Postage Stamps of the United States - 1853
Politics
President
1/1-3/3: Millard Fillmore
· 3/4-12/31: Franklin Pierce
Postmaster General:
1/1-3/6: Samuel D. Hubbard ·
3/7-12/31: James Campbell
Music
Click Control Above To Hear
1853 "Yo! Yah! Yo! Strike the Old Banjo "
Postage Rates
Domestic Letter Rate under 3000 mi. per ½ oz.: Prepaid: Three Cents Not Prepaid: Five Cents
Domestic Letter Rate over 3000 mi. per ½ oz.: Prepaid: Six Cents Not Prepaid: Ten Cents
Foreign Letter Rate under 2500 mi. per ½ oz.: Ten Cents - except where otherwise adjusted by treaty
Foreign Letter Rate over 2500 mi. per ½ oz.: Twenty Cents - except where otherwise adjusted by treaty
Rate for Drop Letters: One Cent - prepayment not required - no weight restriction
Rate for Newspapers and Circulars up to 3 oz.: 1¢, one cent for each additional oz., prepayment required the rate for newspapers and periodicals did not change until 1863
Stamps
Important Events in U.S. Postal History
July 1, 1853: The first Stamped Envelopes - 3¢ with portrait of Washington printed on front
The following postage stamp varieties were first issued by the U.S. in 1853:
No new varieties of regular issue U.S. postage stamps were issued in 1853.
Commemoratives: The first Commemorative stamps were not issued until 1893
Special Delivery: The first Special Delivery stamps were not issued until 1885
Postage Dues: The first Postage Due Stamps were not issued until 1879
see also: Designs of the 1851-1860 Regular Issues
