FREE: Used U.S. Stamp #1120 4¢ Overland Mail-Possible Free Shipping

The listing, Used U.S. Stamp #1120 4¢ Overland Mail-Possible Free Shipping has ended.

When US postage stamps were first issued in 1847, they held the promise that the entire country could be united by mail for no more than 10 cents per letter. However, there were no transcontinental mail routes; all letters between the east and west coasts had to be carried by ocean-going clipper ships.

James E. Birch's San Antonio & San Diego mail line began operating in August 1857. The following month, the US Post Office Department awarded to John W. Butterfield a $600,000 per year contract to carry the mail from Missouri to San Francisco, with service to begin in September 1858.

Beginning in 1957, enormous political pressure was placed on the Post Office Department to mark the anniversary of the Birch's and Butterfield's overland mail lines with a commemorative stamp. Finally, on November 2, 1957, a POD press release announced that the 1958 commemorative stamp program would include an issue "honoring the Centennial of the Overland Mail."

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Shipping in the USA is $0.44 shipping for the first auction and free for each additional auction, or if you accumulate 100 credits or more of auction winnings I will ship for free.

International shipping is $0.98 for the first auction and free for each additional, or if you accumulate 200 credits or more of auction winnings I will ship for free.