page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
section_title: Provisional issue stamps
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of the United States / Provisional issue stamps
caption_attribution_description: Provisional postal stamp issued by the postmaster of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1845-46, valued at ten cents and printed in black on pale green paper. It shows the Coat of arms of Missouri, supported by two bears, with the motto "Salus populi suprema lex esto" ("the will of the people shall be the supreme law"). The stamp has been used and has been cancelled with two pen strokes. Held and digitised by the British Library.
context_page_description: The history of postal service of the United States began with the delivery of stampless letters, whose cost was borne by the receiving person, later also encompassed pre-paid letters carried by private mail carriers and provisional post offices, and culminated in a system of universal prepayment that required 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 names of those having mail and for them to come collect and pay for it, if not already paid for by the sender. Postal delivery in the United States was a matter of haphazard local organization 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 office July 1, 1847, in the denominations of five and ten cents, with the use of stamps made mandatory in 1855.
  The issue and use of adhesive postage stamps continued during the 19th century primarily for first class mail.
context_section_description: The introduction of postage stamps in the UK in May 1840 was received with great interest in the United States (and around the world). Later that year, Daniel Webster rose in the U.S. Senate to recommend that the recent English postal reforms—standardized rates and the use of postage stamps—be adopted in America.
  It would be private enterprise, however, that brought stamps to the U. S. On February 1, 1842 a new carrier service called "City Despatch Post" began operations in New York City, introducing the first adhesive postage stamp ever produced in the western hemisphere, which it required its clients to use for all mail. This stamp was a 3¢ issue bearing a rather amateurish drawing of George Washington, printed from line engraved plates in sheets of 42 images. The company had been founded by Henry Thomas Windsor, a London merchant who at the time was living in Hoboken, New Jersey. Alexander M. Greig was advertised as the post's "agent," and as a result, historians and philatelists have tended to refer to the firm simply as "Greig's City Despatch Post," making no mention of Windsor. In another innovation, the company placed mail-collection boxes around the city for the convenience of its customers.
  A few months after its founding, the City Despatch Post was sold to the U.S. Government, which renamed it the "United States City Despatch Post." The government began operation of this local post on August 16, 1842, under an Act of Congress of some years earlier that authorized local delivery. Greig, retained by the Post Office to run the service, kept the firm's original Washington stamp in use, but soon had its lettering altered to reflect the name change. In its revised form, this issue accordingly became the first postage stamp produced under the auspices of a government in the western hemisphere.
  An Act of Congress of March 3, 1845 (effective July 1, 1845), established uniform (and mostly reduced) postal rates throughout the nation, with a uniform rate of five cents for distances under 300 miles (500 km) and ten cents for distances between 300 and 3000 miles. However, Congress did not authorize the production of stamps for nationwide use until 1847; still, postmasters realized that standard rates now made it feasible to produce and sell "provisional" issues for prepayment of uniform postal fees, and printed these in bulk. Such provisionals included both prepaid envelopes and stamps, mostly of crude design, the New York Postmaster's Provisional being the only one of quality comparable to later stamps.
  The provisional issues of Baltimore were notable for the reproduced signature of the city's postmaster—James M. Buchanan (1803-1876), a cousin to President James Buchanan. All provisional issues are rare, some inordinately so: at a Siegel Gallery auction in New York in March 2012, an example of the Millbury provisional fetched $400,000, while copies of the Alexandria and Annapolis provisionals each sold for $550,000. Eleven cities printed provisional stamps in 1845 and 1846:
  Alexandria, Virginia ("ALEXANDRIA POST OFFICE" in circle)
  Annapolis, Maryland (eagle in circle)
  Baltimore, Maryland (James Buchanan signature)
  Boscawen, New Hampshire ("PAID / 5 / CENTS")
  Brattleboro, Vermont (shaded box with postmaster initials inside)
  Lockport, New York ("LOCKPORT N.Y." in oval)
  Millbury, Massachusetts (woodcut of George Washington)
  New Haven, Connecticut ("POST OFFICE" in box, P.M. signature)
  New York, New York ("POST OFFICE" over Washington portrait)
  Providence, Rhode Island ("POST OFFICE / PROV. R.I." in shaded box)
  St. Louis, Missouri (St. Louis Bears, Missouri coat of arms)
  (See also:A Gallery of U. S. Postmasters' Provisional Stamps, 1845-47.)
  The 1845 Congressional act did, in fact, raise the rate on one significant class of mail: the so-called "drop letter"—i. e., a letter delivered from the same post office that collected it. Previously one cent, the drop letter rate became two cents.
caption: Provisional stamp issued in St. Louis, Missouri
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