The 1869 Pictorial Issue first became available at post offices in the United States in late March of 1869. This issue was to replace the 1861-1867 regular issue stamps. In soliciting proposals for a new issue of definitive postage stamps, the United States Post Office was careful to state, "The stamps must be prepared in such a manner that any attempt to remove them from a letter or packet will so mutilate them as to render them useless." This was to prevent reuse. The grilling process, also called "embossing," was a practice carried over from 1867 regular-issued stamps which were themselves the 1861-1866 designs with embossing added after printing. Then, as now, postal officials were concerned about revenue loss from the reuse of stamps. Grilling was the preferred solution in the 1869 era.

Four different private security printers submitted bids for the production of the 1869 stamps, and the National Bank Company won the contract. The Post Office deliberated over designs and finally came up with a mixed bag which we know today as the 1869 Pictorial Issue - 11 stamps in ten different denominations with two different varieties of the 15¢ design.

The issue was only available from early spring of 1869 until February 1870, a period of only 11 months, when it was replaced by the Bank Note Issue, again printed by the National Bank Note Company. This issue remained available for several years thereafter.

The 1869 issue was the first bi-colored or two-colored issue for the 15¢, 24¢, 30¢ and 90¢ denominations. It was also the first US stamp to feature something other than the bust or head of a famous American leader. Never before had stamps featured paintings, horses, locomotives, ships or birds. Unfortunately, the public did not accept these stamps because of their relatively small size and the difficulty in affixing them to envelopes due to the nature of the gum on them.

The stamps are nearly square. Three of the stamps, the 1¢ Benjamin Franklin, the 6¢ George Washington and the 90¢ Abraham Lincoln feature the familiar theme of portraits of past leaders. The 1¢ Franklin stamp is the only 19th Century United States stamp with a circular frame. The 2¢ Post Horse and Rider, 3¢ Locomotive and 12¢ S.S. Adriatic stamps all feature the theme of transportation of the mails, new for its day, and often repeated in future stamp series. The 10¢ Eagle and Shield and the 30¢ Shield Eagle and Flag stamps appeal to patriotism. It should be understood that the United States had just finished fighting the Civil War, and the nation was licking its wounds after 4.5 years of tumultuous fighting throughout the southern part of the United States. The 15¢ Landing of Columbus and the 24¢ Declaration of Independence stamps are the first portraits of American historical events on our nation's stamps. The 15¢ Landing of Columbus exists in two different types with slightly different frame designs. However, a third type, the same as Type I, but without the fringe of brown shading lines around the vignette, was used for the 1875 reprint of the issue. The four high-value stamps of the set were the first U.S. stamps to be printed in two colors as stated above.

The National Bank Company produced separate printing plates for the vignettes and frames of the four stamps that were printed in two colors. The necessity for two plates and two passes through the printing press also led to the first error stamps of the United States. On the bi-color 1869 issue, the vignette was printed on the first pass through the presses, and the frame or Flag and Stars, in the case of the 30¢ stamp, were printed on the second pass.

After the stamp sheets passed through the presses the first time, some were inadvertently returned the wrong-way-round to produce spectacular inverts of the 15¢, 24¢ and 30¢ stamps. There are only three known unused of the 15¢ invert, four of the 24¢, and seven of the 30¢ invert. Known used examples of the inverts range from 36, for the 30¢ stamp, to approximately 90, for the 15¢ stamp.

As mentioned above, the stamps were initially popular with both the public and stamp collectors when they went on sale in March 1869, but unaccountably fell out of favor and had the shortest life span of any U.S. regular postage stamp issued. The stamps were expensive to produce, and the proper alignment of the frames and vignette of the bi-color stamps was difficult to achieve. For those reasons, in October 1869, the Post Office Department gave orders for new stamp designs and instructed Post Offices to return unsold stocks of the issued upon receipt of the new stamps. The new stamps went into use in February of 1870.

Each of the ten denominations of the stamps comes in a multitude of proofs and essays. In fact, collectors often times specialize in just the proofs and essays of the 1869 Pictorial Issue. There are face different essay types for each denomination, different colors were used in non-adopted designs and in adopted designs, and even envelope essays were created. One seeking more information on the proofs and essays should consult Clarence Brazer's landmark book Essays for U.S. Adhesive Postage Stamps. For further reference, the Brazer sale of U.S. Proofs and Essays and the John Juhring auction catalogs should be obtained to view all of the various types of essays and proofs available in collecting the 1869 Pictorial Issue (see catalog listing).

Though hard to believe, there are large mint pieces or blocks of each of the denominations, which still exist and come up for auction from time to time. Those blocks range from a block of 48 of the 1¢ stamp to a block of six of the 90¢ stamp as being the largest known multiples. The largest known multiple for the 24¢ stamps is a beautiful block of nine, which was recently auctioned in New York City. As for the Type I 15¢ stamp, there exists a mint block of nine but one used block of four which again was recently auctioned off in New York City.

What follows is a brief description of each of the individual denominations, in order, discussing how they were used and for what purpose, both domestic and foreign.

The 1¢ stamp was issued on March 20, 1869, and was used for the 1¢ drop letter rate and 2¢ drop and carrier usage. It is sometimes found on covers sent abroad which have higher rates. Examples would be the 1¢ used with a 6¢ 1869 to pay the 7¢ rate to Germany or strips of four 1¢ stamps to make up the 4¢ to France, via Great Britain, in 1870. It is also found as a strip of three 1¢ stamps with a fancy cancellation, the most famous being the "Running Chicken" cover which depicts a running chicken whittled in cork by John Hill, the Postmaster of Waterbury, Connecticut, and was only used for several days. There are approximately five known "Running Chicken" cancellations on cover with most of them appearing on 3¢ stamps.

The 2¢ stamp was issued on March 19, 1869. It is primarily used on carrier rate covers or 2¢ drop plus carrier letters sent within New York City, as one such city, or on circulars of which 2¢ was the rate. The 2¢ was bisected which allowed the sender to use half of a 2¢ stamp to pay the 1¢ rate, or one-and-a-half 2¢ stamps to pay the 3¢ standard domestic rate in effect in 1869. The 2¢ stamp is also used to make up rates to foreign countries, most often as three 2¢ stamps to Canada and England for the 6¢ rate. Usage of the 2¢ stamps are also found to make up parts of rates to various foreign countries including Japan, Hong Kong, Peru and Italy.

The 3¢ stamp, as mentioned above, was issued on or about March 20, 1869, but its earliest known use appears to be March 27, 1869. The largest known used multiple is a block of 12 and several sheets of 150 (the plates were originally printed in sheets of 300 and then split in half). Again, numerous proofs and essays exist for the 3¢ stamp. The 3¢ stamp is primarily used for the normal standard 3¢ rate paying the postage from one city to another if the letter weighed less than 1/2 ounce. For letters weighing more than 2 ounce, the rate doubled incrementally or tripled to pay the excess postage for the additional weight. Thus, a letter weighing 2 ounces would require 12¢ in postage. The 3¢ stamp was also used on letters to foreign destinations, again to such places as Canada and Great Britain, as well as to Germany, France, China, Spain and a multitude of other destinations, as one of the stamps making up the higher rate.

The 6¢ stamp was issued March 19, 1869. Its earliest known use is April 26, 1869, and has as its largest known unused multiple, two blocks of 16 and several blocks of four used. The 6¢ stamp paid the double weight domestic letter rate as well as the 6¢ rate to Canada, Great Britain (after January 1, 1870). It was also used to make up higher rates to various foreign countries including Italy, Peru and India, and was even used in inter-consular mail to and from China and Japan.

The 10¢ stamp whose date of issue was March 19, 1869, but it's earliest known use is April 1, 1869, has as its largest known unused multiple, a horizontal imprint block of 15. There are numerous used blocks of four. The 10¢ stamp is known to be used on domestic mail but was not primarily used for domestic rates, but was often used for the 10¢ rate to Germany and France. It was also used on covers to China, (paying the 10¢ Trans-Pacific rate) to Japan, from Japan and from China, as well as to and from various destinations in the Caribbean and South America. It also has been used to make up the larger foreign rates on covers to such places as Peru, Italy, Syria and Spain.

The 12¢ stamp again issued on March 19, 1869, but its earliest known use is April 1, 1869. The largest known unused multiple is a block of 12 and the largest known used multiple is a block of 37. Many used blocks of four or larger exist as well. The 12¢ stamp was often used to pay the 12¢ rate to Great Britain prior to 1870. This would include covers to any destination in the British Isles, including Ireland and Scotland. 12¢ 1869 covers are recorded for many destinations making up part of the postage for usage's to Africa, Austria, Peru, Chile and Switzerland.

The 15¢ Type I has again a date of issue of March 19, 1869, but its earliest known use is April 2, 1869. As mentioned above, the largest known unused multiple is a mint block of nine, and there exists only one used block, a block of four. Primarily, the 15¢ stamp, including Type II (Scott #119) was used to pay the 15¢ registration fee in the United States, which combined with an additional 3¢ of postage, made up the 18¢ registered rate to any domestic destination. 15¢ Type I covers do exist to pay rates to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and most notably, to France. There are, however, only approximately 150 Type 1 covers known to exist. Interestingly enough, and of great rarity, is a 15¢ Type I and a 15¢ Type II together with a pair of 2¢ 1869 stamps, paying the 34¢ rate to Peru. This cover, however, reposes in the Hirzel collection on display in Berne, Switzerland.

The 15¢ Type II was issued in May 1869, and its earliest known use is May 23, 1869. The largest known unused multiple is a block of 20 (of which there are several), and the largest known used multiple is a block of nine. As was true for the 15¢ Type I, this stamp is primarily found on covers to France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. It was, however, also used in combination with other denominations to make up higher rates to other foreign destinations.

The 24¢ stamp was issued on March 19, 1869, but its earliest known use is April 7, 1869. The largest known unused multiple is a beautiful block of nine, which is unique, while there are several used blocks of four. Covers with this stamp are quite rare, and there are about 80 known surviving covers with either the 24¢ stamp used as a single stamp by itself, or with other stamps to make up a higher rate for overseas usage. There are a handful of domestically used 24¢ covers making up the 15¢ registry rate and the three times the 3¢ domestic postage for a letter weighing between 1 oz. and 1-1/2 oz. Foreign usages include covers to such places as Fremantle, Western Australia, the Dutch East Indies, Mauritius, Spain, Japan, Argentina and St. Helena. It should be noted that more 24¢ 1869 covers (approximately 16) were sent to Peru than to any other destination. One such cover recently sold in New York City, and had on it a strip of three 24¢ stamps and a pair of 15¢ stamps, paying the triple 34¢ rate to Lima, Peru, and was part of the Davis correspondence, a famous correspondence spanning almost three years, from Port Chester, New York, to Lima, Peru.

The 30¢ stamp was probably issued in early April, 1869, and has as its earliest known use, a cover from New York to Hong Kong, dated May 22, 1869. The 30¢ stamp has a largest known mint block of six, although there is a block of 15 of the 30¢ stamp without grill, and the largest known used multiple is a block of 12. Used blocks of the 30¢ are quite common, and there are known to be approximately 20 such used blocks in existence today. Approximately 60 covers with the 30¢ stamps are recorded to date, and approximately 25 of them were sent to France, usually paying either the two or four times the treaty rate in 1869 of 15¢ per quarter ounce. The 30¢ stamp was also used to the following destinations: Germany, Guatemala, Mexico, India, Spain, Italy, England, Norway, the Philippines, Java, China, Peru and Japan.

The 90¢ stamp was probably issued in late March or early April, 1869, but only one such cover is known to have existed and that is on a cover from Boston to Calcutta, India. This cover was sent in 1873, and to date, is the only known example of the 90¢ used on cover. The cover originally reposed in the David Baker collection, which was stolen in the early 1970's. When the collection was recovered, this cover, known as the "Ice House" cover, was not among the items that were recovered. Many believe that the cover has been destroyed or that perhaps the 90¢ stamp was soaked off the cover and sold as a used stamp. It is known as the "Ice House" cover because it is addressed to Mr. James H. Bancroft, Ice House, Calcutta, East Indies (now India). The largest known unused block is a vertical block of six, of which there are two known, and there are approximately six unused blocks of four and eight used blocks of four. The only known piece with the 90¢ stamp on it has a 90¢ stamp with a "New York Steamship" cancellation in black. There are no other used 90¢ stamps on piece or cover currently known to exist.

Just as fancy cancellations were a part of a Postmaster's whim in creating cancellations for its hometown, in the 1861-1867 era, fancy cancellations abound on the 1869 stamps. Many of those fancy cancellations are known to exist from many of the New England and Middle Atlantic States as well as from cities in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois. The most famous group of fancy cancellations comes from Waterbury, Connecticut, and John Hill created those cancellations, carved in cork. The cancellations include the famous "Running Chicken" cancellation, lady in a bonnet, man smoking a pipe, holly sprigs, Christmas trees, shoes and a multitude of other items of clothing, items found in nature and the like. For further reading on the Waterbury fancy cancellations, the reader is referred to the Paul Rohloff book collaborated with Alfred Diamond, called the Waterbury Cancellations 1865 - 1890, published by The Collectors Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1979.

It should be noted that each of the 1869 stamps were reissued in 1875 in much smaller quantities, and the paper is a bit different than the regular issue. The color and engraving is more vivid than on the original issue. Again, few quantities exist as mint and used stamps, and even fewer on covers, with just usually two or three existing for most of the denominations. Most of the reissue covers would be found with the 1¢ 1875 reissue (Scott No. 123) and the 1880 reissue of the 1¢ (Scott No. 133).

No discussion of the 1869 Pictorial Issue would be complete without reference to the postal history and the usage of this now quite popular issue. During the brief 11 months when the stamps were available in post offices, significant changes in the postal arrangements of the United States took place. Postal treaties with other countries became more streamlined as new solutions for rapid mail transmissions were developed. Moreover, alternative mail routes were necessitated by the disruption of the Franco-Prussian War in July of 1870. Other significant events occurred during this time and period with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869.

In this time period, the mails, which were destined to foreign countries, could be rated and evaluated based on the various mail services that actually handled the letter. Such an analysis allows for the common threads to be followed in the diverse rates and routes that were utilized during the 1869-1870 time period. Those mail services that handled the mail during this time period, and in which 1869 covers exist, include the following: French mails, the British North American mails, overland rates to Canada and Mexico, American mails to such destinations as China, Japan and Hawaii. British mails provided for carriage by British vessels to Great Britain and to such other destinations as Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Natal and St. Helena. The Closed Mails were used where special closed mail arrangements were made by special treaties to carry the mail to Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland. The German mails allowed for the German mail service to carry letters both to Germany and beyond Germany to such destinations as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Rome, Turkey, Syria and Greece.

Finally, with the 1869 Issue, one finds an extraordinary group of letters originating from United States offices and consulates in overseas places such as China and Japan, and from such places as the Danish West Indies as well as from British Columbia and Hawaii. These latter usage's are often coupled with a mixed franking usage, that is stamps of the 1869 Issue combined with other stamp-issuing countries such as British Columbia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and even the kingdom of Hawaii, on letters from Hawaii to the United States.

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