1870 |
Bremen or Hamburg |
15 |
25 |
40 |
|||
13-12-1873 |
Antwerpen, Belgium |
15 |
20 |
30 |
|||
01-07-1874 |
Rotterdam (NASM) |
15 |
15 |
30 |
|||
01-07-1875 |
GPU/UPU |
15 |
12½ |
25 |
Letter from Zwolle to Drenthe, Ottawa County, Michigan, USA, 10 January 1873. By train to Ostend, Belgium for the boat to Dover. By train to Liverpool or Queenstown. Per Cunard Line "Algeria" to New York. Datestamp NEW YORK / PAID ALL in red-orange. Rate letters to the USA via Great Britain 1-2-1870 to 30-6-1875, 0 - 15 wigtjes: 25 cent (Van Dieten auction 644, 2020).
The following American rates applied to letters transported by packets (in dollarcents):
via |
oz |
US domestic rate |
Sea rate |
Transit rate |
Total |
|
01-07-1845 |
Great Britain, British packet |
½ |
5 *) |
24 |
29 |
|
01-06-1847 |
Great Britain, American packet |
½ |
5 *) |
24 |
29 |
|
27-06-1848 |
Great Britain, British packet |
½ |
5 *) |
24 + 24 **) |
53 |
|
15-02-1849 |
Great Britain, British packet |
½ |
5 |
|||
15-02-1849 |
Great Britain, American packet |
½ |
5 |
16 |
21 |
|
15-08-1853 |
Bremen |
½ |
5 |
9 |
1 + 7 + 3 |
25 |
01-04-1857 |
France |
¼ |
3 |
9 |
9 |
21 |
01-07-1866 |
Great Britain |
½ |
5 |
15 |
4 + 3 |
27 |
01-10-1866 |
Antwerpen, Belgium |
½ |
5 |
7 |
3 |
17 |
01-02-1867 |
Bremen or Hamburg |
½ |
18 |
|||
01-01-1868 |
Nederlands directly |
½ |
15 |
|||
01-02-1870 |
Nederlands directly |
½ |
10 |
|||
01-10-1874 |
Nederlands directly |
½ |
6 |
|||
01-07-1875 |
GPU/UPU |
½ |
5 |
*) 10 cents if the distance was more than 300 miles.
**) On June 1, 1847, the US Ocean Line began aregular service to Southampton. Great Britain charged an additional rate of 1 shilling for the letters applied to this competitor until the end of 1848. The Americans then charged the letters delivered by British packets (Cunard Line) from June 1848 with an extra 24 cents (the retaliatory rate). Until mid-February 1849, extra charges continued to be applied.
Last update 10.09.2024 6:03 PM
Copyright © 2019 -
G.L. van Welie FRPSL
Secretary of the Nederlandse Academie voor Filatelie
Representative of the Royal Philatelic Society London for the Netherlands
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