Hi, IRC's, or International Reply Coupons, are a means to extend the courtesy of a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope to those in other countries. As an example, USA stamps cannot be used to mail a letter *from* another country, so a traditional SASE cannot be used. The enclosure of a self-addressed envelope and one or two IRC's accomplishes the same thing. If your expected response is going to be on the order of one sheet of paper, one IRC should be enough. But if you expect more than that in a reply, two or three should probably be sent along. IRC's are available at most larger post offices (sub-stations would rarely carry them). As of August 1998 IRCs are US $1.05 each. Hope this clears this up for you, Joanne

I can confirm that as of February 2000 the IRC's still cost US $1.05. It also cost me about a $1 to send a letter to Germany from NH. Nancy ----- Original Message ----- From: <JOPARMLEY@aol.com> To: <BAVARIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 03, 2000 2:32 AM Subject: [BAVARIA] International Reply Coupons > Hi, > > IRC's, or International Reply Coupons, are a means to extend the courtesy of > a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope to those in other countries. As an example, > USA stamps cannot be used to mail a letter *from* another country, so a > traditional SASE cannot be used. The enclosure of a self-addressed envelope > and one or two IRC's accomplishes the same thing. If your expected response > is going to be on the order of one sheet of paper, one IRC should be enough. > But if you expect more than that in a reply, two or three should probably be > sent along. IRC's are available at most larger post offices (sub-stations > would rarely carry them). As of August 1998 IRCs are US $1.05 each. > > > Hope this clears this up for you, > Joanne > > > > > > > > > > ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== > Sister or Brother, > Can you spare $10 dollars to support Rootsweb? > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html#personal >