Rates for Stamped Cards and Postcards, 1873-2011
Postcards (privately manufactured cards) were charged letter postage rates until July 1, 1898. Since then, the rates for postcards have been the same as for stamped cards (produced by the Postal Service) except for the period from April 15, 1925, to July 1, 1928.
Until 1999, stamped cards were called postal cards. On January 10, 1999, the Postal Service changed the term to stamped cards and increased their price to one penny more than the postage rate in order to pay for the paper and printing of the card. The price of a stamped card increased to two cents more than the postage rate on January 7, 2001, and to three cents more on May 12, 2008. In addition to regular stamped cards, on October 18, 1994, the Postal Service began selling higher-cost stamped cards with collectible artwork, called premium stamped cards since 2007.
|
Effective Date |
Postage, in Cents |
|---|---|
|
May 12, 1873 |
1 |
|
November 2, 1917 |
2 |
|
July 1, 1919 |
1 |
|
April 15, 1925 |
1 for stamped cards; 2 for postcards |
|
July 1, 1928 |
1 |
|
January 1, 1952 |
2 |
|
August 1, 1958 |
3 |
|
January 7, 1963 |
4 |
|
January 7, 1968 |
5 |
|
May 16, 1971 |
6 |
|
March 2, 1974 |
8 |
|
September 14, 1975 |
7 |
|
December 31, 1975 |
9 |
|
May 29, 1978 |
10 |
|
March 22, 1981 |
12 |
|
November 1, 1981 |
13 |
|
February 17, 1985 |
14 |
|
April 3, 1988 |
15 |
|
February 3, 1991 |
19 |
|
January 1, 1995 |
20 |
|
July 1, 2001 |
21 |
|
June 30, 2002 |
23 |
|
January 8, 2006 |
24 |
|
May 14, 2007 |
26 |
|
May 12, 2008 |
27 |
|
May 11, 2009 |
28 |
|
April 17, 2011 |
29 |
HISTORIAN
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
APRIL 2011
