David Feldman Olympic Games and Football June 4, 2019

All dates quoted for the postal history items from the 1896 and 1906 Athens Games are from the Julien calendar. The above table shows the conversion of the old Julian calendar to the modern Gregorian calendar for the days of the Games. Note that the difference between the calen- dars was 12 days in 1896, and 13 days in 1906. Below are tables and information useful to collectors of the 1896 Athens Olympics. Figure 1 explains the official purpose of the numbers in the Athens cds; figure 2 shows the Greek postage rates during the period of use of the 1896 Olympic issues, and figure 3 shows the number of events for different disciplines on each day of the Games (for both the Julian and Gregorian calendar). The Athens postmarks numbered 1-9 were introduced in September 1895 and were all available on the first day of issue of the 1896 Olympics stamps. The numbers relate to the usage of the canceller by the Post Office as the table below: 1 Regular mail 2 Printed matter 3 International registered mail 4 Domestic registered mail 5 Regular transit mail 6 Registered transit mail 7 Parcel post 8 Money orders 9 International money orders and insufficiently pre-paid Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 2 1896 Athens Internal Mail Within town 5l per 15g (min.10l) Newspaper / printed matter 1l per 50g Visit cards 2l, 3l, 5l, 10l Stationery (without text) 5l Stationery (with text) 10l Samples (without value) 5l per 50g Letters 20l per 15g Registration Fee 20l Avis de Reception Fee 20l Mail Abroad Newspaper / printed matter 5l per 50g Stationery (without text) 5l Stationery (with text) 10l Samples (without value) 5l per 50g Letters 30l per 15g Registration Fee 30l Avis de Reception Fee 30l Postage Rates Numbers in cancels Reference: The Postal Cancellations During the Period of Circulation of the First Olympic Stamps by Neoklis Zafirakopoulos, Hellenic Philotelic Society, 2008 Calendar of events