United States Postage Meter Stamp Catalog/Sub-group NA – Pitney Bowes, eagle head and wing

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Sub-group NA – Pitney Bowes, franks containing head and wing of eagle facing right[edit | edit source]

  • Frameless frank with eagle head and wing at top with "UNITED STATES POSTAGE" in arc above the head. Three stars in line at top left. One exception is Type NA4.4 which has "LOW VALUE" in place of the eagle head.
  • Below the eagle are numeric codes at left, the value figures at center, and at right the meter number above the date.
  • Along the bottom is the town line.
  • Meter number with "PB" prefix.
  • Meter models: PostPerfect, PersonalPost (Gem), U-700 (Galaxy), DM300 (Spark)
  • Earliest known use, March 13, 1995.









Type MA1 in 2001 edition

NA1. Forerunner of "PostPerfect" model, March 13, 1995.

Printed by thermal/mylar process.
The "UNITED STATES POSTAGE" arc above the eagle's head is large.
The three stars at top left are closely spaced.
Meter numbers with "PB85" prefix, PB8510000 to PB8510070.
Town line: "MAILED FROM" town, state, and ZIP code.
Nearly all the meters were used in and around Boston MA. A few were used at Pitney Bowes headquarters in Stamford CT.
V/F: $00.000 (Range: 00.001 to 99.999)



Type MA2 in 2001 edition

NA2.1. "PostPerfect" , late spring, 1995.

Similar to NA1 but the three stars at top left are widely spaced, and the "UNITED STATES POSTAGE" arc is smaller.
Meter numbers in PB65, PB66, plus PB85 and up series (including the NA1 machines 8510000-8510070.)
Town line contains town, state and ZIP code, and is usually preceded by "MAILED FROM"
V/F: $00.000 (Range: 00.001 to 99.999)
a. Without town line
b. With town line or portion of it in lower case letters
c. With town and ZIP code but no state in town line
d. ZIP code appears twice in town line
e. Town line reads POSTAL REGISTRATION REQUIRED (This appears when the meter is used before the mailing permit is recorded.)[S]
f. Printed in green rather than red [R]



Type MA3 in 2001 edition

NA2.2. "PersonalPost" , summer, 1996.

Very similar to Type NA2.1 but the frank was applied using an ink-jet process which gives the stamp the appearance of being made of fine horizontal lines.
Meter numbers in PB22, 33, 34, 55, 90, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98 and 99 series.
Town line: "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE" (number)
V/F: $00.000 (Range: 00.001 to 99.999)
a. Illogical characters in place of normal data or design elements (software error) [R-RRR]
b. With slogan "NOT VALID / POSTAGE" (to identify zero cent re-date stamp)



Type MD1 in 2001 edition

NA2.3. "PostPerfect" , October 1-2, 1998. [R]

Special event commemorative frank design created for the rededication of Grand Central railroad Terminal in New York City.
The eagle head and wing are very small at top left with a logo and "REDEDICATION" over "OCTOBER 1,1998" at top right.
The "UNITED STATES POSTAGE" arc is over "GRAND / CENTRAL" near the center of the design.
Everything else is as Type NA2.1.
Meter numbers in PB96 series.
Town line: "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE 10017"
V/F: $00.000 (Range: 00.001 to 99.999)



Type MB1 in 2001 edition

NA3.1. "U-700" , January 6, 1998.

Frank printed in gray-black with a field of red to orange dots added at upper right.
Eagle head and wing at upper left preceded by two stacked stars with "U.S. POSTAGE" below the wing.
Three stacked vertical dashes along far right.
Everything else is as previous NA types.
TM: "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE" (number)
V/F: $00.000 (Range: 00.001 to 99.999)
a. Red dots at upper right missing (see NOTE below)
b. ZIP code missing from town line
c1. Top half except the red dots missing (MFZC 10573)
c2. Top half including the red dots missing (MFZC 07105)
d. Printed in rose-pink instead of black
e. Top half of frank printed in magenta, bottom half printed in gray-black (red dots at upper right)
f. Software error, top and bottom halves of the frank reversed

NOTES:

  • Type NA3.1 was developed to The U-700 model was created to add machine readable fluorescent ink (the red dots) to the frank. At the time digital red fluorescent ink was not quite ready for use.
  • Stamps without the red dots at upper right are occasionally found since the red ink can run out before the black.
  • The red dot field can vary considerably both in color shade, size of the dots, and the numbers of dot lines (usually four).



Type MB2 in 2001 edition

NA3.2. "U-700" , summer 2000.

Frank printed in red and without the field of red dots at upper left.
Otherwise the frank is as Type NA3.1 except the three vertical dashes at right are replaced by stars.
Town line "FROM ZIP CODE" (number)
A. "FROM ZIP CODE" printed negatively on a solid field
B. "FROM ZIP CODE" printed with red letters
V/F: $00.000 (Range: 00.001 to 99.999)
a. Printed in black
b. Zip code 00000
c. The lower two lines are compressed leaving the stars at far right indented and appearing approximately 10 mm to the left of the top star
d. Top half of frank missing

NOTE: This U-700 stamp came into use after digital fluorescent red ink was perfected.



Type MC1 in 2001 edition

NA4.1. DM300 , mid 1999. [S-R]

Eagle head and wing quite large with a grid of five stars at left.
Small "TM" below wing at far right.
"U.S. POSTAGE" below head and left part of wing.
The rest of the frank is as previous NA types.
Meter numbers in PB55" series.
Town line "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE" (number)
V/F: $ 0.000 (Range: 0.001 to 99.999)



Type MC2 in 2001 edition

NA4.2. DM300 , spring 2000.

As Type NA4.1 but "PITNEY BOWES" in negative letters inside the eagle wing at top right.
Meter numbers in PB35 and PB55 series.
Town line "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE" (number)
V/F: $ 0.000 (Range: 0.001 to 99.999)



Type MC3 in 2001 edition

NA4.3. DM300 , early 2003.

As Types NA4.1 and NA4.2 but "PITNEY BOWES" below the eagle wing at near right. The small "TM" is found inside the wing tip at top right.
Meter numbers in PB35 series.
Town line "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE" (number)
V/F: $ 0.000 (Range: 0.001 to 99.999)



Type ME1 in 2001 edition

NA4.4. DM300 .

Special frank from the DM300 meter used for postage values below ten cents.
Instead of the stars and eagle head "LOW VALUE" appears at top left.
"U.S. POSTAGE" does not appear in the frank.
Town line "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE" (number)
V/F: $ 0.000 (Range: 0.001 to 09.999)