Have You Committed Treason Recently?

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PenelopePitstop

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If you have ever placed a stamp on a letter or postcard upside down (in Britain obviously) you are committing treason... it's a law that goes back to the old Penny Black.

And... I do believe that there is a clause in the act of 1965 that abolished capital punishment in Britain, for it still to be used for acts of treason.

Crikey - just a friendly warning... take a bit of extra care when paying for your next Royal Mail delivery :(
 

Unique

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NeuroFizz said:
The stamp isn't upside-down, the envelope is. So I'm safe.

See? I told you Neuro was a smart guy.
 

clockwork

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PenelopePitstop said:
If you have ever placed a stamp on a letter or postcard upside down (in Britain obviously) you are committing treason... it's a law that goes back to the old Penny Black.

And... I do believe that there is a clause in the act of 1965 that abolished capital punishment in Britain, for it still to be used for acts of treason.

Crikey - just a friendly warning... take a bit of extra care when paying for your next Royal Mail delivery :(

I recently placed a stamp on the upper-left hand corner of the envelope as opposed to the more common, right hand corner. Panicked, I asked the lady behind the counter if that was no good and she told me that it makes absolutely no difference where the stamps are put on the envelope - they can be in the middle, on the back, right way up, upside down, on a slant, grouped together or apart - doesn't mattter. Surprised, I promised to be more creative in future.

Having said that, I find myself sticking to the traditional layout. :)
 

PenelopePitstop

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'In 1965, the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act abolished capital punishment for all offences, except treason, piracy with violence and arson in Royal Dockyards, all of which remained capital crimes. This was confirmed in 1969, after a quinquennial review of the law.'
 

NeuroFizz

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dahmnait said:
Just to show how backwards (or forwards) we Americans are, it means "I love you" in the states.
"It" meaning treason, piracy with violence, arson in the Royal Dockyards, or placing a stamp upside down?
 

PenelopePitstop

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clock_work9 said:
I recently placed a stamp on the upper-left hand corner of the envelope as opposed to the more common, right hand corner. Panicked, I asked the lady behind the counter if that was no good and she told me that it makes absolutely no difference where the stamps are put on the envelope - they can be in the middle, on the back, right way up, upside down, on a slant, grouped together or apart - doesn't mattter. Surprised, I promised to be more creative in future.

Having said that, I find myself sticking to the traditional layout. :)

I should add that it's a law only applicable to a stamp with the King or Queen's head on it.
 

pconsidine

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clock_work9 said:
he told me that it makes absolutely no difference where the stamps are put on the envelope - they can be in the middle, on the back, right way up, upside down, on a slant, grouped together or apart - doesn't mattter.
Strictly speaking, it doesn't matter if you are sending mail that can be hand canceled at the post office. But if you were to simply drop it in a mailbox, you might find that your letter has taken some interesting detours by the time it reaches its destination. It's all about the scanning machines, these days.

Of course, those machines have been calling me Jill and forwarding me most of my ex-wife's mail for the past two months, so take that for what it's worth.


* Postal regs are just one of the more arbitrary things you learn working in magazine production.
 

pconsidine

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PenelopePitstop said:
I should add that it's a law only applicable to a stamp with the King or Queen's head on it.
So if they ever come out with that Freddie Mercury stamp, you'll have to be doubly sure to put it on right side up.
 

dclary

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Yeah, you ever have a postal meter invalidated, pcon? I did. :( Boy did they get mad at me.
 

pconsidine

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dclary said:
Yeah, you ever have a postal meter invalidated, pcon? I did. :( Boy did they get mad at me.
No doubt. I can't think of anything worse than messing with a mag's meter number.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that's a capital offense everywhere.
 

Mac H.

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PenelopePitstop said:
If you have ever placed a stamp on a letter or postcard upside down (in Britain obviously) you are committing treason... it's a law that goes back to the old Penny Black.

And... I do believe that there is a clause in the act of 1965 that abolished capital punishment in Britain, for it still to be used for acts of treason.
All a myth, I'm afraid.

To quote Wikipedia:
The Treason Act 1351 has since been amended several times, and currently provides for four categories of treasonable offences, namely:
  • "when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the King, or of our lady his Queen or of their eldest son and heir";
  • "if a man do violate the King’s companion, or the King’s eldest daughter unmarried, or the wife of the King’s eldest son and heir";
  • "if a man do levy war against our lord the King in his realm, or be adherent to the King’s enemies in his realm, giving to them aid and comfort in the realm, or elsewhere, and thereof be probably attainted of open deed by the people of their condition"; and
  • "if a man slea the chancellor, treasurer, or the King’s justices of the one bench or the other, justices in eyre, or justices of assise, and all other justices assigned to hear and determine, being in their places, doing their offices".
Another Act, the Treason Act 1702 (1 Anne stat. 2 c. 21), provides for a fifth category of treason, namely:
  • "if any person or persons ... shall endeavour to deprive or hinder any person who shall be the next in succession to the crown ... from succeeding after the decease of her Majesty (whom God long preserve) to the imperial crown of this realm and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging".

Mac
 

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The AP reported an incident on November 11th involving an absentee ballot in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a 1918 'Inverted Jenny' airplane stamp affixed to it.

Value of stamp before the USPS canceled the envelope?

Possibly up to $525,000.00

The ballot, which contained no clue to the identity of the voter was canceled as well.
 
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dclary

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"when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the King, or of our lady his Queen or of their eldest son and heir";

Probably a good thing this rule's not in effect over here. Sh*tload of TIO'ers would be treasoning even this very minute.
 

CBeasy

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Once again, I feel as if I was mislead by the title of this thread. I thought it would be a support group or something! Now who am I going to talk to!?
 

SpookyWriter

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CBeasy said:
Once again, I feel as if I was mislead by the title of this thread. I thought it would be a support group or something! Now who am I going to talk to!?
Talk to me. I haven't committed treason today, yet.
 

SpookyWriter

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CBeasy said:
Yeah, I think I might've made it through the whole day too. Damn work. Oh well, maybe on the weekend...
We can only hope. Provided my kidney doesn't give out or Mexico declares war on us. Keep your fingers crossed. :D
 
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I haven't used stamps for over ten years.

I just write the address I'm sending the letter To in the return address corner.

I write my own address in the regular address area.

I mail it without a stamp and they will "Return to Sender" because of no postage and the person I'm mailing it to will get it because I made them the sender. No postage necessary.

"Pretty sneaky, sis."

Good luck!

(FBI: I've never done this. Seriously)
 
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