In consequence of the civil war the Postmaster-General of the U.S. directed that on and after June 1 all mail matter coming from the seceded States prepaid by U.S. stamps be held for postage, and sent to the dead-letter office at Washington. In August the Postmaster-General directed that Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania could prepay letters by stamps of the 1847, 1851, and 1857 issues until October 1, from other loyal States east of the Rocky Mountains until October 15, and from California, Oregon, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington until October 21, after which dates all stamps issued prior to 1861 were valueless, but would be redeemed up to October 21. After the war was over millions of these U.S. stamps were offered to dealers by parties who got control of the stock on hand in Southern post-offices in 1861. They were very cheap then, but are growing dearer every day. R. A. FITZGERALD.--I cannot say what would be the value of the original Ordinance of Secession of the State of Alabama. I should think that some of the Southern historical societies would be glad to buy it. H. D. T.--Unperforated U.S. Revenues, 25c. Certificate worth 25c.; 40c. Inland Ex., $5; $2 Mortgage and $3 Charter, $1.50 each. Your $2 bill is worth face only. Your other questions are too vague. A. COHN.--The 1868 U.S. 1c. blue grilled is quite scarce, either used or unused. If you iron soaked stamps you will probably obliterate the grill. A. A. SCOTT.--The most advanced collectors of U.S. Revenues prefer to buy the unperforated stamps in pairs or blocks. This of course costs a good deal of money, and ordinary collectors must be content with single specimens. Such copies should have a good margin, on all four sides. There are many faked unperforated stamps, which are made from the ordinary perforated stamps with wide margins. R. CREIGHTON.--Split stamps have been used in the U.S., but, with one possible exception, without authority of the U.S. government. EDWARD HUBBARD, 515 Myrtle Street, El Paso, Tex., wants stamps in exchange for Porto Rico and Mexico stamps. A. MERRIAM.--Coins made in the Philadelphia mint have no special mark of origin. Coins made in the Carson City mint are marked "C.C."; the San Francisco, "S."; the Dahlonega, "D."; the New Orleans, "O."