A Stamp History Lesson Part II Of II

In continuation to the post on Monday.

Stamps were sold for 5 cents each for a letter that would travel less than 310 miles. There was little chance that anyone had a need to send a letter beyond the East coast, so initially delivery and sales were limited to Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Virginia. Soon afterwards, the stamp trend grew and other states began to sell their own stamps.

There were no stamps available for those who wanted to mail letters overseas. Instead the letters were loaded on ships and delivered with no official stamp on the envelope. It took decades for an overseas mail delivery system to be put in place.

It was not until 1947 that the first nationwide postage stamp was issued by the United States government. The five cent stamp was kept and the design on the stamp was a picture of Benjamin Franklin (who was the first Postmaster General) with a red background. They also introduced a 10 cent stamp featuring George Washington. Stamp prices dropped in 1951 to 1 cent each. The new stamp was issued with Benjamin Franklin also, but the background color was changed to all blue. Finding a 1 cent stamp would be a very valuable treasure for any stamp collector. They have sold for over $200,000 in previous auctions.

Stamp production and collecting has come a long way in the last 61 years!