|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
United States Official Stamps |
||||
|
1873 - 1884 |
||||
|
United States Official stamps were issued to the nine government departments of the Executive Branch (including the Executive Mansion) for use beginning July 1, 1873. Congress had abolished the free franking mail privilege for government officials after widespread abuses produced huge postal deficits, estimated by the Postmaster General at more than $5,000,000.00, approximately 90 percent of the Department's 1873 total budget. The Postmaster General authorized the Continental Bank Note Company to prepare Official stamps on hard paper. Designs were quickly adapted from the regular issue banknote stamps which Continental was then printing, with denominations assigned to each department according to its anticipated needs. Official stamps were not popular, therefore, on March 3, 1877, penalty franks were authorized for the department offices only in Washington, D.C. Some departments converted immediately, while the Executive used remaining stamps left over from the Grant administration for personal mail. |
|
|||
|
Others used Official stamps and penalty franks simultaneously during the transitional period (1877-1884). In 1879, despite the expanded use of penalty franks, certain needed values of six departments were printed again, by the American Bank Note Company, on soft porous paper. The use of penalty franks was gradually expanded to include field offices and the use of Official stamps was finally discontinued on July 5, 1884. |
||||
|
During the currency of the stamps, the domestic rate was three cents per half ounce until October 1, 1883 when it was reduced to two cents. Registration fees had to be paid by stamps except for the Post Office, which Congress allowed to register its mail free, and Treasury, when redeeming defaced currency. The ten cent rate remained in effect during the life of these issues except for the period January 1, 1874 through June 30, 1875 when it was reduced to eight cents. |
||||
|
Foreign mails could be paid with these stamps although by Universal Postal Union regulations on and after April 1, 1878, they were not authorized for foreign use; many departments, however, continued to prepay their shipments with stamps. Printed government publications required ten cents per book postage while circulars went for lower rates, provided a government employee certified that there was no written enclosure. Many penalty envelopes bore stamps since regulations required mail from field offices outside of Washington to be franked. |
||||
|
Official covers are much scarcer than the regular issue banknote covers because their size and contents did not generally recommend saving for sentimental reasons, except for Presidential mail. Only one $2 State Department has survived on cover front (none of the other dollar values is known even on piece). Probably no more than ten 90 cent covers exist of all the departments where issued, and less than 50 covers of the denomination 15 cent or above exist in total, perhaps far less. |
||||
|
In this exhibit, emphasis has been placed on the usages showing various rates. Forwarded covers with official stamps added in Washington, D.C., especially on State Department pouch mail coming in from abroad, and Navy Department mail forwarded to sailors on ships around the world, are featured. Probably 50 percent of the existing covers combined with regular issue stamps are displayed and about 70 percent of the reported foreign destinations covers are shown. |
||||
|
The highlights include combination covers of the State Department six, 30 and 90 cent to Mexico and the famous library parcel front to Germany, franked with a 10 cent, 17 copies of the 30 cent and the only known dollar value ($2) so used. A 90 cent War Department on cover front is one of four surviving. The 30 cent State Department is shown twice used. Of the 24 cent values, the Navy Department is one of three reported pieces and the 24 cent State Department is one of only two known. More bisects of the Post Office are shown here than in any other collection. |
||||
|
Virtually all values except the two and three cent (except in War and Executive) are difficult to rare. In order of rarity, the high value State Department covers are the rarities, but covers from the Agriculture, Executive, Justice and Navy Departments are the next most difficult. More than 50 percent of all of the known values on cover exist in quantities of fewer than five covers based upon my research. |
||||
|
|
|
|
||
|
e-mail: bob markovits |
||
|
copyright © 2000-04 fran adams |
||