History of the Postage Stamps of the United States of AmericaTiffany, John K. (John Kerr)
History
History of the Postage Stamps of the United States of America
Tiffany, John K. (John Kerr)
Postage stamps -- United States
Post Office Stamps. We would call the attention of merchants and
indeed all who pay postage, to the advertisement of the
postmaster, who offers to sell stamps of the value of five cents
each for the prepayment of letters. This is the cost of the
postage under 300 miles. The stamps should be generally adopted
as they will give additional facilities to business men, and
save them time in making change. The postmaster will receive
nothing for this trouble and his stamps beyond the profit of
lost stamps. The disposition of the postmaster to make the new
system popular merits the thanks of our citizens.
In another column of the same paper appears the advertisement of the
postmaster referred to in the editorial.
POST OFFICE,
_New York, July 14th. 1845_.
The public is respectfully informed that the undersigned has
caused to be prepared stamps for the prepayment of postage, made
for five cents each, which will be sold in parcels of five and
upwards. To prevent counterfeits they will be sold only at this
office and the branch office. The public may therefore be
assured that any stamps which may be offered for sale at any
place other than the two post offices are spurious and will not
be considered as prepayment.
(Signed.) Robert H. Morris, P. M.
[Evening papers please copy.]
Unfortunately these articles contain no description of the stamp issued,
and it will occur to those familiar with the process of engraving stamps
at that date, that the production of a stamp as elaborate as the stamp
known, in so short a time as elapsed between the date of the first and
last of these articles, was either a remarkable piece of work, or had
been commenced some time before. Possibly the stamps first issued were
not those known to collectors and have never been discovered.
Be this as it may, the plate contained more than a single stamp. From
double copies that have passed through our hands, we have proof that it
consisted of at least eight different varieties, arranged in two
horizontal rows of four stamps each, differing in minute details and at
different distances apart. There may have been more, but this remains to
be verified. The stamp which appears to have occupied the upper left
hand corner of the sheet shows in each letter the outlines of the same
letters, engraved in black and a little lower down than the white ones,
as if the intention had originally been to have the value appear in
black on a white label. It is said that the plate is now in the
possession of the consolidated Bank Note Companies (American) of New
York. At any rate PROOFS were struck from it long after the stamp was
out of use, in various colors.
NEW YORK POST OFFICE.
ISSUE OF JULY 14, 1845.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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