United States, Scott #2265, used(o), 1988 coil definitive, Transportation Series, Third Issue, Presorted First Class Mail Coil; stamp shows a Railroad Mail Car of the 1920s; the Post Office knew well the speed advantage of using rail, over horse and carriage, to move mail; the mailbags were loaded onto the trains and delivered to the post office where they were sorted; soon the idea emerged to have mail clerks on the trains to sort the mail as it traveled between the towns; in 1862, the idea was briefly tested on the Hannibal and St. Joseph line in Missouri, to great success; the first mail car, a renovated baggage car, ran on the Chicago and North Western Railroad line between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa, on August 28, 1864; clerks aboard the train sorted mail not just for routes along the line, but also for those beyond the end of the line;the runs were successful and more mail cars were added to the system,until about the mid-1900s the railway mail service dominated the movement of mail, however, as automation became more prevalent and highway service improved, and air mail came into fashion, the need for the railway mail sorting service declined; on June 30th, 1977, the very last railway mail car ended its final run when it pulled into Washington's Union Station; the stamps were issued in coils to bulk mailers who use first class mail and who agreed to sort the mail to the nine-digit zip code carrier routes; the stamps carried a red-inked ‘Presorted First-Class’ precancel issued by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 21 cents, perforated 10 vertical, imperforated at top and bottom, perforated sides were typically guillotine cut by customer machines to release individual stamps for the bulk mailing, engraved and printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, olive green, the Transportation Series began in 1981 and has become one of the largest series in the history of the Post Office, fifty-nine coil stamps, in four major issues, would be eventually issued over the course of the fifteen years, each picturing a different mode of transport ( … in the widest sense from dog sleds, to handicapped chairs, to building elevators), this stamp is the fourteenth stamp from the third issue; Scott 2025 Catalog Value: 25¢, considerably off-centered, perforations just touch the stamp edge on the right side, no additional cancel marks other than the red precancel, sound back, stamp has unusually customer machine torn perforations at the sides, still, the cuts are even and balanced, all good perforations, This is not a 'bait-and-switch;' the stamp you see will be the one you receive.
Please review my terms of sale. If you are not ordering from the United States, there is a $US1.55 additional postage expense that needs to be added to the price of the stamp. If you are ordering from the United States, there is only a $US0.68 added postage expense. Also, if you make additional purchases from my offerings, they can all go in one mailing at no extra shipping expense for the added purchases. I will send the purchase by US first class mail, since the relatively low value of the stamp does not warrant signature or tracking mail. Hence the buyer assumes risk of loss or non-delivery. I will keep a scan of my mailing to verify that the correct mailing address was used. If not satisfied, return the stamp to me at your own expense, and I will refund the cost, but not my postage to you. If the stamp is not as described, I will refund the cost and reimburse you for postage both ways.
By way of reference, I am an American Philatelic Society member (195176) and an American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA) member. Thank you for looking, and I hope this is the perfect stamp to fill that gap in your collection.
