Previous - Next

Metered Mail of Ethiopia

Home

Exhibits

Synopsis

Exhibit Layout

Bibliography

Awards

Synopsis

This exhibit presents all of the know meter marks that were valid for postage from 1933 to the present. A combination of postally used covers, meter proofs and marketing material are used. Ethiopian metered mail and proofs are considered scarce due to the lack of material that may be found on the market.

Exhibit Layout

Roneo-Neopost Marketing Material: This flier was produced sometime in the mid to late 1930s and demonstrated the global reach and acceptance of RN postage meters. This piece is in perfect condition and features the RN Ethiopian metered stamp in the middle of the second row. This piece may be unique as it the only one that has surfaced in auction in the last 15 years.

Symbols of Empire: This meter mark was used by the Bank of Ethiopia from 1933 to the beginning of WWII. It was produced by a Roneo-Neopost mechanical single rate meter - the first ever postage meter in Ethiopia. This is the image that was used in the RN marketing material mentioned above.

1954 Small Proofs: These proofs were prepared for possibly a business or the post office in Asmara, Ethiopia. These were produced on a Simplex mechanical omni denominational postage meter machine but were never postally used. It was denominated in Ethiopian Dollars.

1954 Large Proofs: These proofs are tall and wider than the 1954 small proofs. Other than that, they are identical. These were also produced on a Simplex mechanical omni denominational postage meter machine but were never postally used. The proposed small and large meter proofs represent the first post WWII meter marks.

Crown Logo: This meter mark was produced on a Pitney Bowes mechanical onmi denominational postage meter machine. They bear an Ethiopian Crown symbol in the upper left hand corner and a floral design along the right hand side of the mark. This mark was probably used from the early 1960s. Most likely its used ceased with the killing of Emperor Hailé Selassié in 1974. It was denominated in Ethiopian Dollars. 

Provisional Socialist Logo: The socialist plow share logo meter mark was also produced on a Pitney Bowes mechanical omni denominational postage meter machine. This was used from sometime in the late 1970s to sometime in the early 1990s. It was denominated in Ethiopian Birr.

No Logo, Birr Denominated: In 1988, the Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia became the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.  Sometime after this transition, a new meter mark surfaced.  This was produced on a Pitney Bowes omni denominational postage meter machine.

 
People's Democratic Logo - Small: Sometime around 2000, a new Neopost meter mark came into use bearing the People's Democratic logo, a five pointed star.
People's Democratic Logo - Large: Sometime around mid to late 2000s, another People's Democratic Logo meter mark came into use. This time produced by a Pitney Bowes machine. This particular meter - 00205,  is installed at the NIB International Bank in Addis Ababa.

 

Bibliography

The International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog,  Joel Hawkins & Richard Stambaugh 2005

  The International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog is available online at:  http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Postage_Meter_Stamp_Catalog/Ethiopia

    

Awards

 

 

Award: Vermeil; AAPE Silver

Show: Winepex 2012

Date:  5-7 October 2012

Place: San Rafael, CA

Palmares: Winepex 2012 Palmares (pdf)

     

 

 

\