History of United States postage rates - wikipedia History of United States postage rates This article is about postage rates in the USA. For other uses, see Postage rate. Main article : United States Postal Service Seal of the former U.S. Post Office Department ( 1792 -- 1971 ), predecessor to the USPS Initial United States postage rates were set by Congress as part of the Postal Service Act signed into law by President George Washington on February 20, 1792. The postal rate varied according to `` distance zone '', the distance a letter was to be carried from the post office where it entered the mail to its final destination. Rates were adopted in 1847 for mail to or from the Pacific Coast and in 1848 for mail sent from one place in the west to another place in the west. There were double and triple rates as a letter 's size increased. There were ship fees which were also added ( i.e. mail to Hawaii ). The ship fee, including the ship rate on letters for delivery at the port of entry, were on a per letter basis, rather than weight. The United States issued its first postage stamps in 1847. Before that time, the rates, dates and origin of the letter were written by hand or sometimes in combination with a handstamp device. Since enactment of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, postage rates have been set by the Postal Regulatory Commission. Contents 1 Historical rates 2 Historical trend 3 Historical notes 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources 7 Further reading Historical rates History of United States domestic first class & postcard rates, 1863 -- present ( USD ) Date Introduced Rate for first ounce ( Letter ) Rate for first ounce ( Package ) Additional ounces Postcard rate Comments March 3, 1863. 06 (. 03 per half ounce ). 06. 06 (. 03 per half ounce ). 06. 02 per half ounce in drop boxes October 1, 1883. 04 (. 02 per half ounce ). 04. 04 (. 02 per half ounce ). 04 July 1, 1885. 02. 02. 02. 02 July 1, 1898. 02. 02. 02. 01 November 2, 1917. 03. 03. 03. 02 War Years July 1, 1919. 02. 02. 02. 01 Dropped back by Congress July 1, 1928. 02. 02. 02. 01 July 6, 1932. 03. 03. 03. 01 January 1, 1952. 03. 03. 03. 02 August 1, 1958. 04. 04. 04. 03 January 7, 1963. 05. 05. 05. 04 January 7, 1968. 06. 06. 06. 05 May 16, 1971. 08. 08. 08. 06 March 2, 1974. 10. 10. 10. 08 September 14, 1975. 10. 10. 09. 07 Last surface mail rate December 31, 1975. 13. 13. 11. 09 All domestic first class & postcards by airmail May 29, 1978. 15. 15. 13. 10 A Stamp Used March 22, 1981. 18. 18. 17. 12 B Stamp Used November 1, 1981. 20. 20. 17. 13 C Stamp Used February 17, 1985. 22. 22. 17. 14 D Stamp Used April 3, 1988. 25. 25. 20. 15 E Stamp Used February 3, 1991. 29. 29. 23. 19 F Stamp Used ( also 4 cent F makeup rate stamp ) January 1, 1995. 32. 32. 23. 20 G Stamp Used ( also 3 cent G makeup rate stamp ) January 10, 1999. 33. 33. 22. 20 H Stamp Used ( also 1 cent H makeup rate stamp ) January 7, 2001. 34. 34. 21. 20 Nondenominated Stamps Used July 1, 2001. 34. 34. 23. 21 Nondenominated Stamps Used June 30, 2002. 37. 37. 23. 23 Flag and Antique Toy Stamps Used January 8, 2006. 39. 39. 24. 24 Lady Liberty Flag Stamp Used May 14, 2007. 41 1.13. 17. 26 Shape - based postage pricing introduced ; Forever stamps introduced ; different prices for letters and packages for the first time May 12, 2008. 42 1.17. 17. 27 Price change announced February 11, 2008 May 11, 2009. 44 1.22. 17. 28 Price change announced February 10, 2009 April 17, 2011. 44 1.71 ( 3 oz ). 20 ( letters ). 17 ( packages ). 29 January 22, 2012. 45 1.95 ( 3 oz ). 20 ( letters ). 17 ( packages ). 32 January 27, 2013. 46 2.07 ( 3 oz ). 20 ( letters ). 17 ( packages ). 33 Price change announced October 11, 2012 January 26, 2014. 49 2.32 ( 3 oz ). 21 ( letters ). 17 ( packages ). 34 Price change announced September 25, 2013 May 31, 2015. 49 2.54 ( 3 oz ). 22 ( letters ). 20 ( packages ). 35 April 10, 2016. 47 2.54 ( 3 oz ). 21 ( letters ). 20 ( packages ). 34 Price change announced February 25, 2016 January 22, 2017. 49 2.67 ( 3 oz ). 21 ( letters ). 18 ( packages ). 34 Price change announced October 12, 2016 Historical trend Nominal and inflation adjusted first - class postage rates in the US Taking the above data and plotting it yields the graph shown to the right. The dark plot is the nominal issued price of the stamp and the light plot is the price adjusted for inflation and is shown in 2016 US cents. This plot shows that, despite the rise in the nominal cost of a first - class stamp, the adjusted cost of the stamp has stayed relatively stable. The large jumps in the early 1900s are because a change by a single penny was large compared to the cost of the stamp. For example, the price increase from $0.02 to $0.03 on July 6, 1932 was a 50 % increase in cost. Additionally, while the cost of the stamp itself remained fixed, the adjusted price in 2016 dollars was not fixed over time which added to larger jumps in adjusted prices. Historical notes Domestic parcel post service was adopted in 1913, 25 years after the Post Office had agreed to deliver international parcel post packages pursuant to the Universal Postal Union treaty and various bilateral agreements with other nations. Initially, there were no or few postal regulations governing packages mailed by parcel post. E.g., to construct a bank in Vernal, Utah, in 1916, a Salt Lake City company ascertained that the cheapest way to send 40 tons of bricks to the building was by parcel post. Bulk postal rates were restructured in 1996 : Second Class became Periodicals Third and Fourth Class Mail became Standard Mail ( A ) and ( B ) Special Fourth Class Mail was renamed Special Standard Mail In 2007, First Class Mail was restructured to include variable pricing based on size, not just on weight. Shape - based postage pricing is a form of dimensional weight. Also at that time, International Parcel Post air service was re-branded as Priority Mail International, and Parcel Post surface service was discontinued for international destinations. Regular Air Mail service began in 1918 and over the years rates varied considerably depending on distance and technology. Domestic Air Mail, as a class of service, officially ended May 1, 1977. By that time all domestic First Class Mail was being dispatched by the most expeditious means, surface or air, whether or not the Air Mail postage had been paid. Additional charges for Special delivery existed from 1885 to 2001. Today, Express Mail Overnight is the most similar service level. During the summer of 2010 the USPS requested the Postal Regulatory Commission to raise the price of a first class stamp by 2 cents, from 44 cents to 46 cents, to take effect January 2, 2011. On September 30, 2010, the PRC formally denied the request, but the USPS filed an appeal with the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington DC. On September 25, 2013, the USPS announced a 3 cent increase in the First Class postal rate, to be effective January 26, 2014, increasing the price of a stamp to 49 cents. Bulk mail, periodicals, and package service rates were also increased by 6 percent. A loss of US $5 billion during the 2013 fiscal year was the reason given for the increase. The legislation which set the price to 49 cents was enacted as a temporary measure and as an `` exigent surcharge for mailing products and services ''. However, this legislation was set to expire in April 2016. As a result, the Post Office retained one cent of the price change as a previously allotted adjustment for inflation, but the price of a first class stamp became 47 cents : for the first time in 97 years ( and for the third time in the agency 's history ), the price of a stamp decreased. See also Government of the United States portal Philately portal United States postal abbreviations United States Postal Service creed Unions of the U.S. Postal Service : American Postal Workers Union National Association of Letter Carriers National Postal Mail Handlers Union National Rural Letter Carriers ' Association History : Post Office Murals American Letter Mail Company Postage stamps and postal history of the United States of America References Jump up ^ Smoot, Frederick. `` Early United States Domestic Postal Rates ''. TNGenWeb. Retrieved June 29, 2014. Jump up ^ Postcards ( privately printed cards ) did not qualify for a special postage rate until July 1, 1898. Since then, the rates for postcards have been the same as for stamped cards ( produced by the Postal Service ) except for the period from April 15, 1925, to July 1, 1928. Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Postal Service Jump up ^ https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/postcard-rates-since-1873.htm Jump up ^ https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/postcard-rates-since-1873.htm Jump up ^ https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/postcard-rates-since-1873.htm Jump up ^ https://postalmuseum.si.edu/about/frequently-asked-questions/us-domestic-postcard-rates.html Jump up ^ `` Postal rates go up today ''. The Galveston Daily News. Galveston, TX. AP. April 3, 1988. Retrieved October 29, 2016 -- via Newspapers.com. Jump up ^ U.S. Postal Service Stamp http://www.accuracyproject.org/postagechanges.html Jump up ^ New Prices and Services for 2014, USPS Jump up ^ USPS website Jump up ^ `` Postal Service announces 2017 mailing services prices ''. about.usps.com. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 08. Jump up ^ USPS Website Price List, Notice 123 Jump up ^ Parcel Post : Delivery of Dreams http://www.sil.si.edu/ondisplay/parcelpost/cf/view.cfm Jump up ^ `` Precious Packages -- America 's Parcel Post Service ''. National Postal Museum. Retrieved 2014 - 11 - 13. Jump up ^ 2007 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Service Operations http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs07/chpt2_007.htm Jump up ^ Metzler, Natasha ( September 30, 2010 ). `` Rate board denies Postal Service price hike plea ''. Associated Press. Retrieved 2010 - 11 - 15. Jump up ^ O'Keefe, Ed ( October 22, 2010 ). `` Postage rates may still go up ''. Washington Post. Retrieved 2010 - 11 - 15. Jump up ^ Reilly, Allison ( 25 December 2013 ). `` Postal Rates Going Up In January ''. DailyGlobe. Retrieved 2013 - 12 - 26. Jump up ^ Laura Wagner ( 1 March 2016 ). `` Stamp Prices Set To Drop 2 Cents In April, Putting USPS In Sticky Situation ''. National Public Radio. Jump up ^ http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/08/news/companies/stamp-price-decrease/index.html Sources First Class Mail Prices, 2010 Rates for Domestic Letters Since 1863 Rates for Stamped Cards and Postcards Consumer Price Index data Nondenomination Stamps FAQ Paying the Postage in the U.S., 1776 -- 1921 USPS Price List Notice 123 Further reading Beecher, Henry W. and Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz. U.S. Domestic Postal Rates, 1872 -- 2011. Bellefonte, Pa. : American Philatelic Society, 2011. ISBN 9780933580787 Philately of the United States Pre-stamp Henry Thomas Windsor Provisional stamps Alexandria `` Blue Boy '' Postmaster 's Provisional United States postmasters provisional stamps New York Postmaster 's Provisional St. Louis Bears 19th century 1869 Pictorial Issue Black Jack Columbian Issue Hawaiian Missionaries Lost Continental Trans - Mississippi Issue Western Cattle in Storm Z Grill 20th century All Aboard ! 20th Century American Trains Americana series Bicentennial Series Breast cancer research stamp Celebrate the Century Comic Strip Classics Federal Duck Stamp Five cents John Kennedy Fourth Bureau issue Great Americans series Hanukkah stamps Liberty Issue Norse - American Centennial Oklahoma Statehood Stamps Overrun Countries series Presidential Issue Prominent Americans series Series of 1902 Special handling stamps Transportation coils U.S. Parcel Post stamps of 1912 -- 13 US Regular Issues of 1922 -- 31 War savings stamps Washington Bicentennial stamps of 1932 Washington - Franklin Issues 21st century Distinguished Americans series Elvis Presley Forever stamp Nature of America Raising the Flag at Ground Zero Statue of Liberty Forever stamp 2017 Total Solar Eclipse stamp Airmails 1918 Curtiss Jenny airmail stamps 1930 Graf Zeppelin stamps Inverted Jenny List of United States airmail stamps EPOs CIA invert Dag Hammarskjöld invert Inverted Jenny Nixon invert Pan-American invert Topicals Artworks on stamps of the United States Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps History of Virginia on stamps List of fictional characters on stamps of the United States List of people on the postage stamps of the United States Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps Puerto Rico on stamps Territories of the United States on stamps U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps Women on US stamps Postmarks Earliest reported postmark Fancy cancel Collections & Benjamin Miller Collection Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum Florida Postal Museum National Philatelic Museum National Postal Museum Miscellaneous Air Mail scandal Apollo 15 postage stamp incident Barefoot mailman Boat Railway Post Office Citizens ' Stamp Advisory Committee Express mail in the United States History of United States postage rates Mail jumping Pneumatic tube mail in New York City Star routes Postal services American Letter Mail Company Butterfield Overland Mail Pony Express United States Post Office Department United States Postal Service U.S. Special Delivery Publications The American Philatelist Higgins & Gage World Postal Stationery Catalog Linn 's Stamp News Minkus catalogue Scott catalogue Stamp production Designers American stamp designers Companies American Bank Note Company Bureau of Engraving and Printing Homer Lee Bank Note Company Organizations American Air Mail Society American Philatelic Research Library American Philatelic Society Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library United Postal Stationery Society U.S. Philatelic Classics Society United States Stamp Society Related American philatelists American postmasters Revenue stamps of the United States United States postal notes United States Postmaster General United States Post Offices Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_United_States_postage_rates&oldid=791575965 '' Categories : United States Postal Service Postage stamps of the United States Postage rates by country Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 21 July 2017, at 04 : 39. 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Question: when was the last time the price of stamps went up
Answer: January 22, 2017