Pre-adhesive mail

[1] A stampless cover is another description and generally also refers to any item of mail sent before the issuance of postage stamps but it can also refer to mail sent, after the introduction of postage stamps, unpaid (as was permitted in many countries) or without the pre-payment being indicated by the affixing of a postage stamp; it could have been pre-paid in cash and marked paid.

This mail is usually a letter sheet because the use of envelopes was not popularised until after the introduction of postage stamps.

The mail often bears distinctive town and other marks applied worldwide.

In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland pre-adhesive mail was the norm before the Penny Black and Two pence Blue stamps were issued for use by the General Post Office on 6 May 1840, and in other countries, to mail used prior to each country's postal administration adopted adhesive labels to indicate postage had been pre-paid.

This greatly impacted small town postmasters as they were compensated based on the amount of postage they collected.