page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland
section_title: Cantonal Issues, Post Marks, Air Mail, and Extra. -Courier Marks
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland / Cantonal Issues, Post Marks, Air Mail, and Extra. -Courier Marks
caption_attribution_description: English: The Double Geneva, the first stamps of the canton of Geneva. Français&#160;: Le Double de Genève, premiers timbres du canton de Genève. Deutsch: Die „Doppelgenf“, die erste Briefmarke des Kantons Genf.
context_page_description: This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland.
context_section_description: The first Swiss stamps were those of the Cantons (States) of Zurich, Geneva, and Basel.  These early Swiss stamps have another distinction.  They were also the 3rd (1843), 4th (1843), and 5th (1845) adhesive postage stamp issuing nations of the World. 
  Unfortunately, the Cantonal postage stamp issues are tremendously rare today.
  BASEL
   Basel issued their own stamp, the "Basel Dove" in 1845.  This was a 2½-rappen value featuring a white embossed dove carrying a letter in its beak, and inscribed "STADT POST BASEL", a design by the architect Melchior Berry. It is printed in black, crimson, and blue, making it the world's first tri-colored stamp. A first printing in light green instead of the chosen blue was first believed to be a proof, but now acknowledged as first trial printing.
  BERNE
  In 1675, Beat Fischer von Reichenbach was granted permission to operate a private postal service in Bern, Switzerland. The building next to the Berne Minster Gothic Chapel in Berne was used as a post office from 1675 to 1883. The service was named for him "Fischerpost". The service operated until 1832. Beat Fischer von Reichenbach was knighted by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor for establishing postal services between Germany and Spain. In 1975 a postage stamp dedicated to Beat Fischer von Reichenbach was issued in Switzerland.
  In June 1799, the Seat of Government was transferred to Berne. A thorough reorganization took place at that time, and the post mark was changed to "Central Post Adminst. (for Central Post Administration).
  Therefore, there were two types of postmarks. 
  Berne has a small 20 x 24 mm. mark which reads "Helvt. Republ. at top and "Central Post Bureau" at bottom, and in the center a "E" (for Eingegangen, received) and a "V" ( for Versandt, sent out).
  In the Lucerne marking, there was a line below the wording, and in the one used in Berne a small "posthorn" appeared. The post horn is synonymous in parts of Europe with the mail, and images of the instrument are still often used as a symbol of the post office.  postmen would often improvise or play well-known melodies on the horn to entertain those along their delivery. This even resulted in some reprimands from their superiors to stop playing “vulgar” opera arias that the post office thought undignified.
  The postal clerks were told to put a hand written manuscript date after the "E" indicating the date the letter was received; yet there are examples of covers (envelopes) where the dates had not been filled in as ordered.
  There are of course, recognized misprints called "Freaks" Some Bern covers dated June to December 1799, with the Central Post Bureau wording, and one cover that was dated July 1799, from Lucerne with the postmark applied in red ink; although the use of red ink had been curtailed earlier. The red ink was used in Lucerne from November 1798 to January 1799, when it was replaced with vermillion ink. The next time red ink markings would be found again would be on Berne post markings. This may indicate that when the Seat of the Government was changed, the red ink was taken from Lucerne to Berne for use there; but, perhaps at the last minute a contingency developed and it was possibly also simultaneously used in Lucerne for a very short period.
  GENEVA
  On September 30, 1843, Geneva issued their first stamps: the "Double Geneva", which was the world's first postage stamp in green colour.  Like the first Zürich issue, it consisted of pairs of stamps; these were each printed in black on yellow-green paper, depicting the city's arms, and inscribed "Poste de Genéve" at the top and "Port local" at the bottom.
  But, an additional inscription, reading "10 PORT CANTONAL Cent" ran across the top of each pair.  The idea was that the user could cut out a single stamp to pay the intra-commune rate, and a pair to make up the inter-commune rate.  Only 6,000 of the doubles were ever printed, and as of 2008, intact used doubles typically go for around US$60,000 at auction. Very rarely, horizontally inverted pairs, and even more rarely, vertical pairs, can be found and are greatly sought
caption: The "Double Geneva" was designed to be usable for both local and cantonal rates.
exif: {}