International reply coupon
An International Reply Coupon (IAS) (CRI, French: coupon-réponse international ) (IRC, English: international reply coupon ) is a voucher with which an airmail letter weighing up to 20 grams is sent abroad in countries within the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Switches can be posted without postage .
The purpose of an International Reply Coupon is to reimburse the recipient of a letter for the costs of a reply. For letters sent domestically, it is usually sufficient to enclose the return postage in the form of stamps . However, if the recipient is abroad, it is usually very difficult to receive stamps from the relevant country to enclose them as return postage. An IAS must be valid in every country that is a member of the Universal Postal Union . However, it is up to the country itself to decide whether the country concerned sells reply coupons.
history
At the Universal Postal Congress in Bern (1874) the introduction of postage stamps with validity throughout the Universal Postal Union was discussed, which was unsuccessful. At the congress in Rome in 1906 it was discussed whether a kind of prepayment of the fee for a reply letter should be made possible. Reply stamps, card letters with a reply, envelopes with reply stamps or reply coupons in various values for insertion in the letter were suggested. Ultimately, the shape was chosen as it is still used today. For a long time their validity was unlimited. They are published by the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union. Until at least 1999 these were printed uniformly in the Swiss printing company V. Benziger & Co in Einsiedeln . Originally, an IAS could only be exchanged for the postage for an international letter of the lowest weight category for transport by land and sea.
Foreign reply coupons
In addition to the reply coupons issued by the Universal Postal Union, reply coupons from the closer postal organizations are also in circulation. However, these certificates are only valid in the area of these closer clubs. They differ from those of the Universal Postal Union in terms of color differences and a different printing arrangement, and they have neither the watermark "UPU" nor the text "Coupon-Réponse International" nor the wording indicating that they can be exchanged in the Universal Postal Union countries.
Approach as an alternative means of payment
Occasionally an IAS also serves as a means of payment for small values. Basically, however, paying by IAS is quite expensive.
IASes are very often used to reimburse postage costs in correspondence between radio amateurs or shortwave listeners and a foreign radio station who want to confirm their reception observations with QSL cards .
The IASs issued since 2002 remained valid until December 31, 2006. In June 2006 the UPU introduced a new, forgery-proof IAS design that will be available for sale from July 2006 . In the US , an IAS can be exchanged for postage stamps worth US $ 0.94 at USPS .
In September 2009 the so-called Nairobi model was introduced. This variant of the reply coupon was valid until December 31, 2013. The Doha model (named after the 2012 Universal Postal Congress that took place in Doha) has been on sale since July 1, 2013 and was valid until the end of 2017.
An alternative would be to enclose a banknote with the letter . However, in some countries this violates foreign exchange laws and is usually not covered by the general terms and conditions of the postal service providers.
The International Reply Coupon suitable in principle for bypassing of foreign exchange controls, preferably in countries was in prohibiting the supply of foreign currencies to residents, as the International reply coupon abroad just absolutely in foreign currency, albeit indirectly through stamps could be exchanged . For this reason, in some countries only limited or no international reply coupons were sold at times.
Use in Germany
Only one IAS can be used per shipment so that if the dimensions / weight of the standard letter are exceeded (Deutsche Post: 235 × 125 × 5 mm (L × W × H), 20 g), the difference must be franked. Since 2019, a standard international letter at Deutsche Post has cost € 1.10.
On March 1, 2003, the exchange value was € 1.55 up to the amount of the fee for a priority standard letter item, if the item was presented at the same time. It changed to 1.80 € on April 1, 2004. Since January 1, 2007, the international reply coupon in Germany has cost € 2.00.
Since July 1, 2006, the IAS has only been available in Germany in the Deutsche Post e-branch . Swiss Post justifies this with the decline in demand. Postpay, postage, credit card, giropay and direct debit are currently offered as payment methods. Swiss Post charges a packaging flat rate of EUR 2.95 for orders under EUR 20.
Price list for an IAS
The price per international reply coupon can vary considerably from country to country. So z. B. an IAS in Nigeria 50 NGN, which corresponds to 0.32 EUR. Further values can be found in Table I.
| country | National currency | Value in EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 50 NGN | 0.32 |
| Philippines | 45 PHP | 0.71 |
| India | 44 INR | 0.75 |
| Qatar | 4 QAR | 0.86 |
| Ghana | 10000 GHC | 0.89 |
| Malta | 0.42 MTL | 0.98 |
| Nepal | 80 NPR | 0.98 |
| Japan | 150 JPY | 1.02 |
| Gibraltar | 0.75 GIP | 1.03 |
| Poland | 4.50 zł | 1.11 |
| Turkey | 2.25 YTL | 1.15 |
| Armenia | 650 AMD | 1.16 |
| China | 12 CNY | 1.23 |
| Luxembourg | 1.25 EUR | 1.25 |
| Slovenia | 300 SIT | 1.25 |
| Switzerland | 2 CHF | 1.28 |
| Great Britain | £ 0.95 | 1.37 |
| Hong Kong | 14 HKD | 1.41 |
| United States | 1.85 USD | 1.45 |
| Australia | 2.50 AUD | 1.46 |
| Hungary | 420 HUF | 1.50 |
| Finland | 1.55 EUR | 1.55 |
| Iceland | 150 ISK | 1.70 |
| Austria | 1.80 EUR | 1.80 |
| Belgium | 2.00 EUR | 2.00 |
| Germany | 2.00 EUR | 2.00 |
| Denmark | 15 DKK (March 2013) | 2.01 |
| Lithuania | 7.30 LTL | 2.11 |
| Canada | CAD 3.50 | 2.46 |
Amounted to
The Universal Postal Union reply coupons achieved fame when the fraudster Charles Ponzi bought reply coupons in Europe in 1920 in order to sell them in the USA for a higher price. Later he found it too time-consuming to get reply coupons at all, and established one of the greatest - and named after him - Ponzi schemes that ever existed.
List of IAS expenses
| IAS name | Universal Postal Congress | Valid from | Date of Expiry | particularities | IAS sample no. |
| Rome | 1906 | October 1, 1907 | 1926 | IAS 1 | |
| Stockholm | 1924 | 1925 | 1930 | IAS 2 | |
| London | 1929 | July 1, 1930 | 1966 | This pattern was introduced in some countries in or before May 1930 | IAS 3 |
| London | 1929 | July 1, 1930 | 1966 | The text was changed at the Universal Postal Congress in Brussels in 1952 . | IAS 3a |
| Vienna | 1964 | January 1, 1966 | 1978 | IAS 4 | |
| Lausanne | 1974 | January 1, 1976 | August 31, 2007 | IAS 5 | |
| Beijing | 1999 | 2002 | December 31, 2006 | IAS? | |
| Nairobi | 2008 | 2009 | December 31 2013 | IAS? | |
| Doha | 2012 | 2013 | December 31, 2017 | IAS? | |
| Istanbul | 2016 | 2017 | December 31, 2021 | IAS? |
literature
-
Federal Ministry for Post and Telecommunications (Ed.)
-
Handheld dictionary of postal services .
- 2nd completely reworked edition. Frankfurt am Main 1953, p. 49.
- 1st supplement to the 2nd edition. 1956, p. 15.
-
Handheld dictionary of postal services .
- Research Association for International Reply Coupons (FIAS)
- FIAS sheets (regular publication)
- Handbook by Prof. Koch (before 1999)
- Horst Diederichs: "75 Years of International Reply Coupons, German Edition" published in: Archive for German Postal History ( DGPT )
- Issue 2/1983 17-72 (part 1)
- Issue 1/1984; Pp. 44–95 (part 2)
- Michel catalog (postal stationery) Germany 1999
Web links
- About international reply coupons Universal Postal Union (English)
- Article with picture (older version) (English)
- The International Reply Coupon (The Secret Currency)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michel postal stationery catalog, Germany 1999; P. 421
- ↑ a b The international reply coupon on Dokufunk.org
- ↑ Model IAS on the UPU website , Online on the Internet: February 7, 2013
- ↑ International reply coupon on Deutschepost.de
- ↑ FIAS ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
