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Editor's Note: This article by Werner Simon first appeared in the April 6, 1940 issue of STAMPS.
Wide publicity has recently been accorded the "Mailomat", the new coin-operated letter box which mails cards and letters at the drop of the proper coins. When letters are inserted in the machines they are stamped with postage meter impressions and automatically deposited for collection and delivery.
However, very little is known about various experiments made before the invention of the Mailomat.
It is generally believed, though erroneously, that the first postage meter was invented in New Zealand by an Ernest Moss and submitted by him to the then Postmaster General of New Zealand in 1903. A German named J. Baumann published an article on this subject in a Bavarian newspaper on July 10, 1897. However, Chr. H. Kahns of Christiania, Norway must be considered as the originator of the idea, as his machine made its debut on August 24, 1900, undoubtedly the first day of metered mail.
The Kahrs machine was installed in the lobby of the General Post Office of Christiania and printed two denominations, 5 ore green and 10 ore red. The impressions were considered merely as receipt of prepaid postage and, therefore, the post office affixed stamps to letters found in the machine. As the stamps, for the most part, covered the entire impression, many letters were probably destroyed before the imprints hidden underneath were noticed. Naturally, covers are extremely scarce nowadays due also to the fact that the machine was withdrawn after a very short period of use. The impressions show a post indicating the the denomination in the center ring, on top "Chra." indicates Christiania, while the bottom inscription "Aut. No. 1" gives the machine number. Another experiment was launched at the same place in 1903 when a new machine developed by Nils A. Krag was installed. This time the impression was...