The spice of collecting postal history is always the rarities, the postal items and tariffs waiting to be deciphered, and as an avid collector of postal history I am always on the lookout for them. So it was that I came across a registered letter to Germany marked “Discount rate book”, a discount rate I had never heard of before. As a result of my research, I found the answer to this question in the Universal Postal Convention of 28 August 1924 in Stockholm and the related postal regulations.
Allow me, fellow collectors, to introduce you to the book tariff!
From 1 October 1925 (PTRT 1925 / 38), the book rate was only available for mail sent abroad under very strict conditions:
1. newspapers sent directly by the publishers,
2. scientific works sent between scientific and literary societies, or
3. hardcover or softcover books published by publishers (excluding any advertising).
The range of beneficiary countries varied for the three categories, but we will only consider in detail the book tariff, which at the time of publication of the Regulation was addressed to Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Latvia, Portugal, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Only brand-new, unused copies of books published by the publisher itself could be included in the mailing. For example, ‘The Franklin Society can only send a shipment of books at the above rate if they are self-published and this is stated at the bottom of the title page [or on the back cover] of the book’.
Tariffs at the time of publication of the Regulation:
– 400 Korona per 50 grams,
– a different rate was applied to book tariff consignments to Italy sent directly by publishers: 600 Korona per 50 grams.
However, the restrictions were not limited to the content of the consignment and the country of destination. There was also a further restriction on the sender: the tariff could only be used by a publishing company or a branch of a publishing company located in the area of the post office concerned.
So there were Korona Inflation items under the decision, although I have not yet had the pleasure of coming across any.
The discounted rate was always 50% of the current foreign form rate under the Postal Convention, and subsequently changed with it.
As you can read in the introductory regulation, book-type items could initially only be sent to 11 countries. Any additional service (recommendation, express, airmail, etc.) could be used for book items in the same way as for printed matter. The list of beneficiary countries changed several times over the years: first it was extended and then, after the outbreak of the war, it was reduced. The PTRT 1926 / 61 lists 26 beneficiary countries (for example, in addition to Greece and Saarland, which are relatively far away, there are exotic countries as far away as the Ivory Coast and the Somali coast). The last known extension is the accession of Gdansk on the Baltic coast on 15 May 1930 (PTRT 1930 / 20).
The tariffs were introduced on 1 January 1927, when the Pengő was introduced into the circle of denominations, which by then already included 25 associated countries:
– 3 fillérs per 50 grams,
– For Italy, the rate remained at 4 pfennigs per 50 grams, which was different from the other recipients.
The preferential rate for foreign books was thus linked to the tariff of the foreign publication in question and changed with it, and the number of countries benefiting from it was also reduced in the light of the current war situation. As a result, the change in the printing tariff applicable from 15 September 1941 was also affected, with the following tariff coming into force
– 6 fillér per 50 grams to Germany, Czech-Moravian Highlands, Poland (General Government) and Croatia,
The recipients of other mail sent abroad at reduced rates were then all member countries of the UPU (Universal Postal Union).
Unfortunately I have not been able to find the date of the introduction of the domestic book tariff, the earliest I could find was in August 1941 in Várady: Posta és Távirda tarifák XXXIV:
| until 100g | 4f |
| until 250g | 8f |
| until 500g | 12f |
| until 1000g | 16f |
| until 2000g | 32f |
| until 3000g | 48f |
From 1 July 1943 (PTRT 1943 /32) the tariff was changed as follows:
| until 100g | 6f |
| until 250g | 10f |
| until 500g | 16f |
| until 1000g | 24f |
| until 2000g | 40f |
| until 3000g | 60f |
On 2 July 1945, the reduced book rate was officially abolished, and its replacement was regulated in PTRT 1945 / 6:
“In the future, these items will be subject to the printed matter rates”.
PTRT 1945/6
The introduction of the forint also marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the book tariff, and although it was reinstated after its abolition in 1945, it was only used for domestic circulation.
The original article appeared in the March 2022 issue of Bélyegvilág magazine.