The first U. S. federal general-issue postage stamps went on sale in New York City on July 1, 1847. The pair consisted of a 5-cent Benjamin Franklin design and a 10-cent George Washington design.
The two 1847 stamps
| Issue | Purpose in its period | Historical significance |
|---|---|---|
| 5-cent Benjamin Franklin | Paid a common lower-distance letter rate under the rules of the period | Honored an early postmaster and a central figure in American postal history. |
| 10-cent George Washington | Paid a higher-distance letter rate | Placed the first U. S. president on the nation’s first general federal issue. |
What “first” means here
The 1847 pair were the first stamps issued for general use by the U. S. federal postal system. They were not the first adhesive postage stamps in the world: Great Britain’s Penny Black preceded them in 1840. Nor were they the first stamp-like issues used anywhere in the United States; private carriers and local postmasters issued provisionals before the federal pair.
How to document an early U. S. stamp
- Record denomination, portrait, paper, cancellation and whether the stamp remains on its original cover.
- Do not infer authenticity or value from age alone. Reproductions and altered examples exist.
- Use a recognized catalog and obtain expertization for a potentially valuable item.
- Keep postal face value, collector market value and a seller’s asking price as separate figures.
Related guides
- History of the first postage stamps
- How to read a philatelic cover
- Identify non-denominated U. S. stamp value
Sources and verification
Facts on this page were checked on August 31, 2026. Dynamic inventory, prices and USPS rules can change.
First U. S. stamps and Stamp Day
The first federal U. S. general-issue postage stamps went on sale in New York City on July 1, 1847: a 5-cent Benjamin Franklin and a 10-cent George Washington. National U. S. Postage Stamp Day marks that July 1 milestone. Earlier postmasters’ provisionals belong to a different local stage, while later nineteenth-century federal issues expanded denominations, subjects and production methods.