[Dx-qsl] More on USPS and IRCs

Sat Nov 18 18:13:13 EST 2006

Hi!
Over the summer, the US Postal Service announced it would no longer
redeem foreign IRCs from 2002 and earlier (the small IRCs) as of 1
July 2006. This was officially changed on 9 November 2006 with the
release of Postal Bulletin 22193:
http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/bulletin/2006/pb22193.pdf
Page 81 specifically says this new bulletin modifies the cutoff
date that the earlier bulletin had for the pre-2002 IRCs (1 July
2006) to 1 January 2007. It also confirms that this date does 
not apply to pre-2002 IRCs that were sold in the USA, and has the 
text of the modification to the USPS International Mail Manual 
(the link I referred to in my post earlier this week on this 
reflector). 
This weekend, I will take that bulletin and make a smaller PDF
with just the 2+ pages related to IRCs and put it on my web 
page, in case someone doesn't want to download the full bulletin
PDF (4.58 Mb). I know that some may still have problems with 
their local post offices in trying to get them to follow their
own procedures. With this bulletin and the relevant part from
their own manual for international mail, you *should* be able to
get something for those old IRCs. As always, your mileage may
vary. 
FWIW I just exchanged 126 pre-2002 foreign IRCs at the post office
nearest my house this afternoon, helping out a ham on this list. 
I took a printout of the revised USPS International Mail Manual 
with me, which I left with the clerk who read over it and said it 
looked OK to him. I ended up with 126 84-cent (airmail rate) stamps.
I still have a pile of pre-2002 US IRCs from that ham that I would
like to exchange... most are priced at 95 cents from the early 1990s,
a few @ 1ドル.05 from 1996-2000, some from the early to mid 1980s 
priced @ 65 cents, and one from 1979 originally priced at 42 cents!
As long as I am not quizzed about being the original purchaser of 
these IRCs (or if I can convince the clerk that I was, if the 
question comes up), I should get stamps equal to the face value of 
each IRC less 1 cent. Better than nothing for them. It worked for 
me earlier this week, and it might work one more time. 
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK 
http://www.wd9ewk.net/