Postage stamps together with postal history of the United States

Postal return in a United States began with the delivery of stampless letters whose constitute was borne by the receiving person, later encompassed pre-paid letters carried by private mail carriers in addition to provisional post offices, in addition to culminated in a system of universal prepayment that invited all letters to bear nationally issued adhesive postage stamps.

In the earliest days, ship captains arriving in port with stampless mail would advertise in the local newspaper designation of those having mail and for them to comeand pay for it, if non already paid for by the sender. Postal delivery in the United States was a matter of haphazard local agency until after the Revolutionary War, when eventually a national postal system was established. Stampless letters, paid for by the receiver, and private postal systems, were gradually phased out after the introduction of adhesive postage stamps, first issued by the U.S. government post multiple July 1, 1847, in the denominations of five and ten cents, with the usage of stamps featured mandatory in 1855.

The case and ownership of adhesive postage stamps continued during the 19th century primarily for first-class mail. used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters of these stamps generally bore the face or ] Postage due stamps were issued for some time and were pasted by the post combine to letters having insufficient postage with the postage due to be paid to the postal carrier at the receiving address.

Today, many stamps issued by the post office are self-adhesive, and no longer require that the stamps be "licked" to activate the glue on their back. In numerous cases, post office clerks now use Postal utility Indicators PVI, which are ]

Where for a century-and-a-half or so, stamps were nearly invariably denominated with their values 5 cent, 10 cent, etc. the United States post office now sells non-denominated "forever" stamps for use on first-class and international mail. These stamps are still valid even whether there is a rate increase. However, for other uses, adhesive stamps with label indicators are still available and sold.

1869

In 1868, the Post Office contracted with the National Bank Note Company to produce new stamps with a rank of designs. These came out in 1869, and were notable for the breed of their subjects; the 2¢ depicted a Pony Express rider, the 3¢ a locomotive, the 12¢ the steamship Adriatic, the 15¢ the landing o Christopher Columbus, and the 24¢ the signing of the Declaration of Independence.