Item 11-01-97

$1.00

The Syracuse Stamp Club hosted SYRAPEX ’97 on November 1st & 2nd, 1997 in Syracuse, New York.  The show featured a 21 dealer bourse, frames of exhibits, a youth booth and a United States Postal Service station.  The theme of the show was the 150th anniversary of the first US postage stamps.

The first issue of US postage stamps, a five cent brown and a ten cent black, Scott nos. 1&2, was authorized by an act of Congress on March 13, 1847 to take effect on July 1, 1847.  After this date, any local postmaster stamps or any stamps not authorized by the Postmaster General became invalid for postage.  In turn, the first issue stamps were also declared invalid as of July 1, 1851, when the rates were lowered and a new series of stamps was issued.  The first issue was printed by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson using plates of 200 subjects divided into two panes of 100.  The individual subjects differed enough so the position in the panes could be identified, a tedious job.  Recently, a proof sheet was uncovered.

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