There’s a machine called a postage machine which will print stamps on envelopes so you don’t need to run to buy stamps all the time. My dad had one at his law office that you could change the date to and the date printed on the stamp, and in doing so you could essentially post-date mail like it was mailed at an earlier date. If we ever missed deadlines or needed an extra day to work on a project it could have been an indispensable tool, but I bet that would count as some sort of mail fraud so of course we never did that…

This reminds me of an unrelated but interesting story an old Art teacher told.

She spoke of someone else submitting three pieces of artwork for a job or college app, but the person only included two pieces of art in the envelope. A letter was also included, which suggested the third piece was on the outside of the envelope. On the outside was a stamp, which was hand-made but good enough to get the package delivered.

As I think about it today, I doubt that would get you a job or access to college, but it’s an interesting story. And, it was impressionable enough that I’m recalling it 30 years later.

I recall a counterfeit artist with a "similar" story - he meticulously forged currency and claimed the fact that it was passable as the real thing proved its value as being at /least/ as much as the value of the bill it represented, and therefore was not, in fact, counterfeit money but was an art trade. I don't think the feds agreed.

Edit - i believe I'm thinking of J. S. G. Boggs - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._S._G._Boggs He didn't actually try to pass his bills as money, they had clear indicators that they weren't real (like being one-sided), and he'd trade them for the equivalent amount in goods and services as a performance art.

Do envelopes that were printed with a postage meter not get postmarked? My impression is that the stamp the postage meter puts on is just proof of payment (ie. instead of a stamp), but at the sorting facility they still apply a postmark which has the real date it arrived at the facility.

generally no; only mail with stamps on it will end up with a postmark cancellation most of the time.

It’s only fraud if you get caught.

This gave me a good laugh. Why does it seem actually viable.