Size Guide for Historic Envelopes
Envelope sizes have evolved over time. Many of the envelopes detailed below were produced over 120 years ago. It is therefore important to understand the different envelope sizes of the era. Here’s your guide to envelope sizes (with dimensions in inches for my American friends):
| # | Size (WxH) | # | Size (WxH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 134 x 73mm 5.27 x 2.87 inches | #9 | 257 x 111mm 10.12 x 4.37 inches |
| #5 | 160 x 89mm 6.30 x 3.5 inches | #10 | 117 x 90mm 4.60 x 3.54 inches |
| #6 | 165 x 93mm 6.49 x 3.66 inches | #11 | 132 x 108mm 5.19 x 4.25 inches |
| #7 | 225 x 98mm 8.86 x 3.86 inches | #13 | 171 x 95 mm 6.73 x 3.74 inches |
| #8 | 241 x 105mm 9.49 x 4.13 inches | #14 | 160 x 95mm 6.30 x 3.74 inches |
Paper Types and Colors
With envelope sizes out of the way, let’s take a quick look at paper types and colors:
- Wove paper – Identified by a uniform surface, no texture, no watermark.
- Laid paper – Will typically have small vertical ridges in the paper, left behind by the paper machine during the manufacturing process.
- Manila paper – Originally made from manila hemp. Can be rough and strong with a brownish finish.
| Paper Color | Example |
|---|---|
| White | add example |
| Buff | add example |
| Amber | add example |
| Blue | add example |
| Manila | add example |
Corner Cards
The last critical piece of information for the collector before delving into the actual postal stationary is the concept of Corner Cards. When present, Corner Cards appear in the upper left hand corner of the envelope. The presence of a corner card often indicates a scarcer, more valuable and more collectable envelope – due entirely to the limited quantities of envelopes that have this type of overprint. There are some exceptions to this rule.
Corner cards were either printed on postal stationary for general public use or were considered privately printed.
| CC# | Example |
|---|---|
U.S. Administration
This page is still a work in progress, if you’ve stumbled across it then please check back later.
1908 – dies were especially created for the Philippines, no more “PHILIPPINES” over prints.
Notes:
| UPSS # / Year | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| U1 1900 (size #5) 1901 (size #1) |  | 1c Franklin oval printed in green on white paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #1 – 30,000 copies. Size #5 – 30,000 copies. |
| U2 1901 |  | 1c Franklin oval printed in green on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed Size #1 – 500 copies. Size #5 – 500 copies. |
| U3 1902 |  U3 with “Francisco Gonzales” private print | 1c Franklin oval printed in green on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed in red. Size #5 – 500 copies. |
| U4 1901 |  U4 with “Francisco Gonzales” private print | 1c Franklin oval printed in green on buff paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #13 – 500 copies. |
| U5 1899 | Not acquired yet | 1c Franklin oval printed in green on buff paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed in red. Size #13 – 500 copies. |
| U6 1901 |  U6 with “Francisco Gonzales” private print | 1c Franklin oval printed in green on blue paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #13 – 1,000 copies. |
| U7 1902 |  U7 with “Francisco Gonzales” private print | 1c Franklin oval printed in green on blue paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed in red. Size #13 – 500 copies. |
| U8 1899 (#5) 1901 (#7, #8) |  | 2c Washington oval printed in carmine on white paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 1,160,000 copies. Size #7 – 10,000 copies. Size #8 – 10,000 copies. A variety exists from 1902 where there is no ‘.’ after “Philippines”. |
| U9 1900 |  | 2c Washington oval printed in carmine on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 21,000 copies. |
| U10 1901 |  U10 with “Francisco Gonzales” private print | 2c Washington oval printed in carmine on buff paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 10,000 copies. |
| U11 1901 |  U11 size #5 | 2c Washington oval printed in carmine on blue paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 10,000 copies |
| U12 1901 | Not acquired yet | 4c Lincoln oval printed in brown on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #7 – 500 copies. |
| U13 1901 |  Not acquired yet | 4c Lincoln oval printed in brown on white paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Uses die C which omits the bumps/notches from the oval closest to the outline of Lincoln. Size #7 – 10,000 copies. Size #8 – 10,000 copies. |
| U14 1901 | Not acquired yet | 4c Lincoln oval printed in brown on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Uses die C which omits the bumps/notches from the oval closest to the outline of Lincoln. Size #7 – 500 copies. |
| U15 1901 |  U15 | 5c Grant oval printed in blue on white paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 20,000 copies. |
| U16 1901 | Not acquired yet | 5c Grant oval printed in blue on amber-greenish paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed in blue. Size #5 – 500 copies. |
| U17 1903 |  | 1c Franklin round printed in green on white paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 300,000 copies. |
| U18 1903 |  U18 with “Guillermo Perrera” private overprint | 1c Franklin round printed in green on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 1,000 copies. |
| U19 1903 |  U19 with “Guillermo Perrera” private overprint | 1c Franklin round printed in green on buff paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 500 copies. Size #13 – 1,000 copies. |
| U20 1903 |  U20 with “Guillermo Perrera” private overprint  U20 with “Carlos Media” private overprint | 1c Franklin round printed in green on blue paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 500 copies. Size #13 – 1,000 copies. |
| U21 1903 | Not acquired yet | 1c Franklin round printed in green with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed on manila paper with no gum. Size #5 – 500 copies. |
| U22 1903 |  U22 Size #5 | 2c Washington rectangle printed in carmine on white paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 100,000 copies. Size #8 – 50,000 copies. Size #10 – 500 copies. |
| U23 1903 |  U24 with “Guillermo Perrera” private overprint | 2c Washington rectangle printed in carmine on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 500 copies. Size #7 – 500 copies. |
| U24 1903 | Not acquired yet | 2c Washington rectangle printed in carmine on buff paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #13 – 500 copies. |
| U25 1903 |  U25 with “Guillermo Perrera” private overprint | 2c Washington rectangle printed in carmine on blue paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #13 – 500 copies. |
| U26 1903 | Not acquired yet | 4c Grant square printed in brown on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #7 – 500 copies. 40 exist where the “Philippines.” overprint has been omitted – these are very rare. |
| U27 1903 | Not acquired yet | 5c Lincoln oval printed in blue on amber paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. Size #5 – 500 copies. |
| U28 1906 | Not acquired yet | 2c Washington rectangle printed in carmine on white paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. A darker shade of ink (more red) was used on 1907 issues. 2 dies were used (type 32 and type 101). See details on dies used. Size #5 – die 32 – unknown copies. Size #5 – die 101 – unknown copies. |
| U29 1907 |  U29 Size #7 | 2c Washington rectangle printed in carmine on buff paper with “PHILIPPINES.” over printed. See details on dies used. Size #7 – die 102 – 495 copies. Size #7 – die 121 – 4 copies. |
| U30 1908 | U30 Add in one listed as “1908” with Money Order and CC-1 Add in one listed as “1908” with CC-1 | 2c Rizal oval in green on white paper. Size #5 – 50,000 copies on white laid paper. All varieties of Corner Cards exist (CC-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and also with the Money Order overprint. Size #5 – 5,000 copies on white woven paper. All varieties of Corner Cards exist (CC-1, 4, 5, 6) and also with the Money Order overprint. Size #7 – unknown copies on white laid paper. Size #8 – unknown copies on white woven paper. Size #11 – 1,500 copies on white laid paper. Size #13 – 1,000 copies on white laid paper. |
| U31 1911 | Not acquired yet | 2c Rizal oval in green on amber paper. Size #5 – 2,000 copies on amber laid paper. Size #5 – 4 copies on amber woven paper. Size #7 – 1,000 copies on amber laid paper. |
| U32 1908 |  U32 Size #5 | 2c Rizal oval in green on buff laid paper. Size #5 – 4,500 copies on buff laid paper, some with Money Order overprint and 2 different knife formats. Size #5 – unknown copies on buff wove paper released in 1918 with different watermark. Size #7 – 1,000 copies on buff laid paper. Size #8 – unknown copies on buff laid paper. Size #13 – unknown copies on buff laid paper. |
| U33 1908 | Not acquired yet | 2c Rizal oval in green on blue paper. Size #5 – 1,500 copies on blue laid paper. Size #5 – 4,500 copies on blue wove paper. Size #7 – 1,000 copies on blue laid paper. Size #8 – 1,000 copies on blue laid paper. Size #9 – unknown copies on blue laid paper. |
| U34 1918 | Not acquired yet | 2c Rizal oval in green on manila paper. Size #5 – 1,000 copies on manila laid paper. |
| U35 1908 | Not acquired yet | 4c McKinley in carmine on white paper. Size #5 – 250,000 copies on white laid paper; also with CC-1, CC-7, CC-8. Also on white wove paper with CC-1, CC-7, CC-8, CC-9, CC-10. Size #8 – unknown copies on white laid paper; also on white wove paper. Size #11 – unknown copies on white laid paper. |
| U36 1908 |  U36 size #5 | 4c McKinley in carmine on amber paper. Size #5 – 1,500 copies on amber laid paper. Size #8 – unknown copies on amber wove paper. |
| U37 1908 |  U37 size #5 | 4c McKinley in carmine on buff paper. Size #5 – 1,000 copies on buff laid paper. Size #8 – 1,000 copies on buff laid paper. |
| U38 1908 |  U38 Size #5  U38 with “Constabulary” overprint | 4c McKinley in carmine on blue paper. Size #5 – 2,000 copies on blue laid paper. Size #8 – 1,000 copies on blue laid paper. |
| U39 1926 | Not acquired yet | 4c McKinley in carmine on manila paper. Size #5 – 500 copies on manila paper. Size #5 – 500 copies on manila paper with no gum. |