[Dx-qsl] (no subject)

Tue Jun 27 13:27:19 EDT 2006

I'd also point that that this is another piece of evidence confirming the expiration of certain IRCs on December 31, 2006. 
Somebody here or in the ARRL DX bulletin (or was it the Ohio-Penn DX bulletin) claimed that the expiration data pertained only to the purchase date. 
Clearly, there is substantial evidence that again indicates that the date on the IRCs is the "must redeem by" date. So, everybody should definately take heed!
I would rather use them as opposed to try to convince a mail clerk at the local post office that the expiration date really isn't an expiration date.
73 Rich NN3W
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Wheatley KU9C" <ku9c at ku9c.com>
To: "dx-qsl-mailman.qth.net" <dx-qsl at mailman.qth.net>; "Ron" <ac7dx at clearwire.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 1:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Dx-qsl] IRC Info
Note to everyone. The 'current' new IRC will be sold, per the attached till end of August. 
I would personally recommend that the current new IRC, if you have any, be used by end of October latest. THat gives it a few weeks in the mail, and the perosn receiving it a few weeks to exchange them. Note that as of 12/31/2006, these things become toilet paper, or.....an opportunity to be a collector's item on eBay.
73
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Ron <ac7dx at clearwire.net>
Date: 2006年6月27日 08:21:04 -0700
>Here is the info straight from UPU
>>Subject:
>RE: New IRC
>From:
>"BI.Info" <Info at upu.int>
>Date:
>2006年6月27日 08:55:41 +0200
>>To:
>"Ron" <ac7dx at clearwire.net>
>>>>>>Here is an article that will be published in one week time about the new IRC and that will reply to your questions:
>>>>Turning 100 with a new look 
>>>>The international reply coupon (IRC) is getting a makeover. Two fingers about to touch, framed in a postage stamp - this image inspired by the famous Michelangelo work adorning the Sistine Chapel ceiling symbolizes the notions of com-munication and exchange that the international reply coupon represents. This image appears on the postal product which will celebrate its cen-tenary next year.
>>>>In a competition organized by the UPU Interna-tional Bureau to find a design for the new IRC, the work submitted by Ukraine was selected from among those of 15 other participating Posts. The 40 member countries of the Postal Operations Council made their choice during an official vote taken on 6 April.
>>The artist who submitted the winning entry, 
>>Volodymyr Taran, is a graduate of the Kiev Poly-technic Institute. A graphic artist by profession, 
>>Taran has illustrated numerous children's books and has helped design film strips. He also paints and designs interiors and furniture. His recent il-lustrations for coins earned him two consecutive prizes from the International Coin Design Com-petition held in Japan. In response to the compe-tition's theme "the postage stamp - a vehicle for communication", the Ukrainian artist found his inspiration in the work of Michelangelo.
>>The new reply coupon, called Beijing model No. 2, will be sold commercially in more than 70 countries from 1 July 2006, and will be ex-changeable up to 31 December 2009 in all Un-ion member countries.
>>>>A little history
>>According to the latest figures, 2.2 million of these postal instruments, exchangeable for one or more postage stamps, are sold every year worldwide. But where did the coupon originate? 
>>As far back as the end of the 19th century, a recurrent question was how to prepay postage in order to ensure a correspondent's reply. Postal stationery accompanied by a paid reply was one solution, but it was valid only for the domestic service and limited to a few lines of correspon-dence on the envelope or card. An international solution was needed whereby a reply coupon could be exchanged for a postage stamp in the post office of a foreign country. 
>>And so it was decided by the 1906 Rome Congress to create the IRC, exchangeable at the time for postage stamps to the value of 25 gold centimes in member countries that had signed the relevant agreement. 
>>Over the years, successive Congresses de-bated at length such issues as coupon's period of validity and minimum selling price, as well as the concept of exchanging postage stamps, but it was not until 1974 that countries agreed on the coupon as a standard postal instrument, the wording of the text printed on it and the coupon's value set at one gold franc. In 1994, its ex-change value was set in special drawing rights, an international monetary instrument based on a basket of currencies. Nevertheless, each country determines its own selling price based on the postage for an ordinary 20-gramme airmail letter sent abroad.
>>>>Changes in 1999
>>The actual coupon and its watermark have also changed. The fine white watermarked hemp fi-ber has been replaced by a traditional, more ro-bust paper that can be mechanically processed. The watermark was originally made with a dandy roll, then later printed using a plate process. The hemisphere and pigeon symbols, designed by Grasset for the first illustration, were used until the adoption of the Beijing model No. 1 in 1999. Since then, the IRC has undergone an even greater makeover, including a different colour to distinguish it from the old series, a larger size (148 x 103 mm), a UPU hologram for greater security and a new slogan: "La lettre, une voie vers l'alphabétisation" (The letter - a path to lit-eracy). Also printed on the coupon are the name of the country of origin and a UPU standard bar-code containing the ISO country code, the date of printing and the selling price set by the Inter-national Bureau. This model will be sold until 31 August 2006, with the deadline for exchange set at 31 December 2006.
>>>>Soon to be 100
>>The IRC will celebrate its centenary in 2007. It was on 1 October 1907 that the International Bu-reau issued the first international reply coupon. To mark this event, countries can ask the Inter-national Bureau to include a special overprint that reads "1907-2007: 100 years of IRCs"! Col-lectors, philatelists and future buyers will appre-ciate this added feature. The coupon is certain to be a popular collector's item at post offices next year.
>>>>>>Regards
>>J. Deutschmann 
>>www.upu.int
>>>This should answer all questions regarding IRC's
>73
>Ron
>>>>>>>"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got...till it's gone." from Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell) but also true about QSL.NET if more users don't open their wallets and help financially. Please contribute TODAY !!
>
&quot;Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got...till it's gone.&quot; from Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell) but also true about QSL.NET if more users don't open their wallets and help financially. Please contribute TODAY !!