Page 17 - Prepaid Reply Cards
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2.4 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT: THE 1879 UPU AGREEMENT AND THE «OPTIONAL PERIOD»
1879: UPU CONGRESS ADMITS REPLY CARDS IN INTERNATIONAL MAIL BASED ON MUTUAL AGREEMENT OF A SELECTED
GROUP OF COUNTRIES
In 1878 the General Postal Union was renamed the Universal Postal Union. At the Universal Postal Congress in
Paris the same year, double cards with paid reply were introduced effective 01.07.1879 and the foreign stamps
were to be accepted as valid franking therefore. In the beginning, participation was voluntary and the following
countries and postal administrations participated: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands,
Persia, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, and the German Empire, with the German Imperial Post as member
country also representing the postal offices of Bavaria and Württemberg.
International reply card of the German Imperial Post used back from Paris in 1881.
The card shows a tax marking, which was deleted later. The «habit» of wrongful and false taxation would
become a typical and frequent misunderstanding concerning the use of international reply cards
Belgian reply card used back from Hamburg in 1882 without any difficulties
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