Most of the above still applies, though clearly the contact details do not. As this is a website, I have the advantage of being able to add updates frequently at minimal cost. The text is also amenable to online translation and colour pictures are not a problem. I have experimented with adding prices, though they are very much guesswork at the moment. I chose Ecuador for this since some of the seals were previously thought to be telegraph stamps and priced accordingly. This gives me a guide. I have included a column for 'used on dated telegram', and I have also added a feature to allow for the currency to be selected. There has been some re-numbering, but there will be a lot more needed as dates of use will need a lot of revision and new items are still being found.

I am trying to 'sort out' the Austro-Hungarian Empire. History, Geography and languages are not my best subjects, but the internet is well suited to research these aspects. Scans of seals on telegrams in this area showing date and place would be very welcome.

As always, comments, criticisms etc., are always welcome. My contact details are below.

For those interested in the extent of my own contribution to this effort, I have a progress report.

S.F.W.P.

September, 2014

I think the Austro-Hungarian Empire is fairly well sorted out now and I am progressing through the Russian Empire. Each of these Empires had seals for general use plus seals intended for specific areas, often being bi-lingual.
At the moment I am taking these as Imperial seals listed under Austria or Russia, but some people might prefer them listed according to the area of use.
I have done it this way though, because it appears to have been done on the basis of language rather than traditional countries, which had variable boundaries anyway.

Along the way I have found it very helpful to consider 'coats of arms' and similar symbols, such as communist ones. These emblems were often used at specific times and are helpful in determining the order in which seals were issued as well as the country.
Accordingly I have started adding images of important emblems together with dates of use.

I would like to acknowledge the helpfulness of wikipedia.org in doing this.


S.F.W.P.

October, 2014

The big difference between telegram seals and telegraph stamps is that they do not directly contribute to revenue. This has had consequences that reflect on the outlook, priorities and imagination of the issuing authority.
In the early days of written communication, it was common practice to use sealing wax to deter interference with the contents en route.
Early postal routes were often for the sole use of rulers and the penalty for interfering with the mail might well be death.
With the advent of telegrams, seals became paper rather than wax, but there was still a protective role for them.

 
Designs could be closely carried over from the early wax seals, but there was a worry that they might still be opened and resealed without detection.
Various methods were used to make this more difficult. The scallops around the edge are quite decorative, but serve a very real function as they make it very likely that the seal will be damaged in any quick attempt at removal.

The early (1862) Bavarian seal below is a fairly extreme example. It is without colour but embossed and would probably be hard to remove without detection.
Similarly the 1929 seal from Uruguay would be hard to remove undamaged.
 

The Polish seals (below), mostly had little security, but there was one type that had 'cross cuts' in each corner (look closely) and additionally could be handstamped so that even complete replacement of the seal would be detectable.
For the same reason, many seals of other countries are 'cancelled' to make it more difficult to open the correspondence without detection.
As with these examples, designs were often the coat of arms of the country/province using them and/or a stylized symbol of telegraphy.

Another innovation comes from Costa Rica

In the 1950's there were seals with underprints on the back to make it harder to gain undetected access.

Etiquettes / envelopes

The difference between telegram seals and etiquettes may not be clear cut. What started life as a seal may have been used as an etiquette after the adoption of envelopes with built-in seals, perhaps due to habit, perhaps even due to required procedures.

Advertising

Some countries had the imagination to make the seals more productive by using them as advertising space.
The Netherlands used them to advertise their services, Sweden and Norway used them to help fight Tubeculosis and New Zealand promoted savings bonds for the WWII war effort.

Economics / Politics / Language

Seals tell a story. Generally they reflect their environment, so that the coat of arms may be proudly displayed or they may be bi-lingual. In Bolivia, the Chaco conflict played a large part with the area highlighted on seals that were generally torn in half because of shortages.

Perforations

Form Numbers

Telegram seals may be classed as 'Cinderellas', or alternatively considered as telegraphic stationery.
Some seals of Chile, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal have form numbers on.

Many different basic designs v few or one basic design/s with many minor variations

Seals as telegraph stationery

Some seals of some countries (Argentina, Chile, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal at least) bear form numbers, just as telegraph forms and telegrams usually do. This makes it clear that those authorities considered them as stationery, just as the more obvious 'forms'.
Strangely however, they are not afforded the same status as the forms that are often listed in published volumes by respected philatelists.
Instead they are 'consigned to the cinderellas'. Perhaps they may gain more prestige as time progresses.

S.F.W.P.

November, 2015