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Provisional are known, all on buff-colored paper. Notably rare as well are the provisionals of
Annapolis (2 copies extant), New Haven (11 copies) and Millbury (19 copies). Baltimore 10¢ labels are also scarce (7 copies). Five hundred copies of the Brattleboro issue were produced, but only 52 are known. Providence printed at least 5,500 5¢ stamps and 500 10¢ stamps. The first two printings of the St. Louis provisional produced 2,000 5¢ stamps, 3,000 10¢ stamps and 1,000 20¢ stamps; the final printing probably added 1,500 5¢ stamps and 1,500 10¢ stamps, making a grand total of 9,000 provisionals produced. Among the eleven provisionals, the New York issue was produced in the largest quantity by far, with 143,600 stamps delivered to the New York Post Office.
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unpredictable to prepay all letters with stamps as a matter of course, with the result that recipients of letters—rather than senders—generally paid the postage on them.) It was clearly
Britain’s standardization that led the U.S. Congress to do likewise in 1845; but while preliminary versions of the Act of March 3 also dealt with the possibility of issuing stamps, the law finally enacted did not authorize the U.S. Post office to do so.
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essentially conformed to the design features of the New York
Postmaster's provisional—not surprisingly, given that both the provisional and national issues were designed and printed by the same New York firm (Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson). With the issue of stamps for nationwide use, postmasters'
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The rarest of the provisionals, known in but a single copy, are those of
Boscawen and Lockport. Unique as well is the Alexandria "Blue Boy" variant, the only surviving example printed on blue paper. According to census data supplied by Siegel Auctions, only six additional copies of the Alexandria
38:
Local postmasters, however, now realized that uniform rates made it practical for them to issue postage stamps of their own for pre-payment of mail; and between 1845 and 1847 such
Postmasters' Provisional stamps were sold in eleven United States municipalities. The first provisionals issued were
34:
In Great
Britain, such uniformity had been adopted as a necessary prelude to the issue, in May 1840, of the world's first adhesive postage stamps, to be used for the prepayment of mail. (Before this standardization, the many different postal rates in different jurisdictions had made fees too
30:
In the Act of March 3, 1845, the United States
Congress standardized postal rates throughout the nation at 5¢ for a normal-weight letter transported up to 300 miles and 10¢ for a letter transported between 300 and 3,000 miles, with these rates to take effect on July 1, 1845.
39:
those of New York and
Baltimore, which appeared on July 14 and 15, 1845; New Haven and St. Louis issues appeared later that year. The remaining seven jurisdictions apparently all introduced their stamps in 1846. Examples of the eleven provisional issues are shown below.
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to the State of
Virginia, a process finalized on March 13, 1847. While buff-colored copies are known to have been used before that date, the "Blue Boy" was not postmarked until November 1847, and may thus have been produced when the city was already "Alexandria,
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The designs of the eleven provisional issues varied widely in sophistication, as did the methods used to produce them. Five were printed in sheets from engraving plates:
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The
Millbury stamp was printed from a woodcut; the New Haven and Lockport issues were handstamped; the Annapolis provisional was an indicium printed on an envelope.
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Baltimore (twelve subjects: nine 5¢ stamps, three 10¢ stamps) (Note: Baltimore also employed three handstamps of the "James M. Buchanan" signature to imprint
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St. Louis (copperplate, six subjects: three 5¢ stamps, three 10¢ stamps; plate later modified to produce one 5¢ stamp, three 10¢ stamps and two 20¢ stamps).
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provisionals became obsolete—having played, however, an appreciable role in accustoming the public to the use of stamps for prepaying postal fees.
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When the Alexandria Provisionals were first issued, the city was still part of the District of Columbia, but was in the process of being
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on envelopes. The signature is not that of the future president, but of his cousin: James Madison Buchanan, the Postmaster of Baltimore.)
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377:"A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875"
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398:"The Frelinghuysen Collection: Introduction to the United States Postmasters' Provisionals"
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529:
166:
121:
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Providence (copperplate, twelve subjects: eleven 5¢ stamps, one 10¢ stamp)
151:
1098:
463:
The History Of The Postage Stamps of the St. Louis Postmaster, 1845–1847
864:
376:
97:
965:
430:
Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers 2013
624:
235:
205:
923:
Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States
68:
51:
918:
List of people on the postage stamps of the United States
908:
Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps
220:
928:
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
478:, Sale 1020, Siegel Auction Galleries, March 28, 2012.
407:. Siegel Auction Galleries. 28 March 2012. p. 13
1169:Higgins & Gage World Postal Stationery Catalog
514:
1357:
465:. St. Louis, Mo.: Philatelic Journal of America.
44:U.S. Postmasters' Provisional Stamps, 1845–1847
559:Alexandria "Blue Boy" Postmaster's Provisional
319:Alexandria "Blue Boy" Postmaster's Provisional
943:U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps
500:
564:United States postmasters provisional stamps
18:United States postmasters provisional stamps
938:Territories of the United States on stamps
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641:All Aboard! 20th Century American Trains
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219:
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81:
67:
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1366:Provisional stamps of the United States
903:Artworks on stamps of the United States
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306:U. S. stamps introduced on July 1, 1847
269:Brattleboro (copperplate, ten subjects)
14:
1358:
1069:History of United States postage rates
766:Washington Bicentennial stamps of 1932
460:
259:New York (steel-plate; forty subjects)
488:
469:
454:
1269:American Philatelic Research Library
1140:United States Post Office Department
1079:Pneumatic tube mail in New York City
847:List of United States airmail stamps
427:
418:
390:
281:Two provisional issues were typeset:
1371:Postal history of the United States
1330:Revenue stamps of the United States
1003:Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum
24:
1059:Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
751:U.S. Parcel Post stamps of 1912–13
25:
1382:
1279:Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library
1064:Express mail in the United States
832:1918 Curtiss Jenny airmail stamps
569:New York Postmaster's Provisional
329:New York Postmaster's Provisional
1340:United States Postmaster General
1289:U.S. Philatelic Classics Society
1284:United Postal Stationery Society
1239:Bureau of Engraving and Printing
1044:Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
1135:San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line
809:Statue of Liberty Forever stamp
803:Raising the Flag at Ground Zero
461:Mekeel, Chas. Haviland (1895).
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116:
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814:2017 Total Solar Eclipse stamp
787:Distinguished Americans series
756:US Regular Issues of 1922–1931
516:Philately of the United States
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341:
13:
1:
913:History of Virginia on stamps
359:
1145:United States Postal Service
1120:American Letter Mail Company
661:Breast cancer research stamp
476:The Frelinghuysen Collection
27:US postage, issued 1845–1847
7:
1294:United States Stamp Society
1274:American Philatelic Society
1244:Homer Lee Bank Note Company
792:Elvis Presley Forever stamp
428:Snee, Charles, ed. (2012).
387:. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
312:
10:
1387:
1345:United States Post Offices
1335:United States postal notes
1234:American Bank Note Company
1013:National Philatelic Museum
998:Benjamin Miller Collection
974:Earliest reported postmark
771:Washington–Franklin Issues
731:Prominent Americans series
1325:Postal Reorganization Act
1302:
1264:American Air Mail Society
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1226:
1210:
1201:
1153:
1125:Butterfield Overland Mail
1112:
1026:
987:
964:
960:
893:
855:
837:1930 Graf Zeppelin stamps
822:
779:
716:Oklahoma Statehood Stamps
711:Norse-American Centennial
633:
582:
547:
543:
522:
288:Alexandria (two subjects)
1218:American stamp designers
1162:The American Philatelist
1084:Postal history of Oregon
1054:Boat Railway Post Office
721:Overrun Countries series
334:
870:Dag Hammarskjöld invert
741:Special handling stamps
686:Five cents John Kennedy
620:Western Cattle in Storm
615:Trans-Mississippi Issue
432:. Scott Publishing Co.
385:Law Library of Congress
373:Chap. XLIII 5 Stat. 732
1018:National Postal Museum
696:Great Americans series
651:Antarctic Treaty issue
245:
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176:
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146:
131:
107:
92:
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63:
1310:American philatelists
1104:U.S. Special Delivery
1008:Florida Postal Museum
933:Puerto Rico on stamps
666:Celebrate the Century
605:Hawaiian Missionaries
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223:
208:
184:
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124:
100:
85:
71:
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1315:American postmasters
1089:Railway Mail Service
1034:Air Mail Act of 1925
746:Transportation coils
676:Elvis Presley single
671:Comic Strip Classics
590:1869 Pictorial Issue
535:Henry Thomas Windsor
1094:Rural Free Delivery
885:Pan-American invert
691:Fourth Bureau issue
656:Bicentennial Series
381:Library of Congress
46:
1320:Postal Service Act
948:Women on US stamps
761:War savings stamps
726:Presidential Issue
681:Federal Duck Stamp
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1176:Linn's Stamp News
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797:Nature of America
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16:(Redirected from
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1208:
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1182:Minkus catalogue
1049:Barefoot mailman
1039:Air Mail scandal
988:Collections and
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646:Americana series
610:Lost Continental
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1188:Scott catalogue
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1113:Postal services
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701:Hanukkah stamps
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600:Columbian Issue
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574:St. Louis Bears
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736:Series of 1902
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1154:Publications
1130:Pony Express
1074:Mail jumping
979:Fancy cancel
880:Nixon invert
801:
780:21st century
634:20th century
583:19th century
530:Thomas Neale
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409:. Retrieved
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280:
251:
197:
113:
75:"Blue Boy"
43:
37:
33:
29:
1099:Star routes
549:Provisional
142:Brattleboro
1360:Categories
1204:production
865:CIA invert
595:Black Jack
439:0894874756
411:2013-11-07
360:References
352:Virginia."
349:retroceded
226:Providence
73:Alexandria
57:Alexandria
1227:Companies
1211:Designers
966:Postmarks
523:Pre-stamp
448:781677423
405:Sale 1020
291:Boscawen.
241:St. Louis
187:New Haven
103:Baltimore
88:Annapolis
895:Topicals
824:Airmails
313:See also
211:New York
172:Millbury
157:Lockport
127:Boscawen
1303:Related
990:museums
625:Z Grill
264:indicia
551:stamps
446:
436:
1202:Stamp
401:(PDF)
375:from
335:Notes
61:D.C.
857:EFOs
444:OCLC
434:ISBN
243:, MO
228:, RI
213:, NY
189:, CT
174:, MA
159:, NY
144:, VT
129:, NH
105:, MD
90:, MD
1362::
442:.
420:^
403:.
383:,
379:.
508:e
501:t
494:v
450:.
414:.
59:,
20:)
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