Letter N as part of Postal Rate, 18th Century

Rates in general and questions on particular covers.
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agenteinrebus
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:00 pm

Letter N as part of Postal Rate, 18th Century

Post by agenteinrebus »

Please can someone explain the meaning of the letter N when applied within the postal rate e.g. '1 N 3' and '2 N' on mail sent in the late 18th Century? At first I thought it was an old version of 'Toys R Us' through the colloquial expressing of 'One 'n threepence' etc but this cannot be the case where shillings only are quoted. I would like to write up my examples but need the explanation if things are to make sense.
earsathome
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Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2009 6:00 pm

Transfer from previous board: original post 1888

Post by earsathome »

Hello there,
Can you post an example so we can see exactly what you mean?

We do not think we have seen that on any of our old letters, but we have some examples of manuscript charge markings in the book "For the Port and Carriage of Letters" by David Robinson.
Thanks
Eunice and Ron
agenteinrebus
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Transfer from previous board: original post 1889

Post by agenteinrebus »

Example of '1 N 3' on letter dated 28 August 1786 from Hereford to London.
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Harvey
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Transfer from previous board: original post 1890

Post by Harvey »

Your original thoughts on this were completely correct! 1N3 means exactly that - 1(shilling) (a)N(d) 3(pence).
Harvey
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Transfer from previous board: original post 1891

Post by Harvey »

Sorry - forgot to mention: Where there is obviously only an expression such as 1N - with no pence quoted - this merely means that there were no pence in the postal charge. It was done that way to avoid confusion between figures. 1N0 - meaning 1 shilling and zero pence - the 0 could easily be mistaken for a 6 when written at the speed these clerks had to work. Hope this helps...?
agenteinrebus
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Transfer from previous board: original post 1892

Post by agenteinrebus »

Thank you all for your help. Much appreciated. It is official that Toys R Us is not a 20th Century invention!
earsathome
Posts: 217
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2009 6:00 pm

Transfer from previous board: original post 1893

Post by earsathome »

Hi Harvey
Thanks for that information. It has sorted us out before we could even answer.

We got the original query on our e-mail but we don't always get them that way, so check regularly on the 'board'.
Nice to see a swift response to a Postal History question.
Regards to all
Ron and Eunice.
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