Notes on Type I Interpostals

Type I were the only Interpostal Seals created by the Posta Europea company. None are known to have been postmarked and none exist on a cover, but several have been seen with remnants of entrained envelope paper on their backside which indicates having once been used by the post office. During the time it controlled the Egyptian postal services the Posta Europea issued a total of 16 Interpostals, bearing the names, in different color papers, of the post offices in operation at the time. But the number of post offices has never been verified and is the subject of many debates. The earliest complete listing of the Type I Interpostals is by J.B. Moens, in 1880, where he lists Interpostals for Alexandria, Atfe, Benha, Birket-el-Sab, Cairo, Damanhur, Damiata, Galiub, Kafer Zayat, Mansura, Michalla, Samanud, Suez, Tanta, Zagazig, and Zifta. A total of 16 post offices. Today no one has seen all of the 16, but if Moens had actually seen them in 1880 it should be inferred that some, specifically those of Atfe and Damanhur, perhaps having once existed, have since been lost. No official records exist on the number actually printed or the methods and firms employed in the production of the Interpostal Seals, some sources believe that the Egyptian Postal Administration office in Boulac, a suburb of Cairo, was burned down in a fire in the 1890's, destroying the official details of the production and issuance of the Interpostal Seals.