15 cents, Brazil, May 9th, 1870. The series being ready for issue, was announced to the various Postmasters in the following: CIRCULAR TO POSTMASTERS. POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Office of Third Assistant Postmaster General, _April 9th, 1870_. New Series of Postage Stamps. At an early date in the regular course of business, the Department will issue to Postmasters, postage stamps of a new design. [See description annexed.] You are required to exhaust all of the present style on hand before supplying the public with the new; and in no case will you be allowed to make exchanges for individuals or to return stamps to the Department to be exchanged. The stamps now in use are not to be disregarded, but must be recognized in all cases equally with the new ones. The stamps known as the series of 1861, of which a few are supposed to be yet outstanding, are also to be recognized. Those issued prior to the commencement of the war of the Rebellion were long since declared to be valueless. Special attention is called to the fact that each sheet, of all denominations of the new series, contains but 100 stamps. This must be borne in mind to prevent mistakes in counting, as in the present issue some of the denominations have 150 stamps to the sheet. Special requests for the new style of stamps will be disregarded until the stock of the present issue, in possession of the Department, is exhausted. [ * * * * relating to envelopes to be issued to conform * * * * ] [Signed] Wm. H. Terrell, Third Assistant Postmaster General. [The "description annexed" is on the other side and is merely a list of values, the bust from which the portrait was copied, the color, etc., exactly following that in the extract from the Postmaster General's report above.] The exact date of issue is fixed by the Postmaster General's report, as May, 1870. ISSUE OF MAY, 1870. Composed of ten values as follows: