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Inland Registration Fees 1841-1993

1s fee paid for up to £200 cover, 1907 at small Irish office using "D" label

Registration as commonly thought of – registering any letter on demand for an additional fee, with a certificate of posting provided – was introduced in 1841. (From c.1792 to 1840 "Money Letters" – i.e. those containing coin or jewellery, but not banknotes and the like – were registered free of charge as an internal measure to avoid losses in the post.)

There was no guaranteed compensation for losses until 1878. Additional insurance for inland registered letters was introduced in 1886, and subsequently extended on a number of occasions. Although generally speaking it was possible to register any item of mail, parcels could not be registered before 1891 or after 1972. Registration eventually merged with the Special Delivery system in 1993, as in practice the two systems had many similarities of handling.

Between 1876 and 1993, the registration fee on overseas letters was generally the same as the basic inland fee, with the exception of a few short periods (noted below for convenience). Prior to this, registration fees could vary quite considerably depending on destination. There were several differences between the two; in particular, the insurance arrangements for overseas registered letters followed an entirely separate system.


Date Fees and Cover Notes Date Fees and Cover Notes
1841
(6 Jan)
1s Fee had to be paid in cash, postage could be paid either in cash or stamps 1848
(28 Mar)
6d Fee had to be paid in cash but postage now had to be paid in stamps

Postmasters instructed to affix stamps to letter to denote fee from 1st June 1850
1862
(1 Aug)
4d Compulsory registration of coin letters introduced 1878
(1 Jan)
2d – £2 Compensation for loss up to £2 introduced

Embossed stamp on QV PSRE (postal stationery registration envelopes) covered only the (basic) registration fee
1886
(1 May)
2d – £2 Additional insurance available for the following fees:

1d (total fee 3d) – £5
2d (total fee 4d) – £10

Additional 1d or 2d regarded as separate fees, paid by stamps attached to special certificate of posting, not to cover
1887
(15 Dec)
2d – £5 1d insurance fee abolished upon raising of basic compensation limit – additional 2d fee £10 cover as before
1891
(1 Jun)
2d – £5
3d – £10
4d – £15
5d – £20
6d – £25
Max fee 6d.

Insurance fee now considered effectively a higher regn fee, paid by stamps attached to cover, fee paid marked on cover

Registration of parcels introduced
1892
(1 Dec)
2d – £5
3d – £10
4d – £15
5d – £20
6d – £25
7d – £30
8d – £35
9d – £40
10d – £45
11d – £50
Max fee 11d
1898
(1 May)
2d – £5
3d – £10
4d – £20
5d – £30
6d – £40
7d – £50
8d – £60
9d – £70
10d – £80
11d – £90
1s – £100
1s 1d – £110
1s 2d – £120
Max fee 1s 2d

Embossed stamp on PSRE covered basic regn fee + min letter rate postage from first EVII issue
1906
(1 Jan)
2d – £5
3d – £20
4d – £40
5d – £60
6d – £80
7d – £100
8d – £120
9d – £140
10d – £160
11d – £180
1s – £200
1s 1d – £220

Each addl. £20 up to £400 – 1d
Max fee 1s 10d
1921
(13 Jun)
3d – £5
4d – £20
5d – £40
6d – £60
7d – £80
8d – £100
9d – £120
10d – £140
11d – £160
1s – £180
1s 1d – £200
1s 2d – £220

Each addl. £20 up to £400 – 1d
Max fee 1s 11d 1949
(1 May)
4d – £5
5d – £20
6d – £40
7d – £60
8d – £80
9d – £100
10d – £120
11d – £140
1s – £160
1s 1d – £180
1s 2d – £200
1s 3d – £220

Each addl. £20 up to £400 – 1d
Max fee 2s
1952
(1 May)
6d – £5
7d – £20
8d – £40
9d – £60
10d – £80
11d – £100
1s – £120
1s 1d – £140
1s 2d – £160
1s 3d – £180
1s 4d – £200
1s 5d – £220

Each addl. £20 up to £400 – 1d
Max fee 2s 2d 1956
(1 Jun)
1s – £10
1s 1d – £20
1s 2d – £40
1s 3d – £60
1s 4d – £80
1s 5d – £100
1s 6d – £120
1s 7d – £140
1s 8d – £160
1s 9d – £180
1s 10d – £200
1s 11d – £220

Each addl. £20 up to £400 – 1d
Max fee 2s 8d

Registration fee on overseas mail remained 6d until 1st October 1957
1961
(1 Feb)
1s 6d – £20
1s 7d – £40
1s 8d – £60
1s 9d – £80
1s 10d – £100
1s 11d – £120
2s – £140
2s 1d – £160
2s 2d – £180
2s 3d – £200
2s 4d – £220
2s 5d – £240

Each addl. £20 up to £400 – 1d
Max fee 3s 1d

Recorded Delivery service introduced
1963
(29 Apr)
1s 9d – £20
1s 10d – £40
1s 11d – £60
2s – £80
2s 1d – £100
2s 2d – £120
2s 3d – £140
2s 4d – £160
2s 5d – £180
2s 6d – £200
2s 7d – £220
2s 8d – £240

Each addl. £20 up to £400 – 1d
Max fee 3s 4d

Registration fee on overseas mail remained 1s 6d until 1st July 1963
1966
(3 Oct)
3s – £100
3s 3d – £200
3s 6d – £300
3s 9d – £400
Max fee 3s 9d

First Class postage required for registered letters on introduction of two-tier post on 16th September 1968
1971
(15 Feb)
Letters:

20p – £150
22½p – £300
25p – £500

Parcels:

25p – £150
27½p – £300
30p – £500
Registration of parcels was abolished on 4th September 1972.

Overseas registration fee remained at 15p (3s) until 1st July 1971.

New registration fees not generally relevant until the end of the postal strike on 8th March
1974
(24 Jun)
25p – £150
30p – £300
35p – £500
1975
(17 Mar)
35p – £150
40p – £300
45p – £500
1975
(29 Sep)
45p – £200
50p – £400
55p – £600
1977
(13 Jun)
60p – £200
65p – £400
70p – £600
1979
(20 Aug)
65p – £250
70p – £750
Only two steps given in the postal rates leaflet 1980
(4 Feb)
75p – £300
80p – £800
Only two steps given in the postal rates leaflet
1981
(26 Jan)
90p – £500
95p – £750
£1.00 – £1000
1982
(1 Feb)
£1.00 – £500
£1.05 – £1000
£1.10 – £1500
1983
(5 Apr)
£1.00 – £500
£1.10 – £1250
£1.20 – £1750
1984
(3 Sep)
£1.10 – £600
£1.25 – £1250
£1.40 – £1750
1986
(20 Oct)
£1.20 – £650
£1.35 – £1350
£1.50 – £1850
From this point PSRE with new values not issued for each new rate – they bore a printed NVI stamp for basic regn fee + min first class postage 1988
(5 Sep)
£1.40 – £750
£1.55 – £1500
£1.70 – £2000
1989
(2 Oct)
£1.55 – £850
£1.70 – £1650
£1.85 – £2200
1990
(17 Sep)
£1.75 – £950
£1.90 – £1850
£2.10 – £2200
1991
(16 Sep)
£1.90 – £950
£2.10 – £1850
£2.30 – £2200
1993
(27 Jun)
Last date for separate registration service