Today in Postal History

  
     
Venezia Giulia to Ecuador
April 6, 1946

In World War II, the advancing allied armies were followed by
teams of specialists who established civilian adminstrations.

Among other tasks, postal services were restored.
This included issuing stamps for the Italian province
of Venezia Giulia at the north end of the Adriatic.
Italian stamps were overprinted
A.M.G.
V.G.
to satisfy this need.
A.M.G. signified Allied Military Government and V.G. was for Venezia Giulia.

This censored airmail cover with a single airmail etiquette
was sent from Trieste, the principal city of Venezia Giulia.
The cover is franked with 2 L. dark red (2x), 5 L. dark red (1x), and
10 L. purple (11x) from the 1945 issue (Scott 1LN5-7).
These stamps are overprints of 1945 Italian issues.

The flat rate for letters going abroad was 15 L per 20 gr starting April 1, 1946.
The airmail rate to Ecuador was 52 L per 5 gr.
This letter must have weighed between 5 and 10 gr as the
rate was figured as 15 L (flat rate) + 2x52 L = 119 L.
The 119 is noted in script on the cover's front.*

The cover received at least 10 strikes of a Trieste CDS.

The cover was censored by the Allied Control and sealed with tape.
There are also two circular censor handstamps tying the seal on both front and back.

The cover was addressed to Quito where it arrived on April 26.
Its receipt was noted by a roller machine cancel on the reverse.

This cover was accompanied by a 1985 Raybaudi Experts certificate.
The stamps were identified as Sassone N 9, 10, and 11.

*Thanks to Paolo Bagaglio for the airmail rate analysis.