Moss Machine No. 2 automatic stamp franking machine

item details

NameMoss Machine No. 2 automatic stamp franking machine

ProductionErnest Moss; engineer; circa 1904; New Zealand

Classificationstamp boxes, machines

Materialscast iron

DimensionsOverall: 215mm (width), 260mm (height), 380mm (depth)

Registration NumberGH025083

Credit lineThe New Zealand Post Museum Collection, Gift of New Zealand Post Ltd, 2016

Overview

Moss franking machines were at the leading edge of postal technology during the Edwardian period, enabling the quick and efficient stamping of large volumes of mail for businesses.

New Zealand engineer Ernest Moss invented 'Moss Machine No. 1' in about 1904, followed quickly by 'Moss Machine No. 2'. Moss No. 2 was the first machine to be used in New Zealand by a business (the Christchurch Meat Company). A sovereign coin dropped in the slot allowing 240 frankings of 1d denominations for standard letters.

Upon the success of the product, Messrs Moss and Dombrain formed The Automatic Stamping Company which later became the The Automatic Franking Machine Company. The Post and Telegraph Department gave them a licence to construct the machines and lease them to businesses.

When Ernest Moss died in 1932, the Evening Post newspaper wrote that his automatic postal franking machine 'was recognised by the World Postal Union, and has done more for the postal systems of the world than anything conceived in that realm since Rowland Hill first proposed penny postage' (20 April 1032, p. 7).