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Other United States Stamps
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the United States of America (USA). more...
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Early postal history
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Provisionals
The introduction of postage stamps in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1840 was received with great interest around the world, and in the United States. On March 3, 1845, Congress reduced and regularized postal rates, with a uniform rate of five cents for distances under 300 miles (500 km). However, Congress did not authorize the production of stamps, so postmasters made provisional issues. These included both prepaid envelopes and stamps, mostly of crude design, the New York Postmaster's Provisional being the only one of quality comparable to later stamps. The provisionals of Baltimore were notable for the reproduced signature of the city's postmaster—James Buchanan, later President of the United States. All of the provisionals are rare, and several command prices above US$100,000. These cities issued provisionals in 1845 and 1846:
Alexandria, Virginia ("ALEXANDRIA POST OFFICE" in circle);
Annapolis, Maryland (eagle in circle);
Baltimore, Maryland (James Buchanan signature);
Boscawen, New Hampshire ("PAID / 5 / CENTS");
Brattleboro, Vermont (shaded box with postmaster initials inside);
Lockport, New York ("LOCKPORT N.Y." in oval);
Millbury, Massachusetts (woodcut of George Washington);
New Haven, Connecticut ("POST OFFICE" in box, P.M. signature);
New York, New York ("POST OFFICE" over Washington portrait);
Providence, Rhode Island ("POST OFFICE / PROV. R.I." in shaded box);
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Bears (Missouri coat of arms);
First stamps
Congress finally provided for the issuance of stamps by passing an act on March 3, 1847, and the Postmaster-General immediately let a contract to the New York City firm of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson. The first stamp issues of the U.S. were offered for sale on July 1, 1847, in NYC, with Boston receiving stamps the following year and other cities thereafter. They consisted of an engraved 5-cent red brown stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin (the first postmaster of the US), and a 10-cent value in black with George Washington. As for all U.S. stamps until 1857, they were imperforate. Although a number of philatelists have studied these stamps for years, much remains unknown about the details of the original contract, design process, and the printing of these stamps.
The stamps were an immediate success; about 3,700,000 of the 5¢ and about 865,000 of the 10¢ were sold, and enough of those have survived to ensure a ready supply for collectors, although the demand is such that a very fine 5¢ sells for around US$500 as of 2003, and the 10¢ for around $1,400 in used form. Unused stamps are much rarer, fetching around $6,000 and $28,000 respectively.
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