To whom issued. D'minat'n. Number. Value. The Executive Dep't 5 5,150 200.00 The State Dep't 14 60,495 20,749.70 The Treasury Dep't 11 7,842,500 407,000.00 The War Dep't 11 446,500 17,689.00 The Navy Dep't 11 247,230 12,239.00 The Post Office Dep't 10 10,054,660 354,535.00 The Interior Dep't 10 1,058,475 59,171.00 The Dep't of Justice 10 65,400 3,900.00 The Dep't of Agriculture, 9 275,000 20,730.00 -- ---------- ---------- Making a total of 91 20,055,410 896,213.70 * * * * * The stamps for the Departments other than the Post Office do not differ materially from those for sale to the public except that each Department has its own distinctive color and legend. The colors are: For the Executive, carmine; State Department, green; Treasury, velvet-brown; War, cochineal red; Navy, blue; Post Office, black; Interior, vermilion; Department of Justice, purple; and Department of Agriculture, straw color. In the stamps for the Post Office Department the medallion head gives place to a numeral representing the value with the words "Post Office Department" above and the denomination expressed in words below. All the official stamps correspond in denomination with those issued for the public, except in the case of the State Department, for which four of higher value were made for dispatch bags. These four are of the denominations of $2, $5, $10, and $20, respectively, are of large size and printed in two colors, and bear a profile bust of the late Secretary Seward." Elsewhere the Postmaster General states that the stamps were ready the 24th of May, for use the 1st of July, 1873. The following circular was accordingly issued to postmasters: OFFICIAL POSTAGE STAMPS AND STAMPED ENVELOPES. [Circular to postmasters.] POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Postage Stamps, Stamped Env. & Post Cards. _Washington, D. C., May 15th, 1873._ "The Franking Privilege having been abolished, to take effect on the first day of July, 1873, the Postmaster General is required by law to provide postage stamps or stamped envelopes of special design for each of the several Executive Departments of the Government for the prepayment of postage on official matter passing through the mails. DESCRIPTION. In place of the heads on the regular stamps, the official stamps adopted for the Post Office Department have conspicuous figures (numerals) to represent the denomination, with the word "_Official_" above, and the word "_Stamp_" below.