![]() The 4-cent stamp was short-lived compared to the earlier years, lasting only 3 years instead of 15 or more years. ![]() The mid-20th century is when postage rates started to increase on a much faster timeline. When converted to the equivalent value in 2018 dollars, this translates to 33 to 35 cents. In 1959, the cost of a first-class stamp went up to 4 cents, where it stayed until 1962. Postage Rates Start to Increase by Much More The decrease in value relative to 2018 dollars shows how the value of money in the early- to mid-1900s started strong and gradually declined compared to recent years. When converted to the equivalent in 2018 dollars, the cost ranged from 59 cents in 1933 to 26 cents in 1958. Postage went back up to 3 cents in 1933 and stayed there for the next 25 years, until 1958. After the war years were over, it dropped for the second time in history, to 2 cents, where it stayed until 1932. Postage only stayed at the 3-cent mark for two years, through 1918. That would be like today’s postage increasing from 55 cents to 82 cents from one year to the next. Postage didn’t change for the first 16 years of the twentieth century but towards the end of the First World War, it went back up to 3 cents.Ī one-cent increase doesn’t sound like much in today’s world but it was a 50 percent increase in cost. Postage Rates in the First Half of the 20th Century – 1900’s This was the first of only three decreases in the last 150-plus years.įirst-class postage stayed at 2 cents until 1917. In 1883, the cost of a first-class stamp changed to only, a 50 percent decrease in cost. This shows how much more volatile the value of a dollar is in today’s world compared to what it was in the mid- to late-1800s. ![]() Where it started at an equivalent of 49 cents in 1866, that cost increased to an equivalent of 76 cents in 2018 dollar by 1882. The face value stayed the same at the time but when compared to 2018 dollars, the value did fluctuate. The cost of a stamp remained at 3 cents until 1882. Those original stamps cost 3 cents, which would be 49 cents in 2018 dollars. Standardized first-class stamps were introduced in 1866. Before that, the rate, origin location of the letter, and dates were either handwritten or stamped with some type of hand-stamp device. The first postage stamps were issued in 1847. Originally, postage was set by the “distance zone” or how far the letter had to be carried to get to its destination.Īs a size of a letter increase, it was subject to double or triple rates and “ship fees” were added for letters being delivered to Hawaii and other ports of entry. US postage rates were originally set by Congress as a result of the Postal Service Act that was signed into law by President George Washington in 1792. Let’s look at how postage rates have changed over the last century-and-a-half. The cost stayed consistent for a lot longer in the early years than it has over the last two or three decades though. Over the last 150 years, the cost of a first-class postage stamp has only gone down 3 times. Discover the history of the cost of first-class postage stamps over the years. Postal Service has one of the lowest letter rates in the industrialized world. So if you have old first-class forever stamps you do not have to add those extra pennies for postage when the rate rises.History of the Cost for 1st Class Postage Stamps Over The Years The advantage of a first-class forever stamp is that its value goes up when the first-class rate goes up. Postal Update: The cost of the USPS First-Class Forever stamp will increase to 58 cents on Sunday, August 29, 2021. A Look at First Class Postage through the Years
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