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One Shilling Postal Order
| Issuer | His Majesty's Postmaster General |
|---|---|
| Year | 1910-1936 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Blue letterpress on white paper with an attached counterfoil at left. A circular vignette at centre-left bears a left-facing portrait of King George V within an ornate frame inscribed POSTAL ORDER and POUNDAGE. The denomination ONE SHILLING appears in a bold guilloche band at centre, with the value 1/- in a decorated box at upper right. Ruling borders of repeated POSTAL ORDER text frame the order. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NOT NEGOTIABLE THE SENDER MUST FILL IN THE PAYEE'S NAME BEFORE PARTING WITH THE ORDER BRITISH POSTAL ORDER To the Postmaster General I ONE SHILLING I 1/- ONE PENNY Pay the sum of at Post Office Postmaster. within Six Calendar Months from the last day of the month of issue. For Regulations—see back. RECEIVED the sum due Postage Stamps not exceeding two in number or 5d. in total value may be affixed in these spaces, but not elsewhere, to make up a broken amount (excluding an odd half-penny): SIGNATURE. COUNTERFOIL. To be detached and kept by the Sender. Postal 1/- Order To whom payable:— At what Office:— Whether crossed Date sent PAYING OFFICE STAMP WITH DATE CANCELLING THIS ORDER |
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| Comments |
British postal orders occupy an odd technical category — they are not banknotes, not cheques, not stamps, yet they circulated as a de facto remittance instrument for millions of working-class households that had no bank accounts. The Post Office introduced them in 1881 specifically to replace the informal and theft-prone practice of sending coins by post. By the Edwardian period, the one-shilling denomination was among the most heavily used, driven largely by mail-order catalogue payments and small domestic transfers.
The "His Majesty's Postmaster General" imprint dates this issue to between George V's accession in 1910 and the series revision that followed his death in 1936. Poundage — the small surcharge payable by the sender — was printed in a separate box and completed at point of sale, making each order partially a filled-in document rather than a purely pre-printed instrument.