General Postcard Terms

The Eras for Postcards

• Post Card Origins, pre-1870
• Pioneer Era, 1870-1898
• Private Mailing Card, 1898-1901
• Undivided Back, 1901-1907
• Divided Back 1907-1915
• White Border, 1915-1930 (there were some cards produced until 1920 without white border)
• Linen, 1930-1945
• Photochrome or Chrome or Modern, 1939-on.

There can be some overlapping between divided back and linen eras. 

Various Postmarks found on Postcards

• Discontinued Post Office - dpo
• Rural Federal (free) Delivery - rfd
• Railroad Post Office - rpo
• Transfer Clerk (a railroad pm) - tc
• Highway Post Office - hpo
• Flag Cancel - fc
• Exposition Cancel (postmark) - expc
• Slogan Cancel - sc

Terms and Symbols Commonly Used to describe Postcard Condition

• Bas-relief - bas
• Black and White - b/w
• Cancel on Face - cof
• Close-up - c/u
• Copyright - cpy
• Crease - cr
• Corner - crn
• Catalog Value - cv
• Different - dif
• Divided Back - d/b
• Duplicate - dup
• Embossed - em
• Exposition - expo
• Flat - Not Embossed (if neither term is used, it can be assumed it is flat) - flat
• Heavy - hvy
• Horizontal picture - hor or horz
• Light - lt
• Margin Tear - mt
• Minimum bid (the seller will not sell the card for less than the value indicated) - min bid or min
• Postmarked - pm
• Real Photocard - rp or rppc
• Series- sr
• Stamp Missing or Gone - s/m
• Tinted - tnt
• Tear - tr
• Unused - unu
• Undivided Back - und/b
• Used - u
• Vertical Picture - v or vert
• Writing on Back - wob
• Writing on Face - wof

Some symbols may be used together

Postcard Grading

The following are picture post card condition grades as generally accepted as the standard for grading postcards.

• M - Mint: A perfect card just as it comes from the printing press. No marks, bends or creases. No writing or postmark. A clean and fresh card. Seldom seen.
• NM - Near Mint: Like mint, but very very light aging or very slight discoloration from being in an album for many years. Not as fresh looking.
• EX - Excellent: Like mint in appearance with no bends or creases, nor rounded or blunt corners. May be postally used or unused and with writing and postmark only on address side. A clean, fresh card on picture side.
• VG - Very Good: Corners may be just a bit blunt or rounded. Almost undetectable crease or bend that does not detract from overall appearance of picture side. May be writing or postally used on address side. A very collectible card.
• G - Good: Corners may be noticeably blunt or rounded with noticeably slight bends or creases. May be postally used or writing on address side. Less than VG.
• AV - Average: Creases and bends more pronounced. May be writing in margins on picture side. Postmark may show through from address side but not on main portion of picture. Corners more rounded.
• PR - Poor: Card is intact. Excess soil, stained, cancel may affect picture with writing on either side. Could be a scarce card hard to find in any condition with heavy creases.
• SF - Space Filler: Poor condition as above and may have corners torn or corners missing, etc. and breaks. Least desirable of all of the above.

This web site is owned and maintained by James M. Luty. Please email any questions or comments to Jim@WaynesboroPaPostcards.com.