page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
section_title: Graf Zeppelin stamps
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of the United States / The 1920s and 1930s / Graf Zeppelin stamps
caption_attribution_description: 1 of 3 1930 Graf Zeppelin stamps, &#160;65-cents, Green; (SCOTTS# C-13)
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 German zeppelins were of much interest during this period, and in 1930 the Department issued special stamps to be used on the Pan-American flight of Graf Zeppelin.
  Although the Graf Zeppelin stamps are today highly prized by collectors as masterpieces of the engraver's art, in 1930 the recent stock market crash meant that few were able to afford these stamps (the $4.55 value for the set represented a week's food allowance for a family of four). Less than 10 percent of the 1,000,000 of each denomination issued were sold and the remainders were incinerated (the stamps were only available for sale to the public from April 19, 1930, to June 30, 1930). It is estimated that less than 8 percent of the stamps produced survive today and they remain the smallest U.S. issue of the 20th century (only 229,260 of these stamps were ever purchased, and only 61,296 of the $2.60 stamp were sold).
  In 1932, a set of 12 stamps was issued to celebrate the George Washington's 200th birthday 1932 Washington Bicentennial. For the 2¢ value, which satisfied the normal letter rate, the most familiar Gilbert Stuart image of Washington had been chosen. After postal rates rose that July, this 2¢ red Washington was redesigned as a 3¢ stamp and issued in the purple color that now became ubiquitous among U.S. commemoratives.
caption: 65-cent "Zeppelin" of 1930, issued in April for the May–June Pan-American flight of the Graf Zeppelin
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