Page 11 - Mick Bister - The Postcode Programmes of France

ALPHABETICAL CODE TRIALS
PROGRAMME N° 1

Trials in mechanised sorting ( tri automatique) were conducted in 1962 at the Centre National
d'Etudes des Telecommunications and later at the Paris-Gare d' Austerlitz sorting office from
January 1963 to October 1964.. Only mail destined for the departement of Seine-et-Oise was
treated and each targeted town was arbitrarily allocated a postcode consisting of just two
letters, eg. Mantes-la-Jolie: MN, Sevres : SE., Le Vesinet: VN.

The two letters were translated into a bar code or indexation applied to the back of the
envelope. The indexation comprised a start and two groups of between one and four bars, each
group representing one of the two letters. The above cover is coded DV for Draveil and is dated
11 July 1963.

Start D

1 II/,,,_,,, o·v ll tf t lv
2
3 v 'Y Ii "' t '·
4 I
5
6 J./ O? {i..t. ....Ytt tL l:. t.
7
8
9
0

• (i /,