Acknowledgement of receipt

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Acknowledgment of receipt (equivalent terms include avis de réception, advice of delivery, return receipt requested/required/wanted/demanded, ..., Rückschein, ricevuta di ritorno, and many others; the standard abbreviations are AR and AD) is a postal service which returns to the sender of a letter (usually registered; in the case of a parcel, it may be insured) a form or card signed by the recipient. This is evidence that the letter was received, and these forms (or cards) are frequently seen with legal endorsements (exhibit A, for example).

While obscure in some countries (such as Canada, Great Britain and Australia), AR has always been very popular in others (such as India, France and its colonies, and especially the USA). There is a great deal of postal history material associated to AR: postmarks, AR forms & cards, AR covers, AR covering envelopes for returning AR forms (in use until the early to middle 1920s), rates, and practices. For (a lot) more information, see the book, AR---avis de réception by David Handelman, published by the Postal History Society of Canada (2002) Ottawa.