what are the vertical bars under the address on an envelope for?

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what are the vertical bars under the address on an envelope for?

In the US, there is a string of vertical bars underneath the address on mail (snail mail). What are they for? They seem to encode the zip code, if yes what is the encoding format?

2006-07-28 01:20:36 · 3 answers · asked by vrconfused 1 in News & Events ➔ Other - News & Events

3 answers

The above information is correct. Specificaly, it is the 9 digit zip code in the address.

2006-07-28 14:46:30 · answer #1 · answered by F. Frederick Skitty 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋

Those are a type of bar code that is read by machines to sort mail.

2006-07-28 01:33:51 · answer #2 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋

Like a bar code, so machine can read it.

2006-08-03 15:10:46 · answer #3 · answered by CottonPatch 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋