Wednesday 5 September 2018

Netherlands - Post & Go 2017 - Essen, Briefmarkenmesse

The new Netherlands ATM stamps can be found in a few permanent locations (since May 2018 there is only one location left). One of the ATM machines is used by PostNL for stamp shows and other special occasions. After the introduction at the stamp show in Hilversum in January 2017 the first occasion to get ATM stamps was the Briefmarkenmesse in Essen, Germany. At this yearly event most European postal administrations are present with their latest stamps and other products.

I arrived early in the morning of 11 May 2017 at the PostNL stand in the Messe building only to find a machine that didn't work and a long row of waiting collectors. It turned out that there was an unknown bug in the system. The supplier of the machine was working online from London to repair it. It took almost two hours for technician Bob to repair it. After that I had to wait for some time before it was my turn to get my stamps. I prepared two envelopes, one for each of the stamps.

PostNL provided a special postmark with the coat of arms of the city of Essen and a datestamp from 's-Gravenhage (The Hague). Unlike all other postal administrations you can postmark your stamps and covers yourself. The postmarks are tied with a string to a table next to the PostNL stand. This allows the staff to help the customers without spending time on cancelling stamps. It was possible to leave your envelopes with the PostNL staff. They would take care of sending them through the ordinary mail without then envelopes being cancelled by the sorting machines. Unfortunately one did get a second postmark. Since then I have posted my envelopes myself using the protection I

The ATM stamps have the normal design and the values of 1 (for national mail up to 20 grams) and INTERNATIONAAL 1 (for international mail up to 20 gr). Printed above the machine and order number is the text Essen 2017. With each stamp I got a receipt from the ATM machine.

Date sent: 11 May 2017
Date postmark: 11 and 24 May 2017
Date received: 26 May 2017
Number of days: 15
Envelope in collection: 112



Date sent: 11 May 2017
Date postmark: 11 May 2017
Date received: 26 May 2017
Number of days: 15
Envelope in collection: 113






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