Postage
Rates
Through the Years
Of course we need to pay the Postal Service for its time and efforts to deliver the mail to us. The table below shows the increase (and occasional decrease) of postage rates over the years and in some cases the reason for the change. As you can see, rates were originally introduced based on the distance that the letter traveled.
| Effective Date |
Prepaid
|
| 1845, July 1 | |
| Under 300 miles, per ½ oz. | 5 cents |
| Over 300 miles, per ½ oz. | 10 cents |
| Drop letters | 2 cents |
|
|
|
| 1851, July 1 | |
| Up to 3,000 miles, per ½ oz. | 3 cents |
| Over 3,000 miles, per ½ oz. | 6 cents |
| Drop Letters | 1 cent |
|
|
|
| 1855, April 1 | |
| Not over 3,000 miles, per ½ oz. | 3 cents |
| Over 3,000 miles, per ½ oz. | 10 cents |
| Drop letters | 1 cent |
|
|
|
| 1863, July 1 | |
| Distance differential eliminated | |
| All parts of United States, per ½ oz. | 3 cents |
|
|
|
| 1883, October 1 | |
| Letter rate reduced one-third | |
| All parts of United States, per ½ oz. | 2 cents |
|
|
|
| 1885, July 1 | |
| Weight increased to 1 oz. | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 2 cents |
|
|
|
| 1917, November 2 | |
| War emergency | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 3 cents |
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|
|
| 1919, July 1 | |
| Restoration of pre-war rate | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 2 cents |
|
|
|
| 1932, July 6 | |
| Rise due to Depression | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 3 cents |
|
|
|
| 1958, August 1 | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 4 cents |
|
|
|
| 1963, January 7 | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 5 cents |
|
|
|
| 1968, January 7 | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 6 cents |
|
|
|
| 1971, May 16 | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 8 cents |
|
|
|
| 1974, March 2 | |
| All parts of United States, per 1 oz. | 10 cents |
|
|
|
| 1975, December 31 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 13 cents |
|
|
|
| 1978, May 29 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 15 cents |
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|
|
| 1981, March 22 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 18 cents |
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|
|
| 1981, November 1 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 20 cents |
|
|
|
| 1985, February 17 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 22 cents |
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|
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| 1988, April 3 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 25 cents |
|
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| 1991, February 3 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 29 cents |
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| 1995, January 1 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 32 cents |
|
|
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| 1999, January 10 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 33 cents |
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| 2001, January 7 | |
| All parts of United States, 1st oz. | 34 cents |
Now that we have a basic understanding of how stamps were born and how they have changed over the years, you may be wondering who decides what is pictured on a stamp. That's a good question! Let's move on to the next section "Who Decides" where we will find out where the ideas for stamp images come from as well as who makes the decisions. Click here to continue.
