Roman Numerals

[wolf63]

I can usually manage to 'translate' these figures but this has confused me.

Can anyone help? I hope that you can read the postmark!

https://postimg.cc/F76mKKyp

[Atheist]

I read
16
4 (Roman)
8
11 (Roman)

But I don't know what it signifies; seems to be too many components for a date.

[Khandro]

Lucerne, 16th Apr. 2008, but what XI - the iith means I don't know

[Khandro]

The X1 - eleven, may be the postal area of Lucerne

[wolf63]

I have the same problem as both of you - too many numbers.

It will be 19?? for the year as the postcard is old.
This is the rest of it https://postimg.cc/gallery/KtcFYY9

[pixie374]

Agree with khandro. Not sure about the 11.

[Buenchico]

That 10 cent stamp was issued in 1907, leaving little doubt that the '08' bit means 1908 (which, I'll guess, is probably all you need for your charity listing anyway).

If you compare your stamp with this one, you'll see that the righthand Roman numerals from your example don't appear in the one that I've linked to here:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/xaMAAOSw42Nf1M0U/s-l1600.jpg

I read the postmark on my example as 22nd August 1908 and thus those on yours as 16th April 1908. My guess is that the 'XI', which is on the end of yours, indicates 11am (possibly at a busy post office, with multiple collections each day), whereas the absence of a time in my example might indicate that it was posted at a rural post office, with just a single daily collection (and thus no need to indicate a time).

[hellywelly4]

I think it might be 16th April 1908

[wolf63]

Amazing service from all of you.

Thank you very much!

[Peter Pedant]

yup agree with all the above xc
1908
Lucerne = as Luzern, Swizerland is trilingual - with a fourth not recognised as a national language

Roman numberals were frequently used for months, I cant recollect a year mark ever being a Roman - ( revolutionary years in France, abandoned around 1804 not really a go-er here)

[Khandro]

Yes, I'm only a century out! But the tiny ink-stamp must have had adjustable numerals in it, unless a new one was made for every date.

[Peter Pedant]

what a wonderful thang the internet is:
and geeks are
someone MUST have written on swiss post marks
yup - yessirree ! they certainly have at length....

https://swiss-philately.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Railway__Station_Markings.pdf

the rly stn marking are all bahnpost which this one isnt
they call have four numbers the first four date as above
the fourth is - - train line number for the bahn post

they all have them anyway, so the final numeral must have various significances - post office number? not certain about time - perhaps collection route

[gumboot]

The hotel was opened in 1898 according to its website - yes, it's still open today. So it's a fair bet the postcard was sent in 1908.

[Khandro]

Bravo, Peter!

[Khandro]

I'm now intrigued to know, how was the date stamp changed each day in a pre-digital age, did they have 366 stamps (1 to cover leap year) or was there a method of changing the print on the stamp itself?

[Khandro]

come to think about it, that doesn't work either, because a new batch would be needed each year.

[THECORBYLOON]

On one of the pages on the website given by PP, the time in the morning was given by Roman numerals and Arabic numerals in the afternoon.

That means the item was postmarked in the eleventh hour in the morning.

[THECORBYLOON]

That practice stopped after 1919 when Arabic numerals were used for the times.

[wolf63]

I can't access PPs link on my tablet but will have a look in the morning on the Laptop.

I have some postcards with no information, no postmarks or any clues. They are filed under "look at later". I will look at them later. :-)

I can't resist showing our collection: https://tinyurl.com/2ztfehph

I'm off to play games on my Kindle. As always I thank all of you. AB people can be very helpful. They can also bicker and argue on just about every subject imaginable. :-)