One of America’s most beautiful postal markings – Philadelphia’s full-rigged ship, used on incoming ship mail for destinations beyond the port.

This letter was sent from Liverpool on the 8 October 1835 sailing of the ship Pocahontas, owned by Brown’s Line of Baltimore but assigned to the Cope Line of Philadelphia. On arrival at Philadelphia on 9 November, the letter was rated 27 cents due: 2 cents incoming ship fee, and 25 cents postage to Maine, the rate for more than 400 miles.

The endorsed ship George Washington of the Blue Swallowtail Line had already sailed, so the New York post office instead sent this letter via the next available ship – Black X Line’s Montreal.

After the War of 1812-15, full-rigged American ships began to dominate the North Atlantic trade. Within only a few years mail could be sent weekly against a published schedule. The cost of mail was cheaper and the sailings more frequent the Falmouth Packets, which were soon discontinued as non-competitive. The sender of this letter paid 12 ½ cents inland postage to New York, and designated conveyance by the Blue Swallowtail ship George Washington. That ship had already sailed, so the letter went via the Black X Line’s Montreal, which departed on 10 October, and arrived at Portsmouth on 8 November. London rated the letter 2/4 due: 8d ship fee plus 8d inland postage to London.

Rated in Philadelphia rather than Boston, its port of entry, under special arrangement with the Liverpool postmaster.

Businessmen in Philadelphia and other eastern cities complained about delays in mail arriving via Boston, due to sorting and rating. After an 1843 request to the Liverpool Postmaster by the U.S. Postmaster General, from June 1844 to late 1848 mails to Philadelphia and ten other cities were made up in separate parcels in Liverpool. These were included in the New York bag, from where they were forwarded un-postmarked.

This letter was sent with the 1/- packet rate prepaid in Liverpool on 19 November 1844 on Cunard’s Caledonia, and arrived at Boston on 7 December. Forwarded unmarked to Philadelphia, where the 20 ¾ postage due handstamp was applied: 2 cents ship fee, 18 ¾ cents inland from Boston.

The retaliatory rate against Great Britain, in this example applied in Philadelphia in July 1848.
 
In June 1847, when the Ocean Line began the first American transatlantic packet service, Great Britain charged the full incoming steamship rate (24 cents) on each letter. A year later the U.S. responded to the British one-shilling discriminatory rate against American packets with a 24 cent charge on both incoming and outgoing British packet letters, added to inland postage.

This letter was sent from Liege, Belgium on 19 July 1848 via British mail. It departed Liverpool on 22 July aboard Cunard’s America, which arrived at New York on 4 August. The Philadelphia post office charged 29 cents due: 24 cent retaliatory charge against Great Britain plus 5 cents postage from New York.

Letter to a sailor aboard U.S. Frigate Sherromack, on station off the coast of Chile, via British packet from Panama to Valparaiso.
 
This letter was sent on 4 February 1858 in consular mail from Philadelphia, the sender having prepaid the U.S. 10-cent rate to Aspinwall plus 24 cents for British packet from Panama to Valparaiso. The Philadelphia post office credited 24 cents to Great Britain. The letter was conveyed from New York on 5 February aboard the U.S. Mail Steamship Company’s Moses Taylor, which departed New York on 5 February and arrived at Aspinwall on the 19th. After a trip across the isthmus by canoe and mule, on 22 February the letter was taken from Panama to Valparaiso by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s Valparaiso.