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Put a stamp on it
For as much as we all complain about rising postage rates, the price of letter rate first class postage has actually stayed pretty steady when compared to the country’s overall inflation rate. (See a table here showing the price of first class postage in both actual dollars and in constant 1983 dollars.)
The Post Office Department issued its first postage stamps in July 1847, and government-issued stamps were required after starting the first day of the year 1856. In the early years, postage rates were based upon the number of individual pages inside the envelope, and the distance it would travel. By 1863, a standardized system based on weight was in place.
Below is a table we made showing the domestic letter postage prices from 1863 on , showing the amount the stamp costs of have changed, and the percentage of increase or decrease.
Postage rates: 1863 to 2009
* $0.06 per ounce, but .03 per half ounce
** $0.04 per ounce, but .02 per half ounce
Did you know that the post office is older than the US itself? It’s true. None other than Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General by the Continental Congress in 1775, a year before Franklin also signed the Declaration of Independence.
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