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The postal convention between Italy and Austria, which came into force on 15 May 1862, regulated, among other matters, the treatment of insufficiently franked correspondence. For the calculation of the respective shares, the territorial division already established under the previous postal convention between the Kingdom of Sardinia and Austria, which came into force on 1 January 1854, continued to be used, with Italian and Austrian localities divided into postal sections according to their distance from the border.
In the case of insufficiently franked correspondence, the amount already collected could give rise to two opposite situations: the Italian postal administration could be in debt to the Austrian administration or, conversely, remain in credit with it. These differences were indicated on the correspondence by the appropriate “Debito Italiano” and “Credito Italiano” handstamps.
In this article I shall focus on the less frequent cases in which, despite the insufficient franking, the Italian postal administration remained in credit with the Austrian administration.
Before showing and explaining some examples, I need to reproduce the table of “Reciprocal credits” from an earlier article of mine, “Interrupted mail: postal communications between the Kingdom of Sardinia and Austria during the Second Italian War of Independence”, which shows the shares due to Italy and Austria according to the place of origin or destination of the letter.
| Condition | Share due from 1 November 1858 |
|---|---|
| If originating from S1 or addressed to S1 | Italy is entitled to 13 Italian centesimi |
| If originating from S2 or addressed to S2 | Italy is entitled to 28 Italian centesimi |
| If originating from A1 or addressed to A1 | Austria is entitled to 5 kreuzer |
| If originating from A2 or addressed to A2 | Austria is entitled to 10 kreuzer |
| If originating from A3 or addressed to A3 | Austria is entitled to 15 kreuzer |
The initial A stood for Austria, while S referred to the former Kingdom of Sardinia, a designation that continued to be used on correspondence during the first years of the Kingdom of Italy. Within Italian territory, S1 comprised the localities closest to the Austrian border, while S2 comprised those farther away; on the Austrian side, similarly, A1 indicated the zone closest to the border, A2 the intermediate zone and A3 the most distant. The combination of the two sections therefore determined the applicable postal rate.
From 1 November 1858, each new kreuzer corresponded to 1 soldo, thus making the new Austrian currency and that of Lombardy-Venetia equivalent for postal purposes.
Letter sent from Milan to Mantua on 21 January 1864, insufficiently franked with a 15-centesimi De La Rue stamp (Sassone L18), as shown by the handstamp in an octagonal frame. The letter still bore the old S 2A marking, referring to the second Italian distance zone. For this zone, Italy was entitled to 28 centesimi and, since the franking covered only 15 centesimi, the Italian postal administration still had a credit of 13 centesimi. The amount was entered by hand after the linear “CREDITO ITALIANO CENT” handstamp. Converted at the exchange rate of 2.4 centesimi per soldo, the 13 centesimi corresponded to 5.42 soldi, rounded up to 6 soldi. To these were added the 5 soldi due to Austria for the route from the border to Mantua, which belonged to the first Austrian distance zone, giving a total of 11 soldi payable by the addressee (Cambi auction, February 2024)
As shown by the letter of 21 January 1864 above, the calculation was very simple. The amount already collected through the franking was deducted from the share due to Italy, and the difference represented the Italian credit against the Austrian postal administration. The resulting amount was converted into soldi, to which the share due to Austria was added according to the distance of the destination from the border.
Letter sent from Milan to Treviso on 14 April 1864, insufficiently franked with a 20-centesimi on 15-centesimi “Ferro di cavallo” (Horseshoe) stamp, type III, as shown by the handstamp in an octagonal frame. As indicated by the S 2A marking, Milan was in the second Italian distance zone, corresponding to a share of 28 centesimi. After deducting the 20 centesimi paid in franking, 8 centesimi therefore remained to the credit of the Italian postal administration, entered after the linear “CREDITO ITALIANO CENT” handstamp and, once converted into Austrian currency, equivalent to 3.33 soldi, rounded up to 4. Since Treviso belonged to the second Austrian distance zone, a further 10 soldi were added for the route from the border to destination: the addressee therefore had to pay a total of 14 soldi (Cambi auction, February 2024)
Let us look at some further examples. The 14 April letter from Milan to Treviso is shown above; below are two more: a letter from Messina to Venice dated 22 April 1864 and another from Milan to Bussolengo dated 11 October 1866.
Letter sent from Messina to Venice on 22 April 1864 and insufficiently franked with a 15-centesimi De La Rue stamp. For the second Italian distance zone Italy was entitled to 28 centesimi and, after deducting the 15 centesimi already collected through the franking, a credit of 13 centesimi therefore remained in favour of Italy. The amount was entered after the linear “CREDITO ITALIANO CENT” handstamp and subsequently struck through. Converted into Austrian currency, the 13 centesimi corresponded to 5.42 soldi, rounded up to 6. To these were added the 5 soldi due to Austria, since Venice belonged to the first Austrian distance zone, giving a total of 11 soldi payable by the addressee, as indicated by the manuscript notation on the letter.
Letter sent from Milan to Bussolengo on 11 October 1866, insufficiently franked with a pair of 10-centesimi De La Rue stamps (Sassone L17), as shown by the handstamp in an octagonal frame. Milan, as we have already seen, was in the second Italian distance zone, corresponding to an Italian share of 28 centesimi. After deducting the 20 centesimi paid in franking, the Italian postal administration still had a credit of 8 centesimi. The amount was entered by hand after the linear “CREDITO ITALIANO CENT” handstamp and subsequently struck through. The 8 centesimi, equivalent to 3.33 soldi, were rounded up to 4 soldi, to which were added the 5 soldi due to Austria for the route from the border to destination, since Bussolengo belonged to the first Austrian distance zone. The total of 9 soldi, shown at the bottom of the letter, was payable by the addressee (Cambi auction, 25 February 2026)
The division of the respective shares between Italy and Austria did not, of course, apply only to insufficiently franked correspondence, but formed part of the normal accounting mechanism established by the postal agreements between the two administrations. It is precisely on taxed letters, however, that this system can be seen most clearly, because credits, currency conversions and amounts to be collected were entered directly on the correspondence.
