Large Bank Notes Issues (1875)

In 1875 the Continental Bank Note Company issued the 2-cent Jackson, employing the same design as the 1873 stamp but using a different color—a rich vermilion. The color change was prompted by the earlier confusion of the 2-cent and 10-cent issues having the same color. The vermilion was presumably chosen because the previous stamp with a vermilion color was the 7-cent Stanton of the National Bank Note Company.

The stamp would have paid multiple domestic rates or, in combination with other denominations, higher foreign destination rates. The Continental Bank Note Company printed approximately 279,000,000 stamps of this 2-cent issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The Paris Postal Conference (1863) discussed and promoted the idea of what became the Universal Postal Union. President Abraham Lincoln's postmaster general, Montgomery Blair, had called the conference in 1862 to resolve issues associated with international mail exchange. Founded in Berne, Switzerland, in 1874 as the General Postal Union, its name changed in 1878 to the Universal Postal Union. The Union immediately addressed two concerns: a uniform postal rate for half-ounce letters and transit fees due to countries that forward letters on to countries of destination.

The only original design created by the Continental Bank Note Company, the 5-cent Taylor stamp paid the Universal Postal Union international rate. Continental Bank Note Company printed approximately 38,000,000 of these 5-cent stamps.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum