postal marking
Let an agent read and classify postal markings on mail and covers, for tracking questions and for postal history, and point to postal operators for current services.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Marking type What the mark is.
Classification
Postmark, cancellation, instruction.
Type
Kind and function.
- What kind of marking is this? definition
- What was it for? definition
Method
Handstamp, machine, printed.
Application method
Handstamp, machine, printer or manuscript.
- Was it applied by hand, machine or printer? provenance
- Which machine type? provenance
Content What it says.
Date and place
Office and time.
Date and office
Date, time and office, and which event the date records.
- Which date, time and office does it show? measurement
- Is any part illegible? boundary
Codes
Barcodes and identifiers.
Item codes
Tracking and sorting codes.
- Which identifiers appear on the item? provenance
- Which standard do they follow? provenance
Handling Route and instructions.
Route
Transit and arrival marks.
Route record
Sequence of offices.
- Which offices handled the item? provenance
- How long did it take? measurement
Instructions
Returns and charges.
Instruction
Return, redirect or charge.
- What instruction does the mark give? definition
- Why was it applied? definition
Postal history Markings as historical evidence.
Rarity and value
Collectable markings.
Collectability
Rarity and catalogues.
- Is the marking recorded in a specialised catalogue? provenance
- How rare is it? measurement
Authenticity
Genuine or faked.
Authenticity
Expert opinion.
- Has an expert certified it? provenance
- What signs of faking exist? boundary
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.BLT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- arrival stamp
What it is Filled
Any mark, stamp or annotation that a postal service applies to a mail item, such as a postmark with date and place, a cancellation of the stamp, an arrival backstamp or an instruction such as return to sender.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent read and classify postal markings on mail and covers, for tracking questions and for postal history, and point to postal operators for current services.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Applied by the postal service, not by the sender.
- A cancellation defaces postage; a postmark records date and place; one mark can do both.
- Differs from a postage stamp, which pays for the service.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- help forge postmarks or reuse postage
- track items without the sender's or recipient's details lawfully provided
Only with a human decision
- authentication of valuable philatelic items by an expert
May
- read and classify markings
- explain postal history
Moral aspects Filled
- privacy of correspondence
- honesty in philatelic trade
Who is affected
- senders and recipients
- collectors
Owners Filled
Steward
the postal operator that applies the marking
Master systems
- postal operators' tracking systems
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q13580385 - registry parent class
related
- mail item - letters and parcels
- postage stamp - prevents reuse
- postage meter imprint - postage paid, applied by the sender
- postal history - philatelic field
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.postal-marking
- Wikidata: Q17098680 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17098680)
- UPU S10 item identifier carried by a label: 2 letters service indicator + 8-digit serial + check digit + 2-letter country code identifies the item, not the marking; the suffix names the issuing operator's country
Direct properties required Filled
- marking dimensions and ink: item-specific mm; colour - record size, ink colour, medium and impression condition where relevant
Recognition required Filled
- Circular date stamp with place and date
- Wavy or slogan cancellation lines over the stamp
- Printed barcodes and labels on modern items
- Inked handstamps or machine impressions, often circular date stamps or wavy lines, plus printed codes and labels on modern mail.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- classify a marking by type
- read date and place from a postmark
- explain instructional markings
- describe markings of interest in postal history
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Illegible or missing date stamps
- Faked postmarks on philatelic items
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Universal Postal Union Convention and Regulations
- UPU standard S10 identifiers for postal items
Context of use required Filled
- Recording when and where mail was handled, cancelling postage so it cannot be reused, and instructing handling.
- postmark
- cancellation
- arrival backstamp
- instructional marking (return to sender, insufficient postage)
- slogan cancellation
- manuscript postal annotation
- labels and barcodes applied by the postal service
Sources Filled
- Q17098680 - identity of the registry item, labels and sitelinks
- Marking Devices - postal marking devices
- Collecting Postmarks - postmarks
- Identification of postal items - 13-character identifier (S10) - S10 identifiers
- Postmark - general description
Open questions
- The registry places postal markings under built environment; information domain may fit better.
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q17098680/spec.json