In 1843 stamps were issued in two more countries. Those from Switzerland were issued by the cities of Zurich and Geneva. Which country was the second to issue stamps, known as 'Bull's Eyes', which were valid throughout the entire country?
"Postage stamps and postal history of Brazil Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. It was a colony of Portugal from 1500 until 1815. Brazil was the second country in the world, after Great Britain, to issue postage stamps valid within the entire country (as opposed to a local issue). Like Great Britain's first stamps, the design does not include the country name. The first stamps of Brazil were issued on 1 August 1843 and are known as ""Bull's Eyes"" due to their distinctive appearance. On 1 July 1844 a new series was issued which is known as"
"the use of stamps. Other countries soon followed the UK with their own stamps. The Canton of Zürich in Switzerland issued the Zurich 4 and 6 rappen on 1 March 1843. Although the Penny black could be used to send a letter less than half an ounce anywhere within the UK, the Swiss did not initially adopt that system, instead continuing to calculate mail rates based on distance to be delivered. Brazil issued the Bull’s Eye stamp on 1 August 1843. Using the same printer used for the Penny black, Brazil opted for an abstract design instead of the portrait"
"first stamps: Zurich 4 and Zurich 6.The Zurich 4 and 6, making it the second type of stamp in the world, after the UK's Penny Black three years earlier. The issue consisted of two imperforate stamps printed separately, each in five types, in sheets of 100, one with a large numeral ""4"" and the other with a ""6"", both inscribed ""Zürich"" at the top. The 4-rappen stamp was also inscribed ""LOCAL-TAXE"" at the bottom, since it was intended to pay for letters mailed within a city, while the 6-rappen, inscribed ""CANTONAL-TAXE"", was for use with letters going anywhere in the"
"larger are known to exist today. Canton Zurich also issued a stamp in 1850, known to collectors as the Winterthur issue, depicting the Swiss federal cross and a posthorn, which served as a transitional issue until the stamps of the Swiss federal government made their appearance later that same year. The adoption of the federal constitution in 1848 made it practical to issue confederation-wide stamps, and the first of these came out in 1850 (the exact date is uncertain). All used the same basic design, a Swiss cross surmounted by a posthorn, but there were a number of variations. The"
"Postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland. The first stamps used in Switzerland were issued by the cantons of Zürich, Geneva and Basel for their own use, with the first federal issues coming several years later, on April 7, 1850. By March 19, 1798, the Helvetic Republic had come into being; although it was not until September 1798 that the entire country was conquered. According to Napoleon, the country was ""liberated"" to form itself into a new State, which assumed the title of ""Republique Helvetique Une et"
"were the first definitive stamps valid in all of Switzerland, although the stamps issued by the postal authorities of the cantons of Geneva, Basel-Stadt and Zürich remained concurrently valid until 1854, when all stamps were supplanted by the ""Sitting Helvetia"" series of federal stamps. The first Swiss postal regulations divided Switzerland, for the purpose of mailing letters weighing no more than half a lot, into four ""rayons"". These were defined by the distance or road transport time (whichever was higher) between sender and recipient. A special, lower rate applied to letters mailed within a municipality. Rayon IV, defined by a"
"contingency developed and it was possibly also simultaneously used in Lucerne for a very short period. On September 30, 1843, Geneva issued their first stamps: the ""Double Geneva"", which was the world's first postage stamp in green colour. Like the first Zürich issue, it consisted of pairs of stamps, each printed in black on yellow-green paper, depicting the city's arms, and inscribed ""Poste de Genéve"" at the top and ""Port local"" at the bottom. But, an additional inscription, reading ""10 PORT CANTONAL Cent"" ran across the top of each pair. The idea was that the user could cut out a"
"like a pair of bull's eyes. The unusual naming of Brazilian stamps continued with the later issue of smaller, but rectangular designs, which were nicknamed ""snake's eyes"", and the issue of similar designs to the Bull's Eyes, but smaller, of which the blue were called ""goat's eyes"", and the black, ""cat's eyes"". There were 1,148,994 30 réis stamps printed, 1,502,142 of the 60 réis value, and 349,182 of the 90 réis stamp. The 90 réis issue were reserved for international mail only. The most important recent Bull's Eyes collection to be sold was that of Hugo Goeggel in 2013. Bull's"
"of circulating coinage. All but the Stans and St. Gallen issues are denominated. Other countries have minted coins in honor of shooting festivals or marksmanship competitions, but only Swiss pieces are considered shooting thalers. The first shooting thaler was issued for the Chur shooting festival in 1842 and is denominated at four francs. The second, issued for Glarus, has a face value of forty batzen. The third, minted for the shooting festival in Geneva, is denominated at ten francs. A total of eighteen designs were struck in the nineteenth century, concluding with the Bern issue of 1885. All those struck"
"sales included one of the most important collections of the ""Bull's Eye"" stamps of Brazil ever formed. The lots included the mint 60 reis block of twenty, the second largest multiple of this stamp known, and hundreds of other examples of mint and used stamps and stamps on cover. The sale of the Bull's Eyes in Part 1 alone, raised over CHF 1.3 million including buyer's premium (over US$ 1M). A further sale of Colombia took place on 20 May 2014. The key item of Brazil was the 30 reis interpane Bull's Eye block of four which sold for CHF"
"Revenue stamps of Basel The Swiss canton and city of Basel issued revenue stamps. The Basel canton issued a total of 22 different stamps in 8 sets, for unemployment insurance and police tax. The city of Basel issued revenue stamps from 1860 to 1975. There were various types for different taxes. Taxes in Switzerland are levied by the Swiss Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities. The first bill of exchange stamp was issued probably before 1870, although it is unknown if this stamp was provisional or not. The amount of tax depended on the value of the bill. Strict regulations"
"made in Geneva. Most of the Swiss Cantons were still producing their own coinage in 1848 when Switzerland re-constituted itself as a Confederation and, in 1850, pegged the newly adopted Swiss franc to the French franc. Branch mint A branch mint is a satellite operation of (usually) a national mint. In many cases it will add a Mint mark to coins that is different from the one that may be used at the main facility, although each country has different rules that may vary over time. Added letters are shown below for the United States, France, and Switzerland. Because of"
"became unnecessary as the Swiss railway was extended and a normal postal service introduced. After 20 September 1883, all remaining services were prohibited by the Swiss government. Hotels in several other countries have issued stamps including in Austria, Hungary, Egypt (Shepherd's Hotel, Cairo), Japan (The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo), Romania and Singapore (Raffles Hotel). In Hungary stamps were issued at Carpathian resorts for ""Kurhaus auf der Hohen Rinne"" between 1895 and 1926, ""Magura"" in 1903 and 1911, and ""Bistra"" in 1909 to 1912. These resorts were part of Rumania after World War One. In Austria stamps were issued for ""Kesselfall-Alpenhaus"" and"
"single stamp to pay the intra-commune rate, and a pair to make up the inter-commune rate. Only 6,000 of the doubles were ever printed, and , intact used doubles typically go for around US$60,000 at auction. Very rarely, horizontally inverted pairs, and even more rarely, vertical pairs, can be found and are greatly sought after by collectors with values reaching sometimes US$150'000 to US$200'000 at auction. In 1845, Geneva switched to conventional single 5c stamps. In 1849 it printed a 4c stamp featuring the federal cross in black and red, and similar 5c designs in 1850 and 1851. Lucern was"
"Basel Dove The Basel Dove is a notable stamp issued by the Swiss canton of Basel on 1 July 1845 with a value of 2½-rappen. It was the first tricolor stamp in the world and the only postage stamp issued by Basel. At the time each canton was responsible for its own postal service. There were no uniform postal rates for Switzerland until after the establishment of a countrywide postal service on 1 January 1849. The only other cantons to issue their own stamps were Zürich and Geneva. The stamp, designed by the architect Melchior Berri, featured a white embossed"
"in May 1860 (three stamps printed in New York) and Prince Edward Island in June 1870 (one denomination). The last one is the only one printed in Canada, by the British-American Banknote Company. For the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, the Confederation issued a commemorative stamp that employed the Chalon head and more recent portrait by Heinrich von Angeli. In New Zealand the ""Chalon"" series debuted as the country's first stamps from 1855 to 1873 and Queen Victoria remained the stamps' topic until the 1898 Pictorial series. In New Zealand philately, the effigy has been called ""Full Face"""
"are identical to the Russian stamps and have the same information. They can be stamped in green, red, orange, blue, pink and sometimes black ink. Even though there is an open border agreement with Italy, visitors can have their passport stamped by the San Marino authority at the passport office in the city centre for a small fee. Serbia stamps both Serbian and foreign passports on exit, and foreign passports also on entry (however, until March 2018, foreign passports were not stamped on exit). Although Switzerland is not a European Union member state, it is part of the Schengen Area"
"quite a problem to overcome with such limited space on a stamp. Switzerland is officially known by the Latin name ""Confoederatio Helvetica"" for historical reasons. ""Confoederatio"" means ""confederation"" and ""Helvetica"" is a reference to the Helvetians, a Celtic tribe that lived in Switzerland when the Romans invaded. The English equivalent of the Latin name is ""Swiss Confederation."" Hence, the use of Helvetica on stamps. The first Swiss stamps were those of the Cantons (States) of Zurich, Geneva, and Basel. These early Swiss stamps have another distinction. They were also the 3rd (1843), 4th (1843), and 5th (1845) adhesive postage stamp"
"dove carrying a letter in its beak, and was inscribed ""STADT POST BASEL"". The stamp is printed in black, crimson and blue, making it the world's first tri-coloured stamp. It was valid for use until 30 September 1854, by which time 41,480 stamps had been printed. Basel Dove The Basel Dove is a notable stamp issued by the Swiss canton of Basel on 1 July 1845 with a value of 2½-rappen. It was the first tricolor stamp in the world and the only postage stamp issued by Basel. At the time each canton was responsible for its own postal service."
"Exchange electronic trading exchange between 1993 and 1995. Geneva Stock Exchange The Geneva Stock Exchange was a stock exchange in Geneva, Switzerland. The first stock exchange in Switzerland, it was founded in 1850. Initially created as an association of stockbrokers, it was first regulated in 1855. It was more successful than rival exchanges that opened up in Basel (1866) and Zurich (1873), as it allowed public access. It attracted a lot of attention from banks in German-speaking Switzerland in the 1920s and 1930s and the dominance of the Geneva Stock Exchange formed the basis of Geneva's prominence in international finance."
"Zumstein catalog The Zumstein catalog is a postage stamp catalog from Switzerland. It has been issued regularly since 1909 and is considered to be an important reference work of Swiss philately. It is published in German and French languages. The catalog is produced by the Swiss company Zumstein & Cie in Bern. While their main product is a catalog for the stamps of Switzerland and neighboring country Liechtenstein, updated annually, they also publish catalogs for ""Europa West"" (Western Europe) and ""Europa Ost"" (Eastern Europe). In addition, they produce a lengthier specialized catalog for Switzerland, as well as a number of"
"Washington, D.C., and valid for postage into 1947. Despite the relatively short period of use, almost all of the occupation-related issues are common and inexpensive to collect today. General issues produced by the Second Republic became available on 24 November 1945. Since that time Austria has issued a steady stream of stamps with a variety of subjects, many of them attractively engraved. Lombardy-Venetia was a kingdom in the north of Italy that was part of the Austrian empire. The inhabitants used the Italian lira for money, so in 1850 the government issued stamps identical to those for the rest of"
"stamps were first introduced, special stamps were often issued; for instance the cantons of Switzerland issued stamps for use within a canton, and inscribed them ""Poste-Local"" or ""Orts-Post"". The Russian province of Wenden issued stamps for a local post from 1862 to 1901, while Nicaragua issued stamps for Zelaya only, due to its use of a different currency. In rural Russia Zemstvo Post handled local mail independently of the central government; some of these lasted until the 1917 revolution. Many countries have had private local posts at one time or another. Usually these operated with the acquiescence of the government,"
"Two penny blue The Two Penny Blue or The Two Pence Blue was the world's second official postage stamp, produced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and issued after the Penny Black. Initial printing took place from 1 May 1840, and in all 6,460,000 were printed from two plates until 29 August. Officially the stamps were valid for postage from 6 May but were only available from 8 May. It was first sold to the public at the London Inland revenue office on 6 May 1840. Except for its denomination, the design is exactly the same as"
"Geneva Stock Exchange The Geneva Stock Exchange was a stock exchange in Geneva, Switzerland. The first stock exchange in Switzerland, it was founded in 1850. Initially created as an association of stockbrokers, it was first regulated in 1855. It was more successful than rival exchanges that opened up in Basel (1866) and Zurich (1873), as it allowed public access. It attracted a lot of attention from banks in German-speaking Switzerland in the 1920s and 1930s and the dominance of the Geneva Stock Exchange formed the basis of Geneva's prominence in international finance. It merged into the fully automated SWX Swiss"
"main forms; the oval is either large enough to see the Queen's necklace, or too small so that only the upper part of the neck is visible, but excludes the necklace. On the New Zealand stamps the circle has a larger diameter so that the upper part of the State Robes are also visible. The engravings for many of these stamps were produced by William Humphrys. In 1851, the province of Canada (approximatively Ontario and Quebec) was the first colony to use the Chalon head on its first stamps. The April 9, 1851, two of the six first stamps bore"
"until the mid-1960s. This has resulted in a series of at least 76 different albums and more than 2500 variations in images. In total the number of stamps issued for the Swiss series is more than for all other series combined. The series were started in 1911 with the first album with Kantons und Stadtwappen (arms of Cantons and cities), numbered 1-80. This album was printed at three different locations (München, Laupen and an unmarked issue) with the same images, but the stamps differed slightly in design. The 2nd album with arms of towns and villages (Stadt-und Dorfgemeinden, numbered 81-144)"
"be stamped upon entry and exit. The design of passport stamps issued in the French overseas territories in the Pacific differs from those issued in metropolitan France/the Schengen Area. Entry stamps issued in French overseas territories in the Pacific are rectangular, whilst exit stamps are hexagonal. Since March 2018, the New Zealand Customs Service (Customs) ceased stamping passports for Australian permanent residents and New Zealand residents. General entry stamps continue to be used for temporary visa holders. On arrival in New Zealand, travellers who are neither New Zealand nor Australian citizens or permanent residents who are granted entry into the"
"appear in 1943-44, but its stamps, all valued at 5 cents, were not competitive with the Win the War issue. This was the Overrun Countries series (known to collectors as the Flag set), produced as a tribute to the thirteen nations that had been occupied by the Axis Powers. The thirteen stamps present full color images of the national flags of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, Albania, Austria, Denmark, and Korea, with the names of the respective countries written beneath. To the left of each flag appears the image of the phoenix, which symbolizes the"
"until 1847. In 1848, Bern became the permanent seat of the Swiss Federal Government and thus the ""de facto"" capital of Switzerland. In Vienna, the historical terms ""Vorstädte"" and ""Vororte"" have very specific meanings. The ""Vorstädte"" were located outside the city walls, but within the ""Linienwall"", a second ring of fortifications outside the city. The city walls were located in the place of the modern Ringstraße, while the ""Linienwall"" has been removed to give way to the ""Gürtel"" (both being rings of streets around the central city). All of the historical municipalities were merged into Vienna during the late 19th"
"to be sent anywhere within Britain; the Two Penny Blue's weight limit was a full ounce. Two penny blue The Two Penny Blue or The Two Pence Blue was the world's second official postage stamp, produced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and issued after the Penny Black. Initial printing took place from 1 May 1840, and in all 6,460,000 were printed from two plates until 29 August. Officially the stamps were valid for postage from 6 May but were only available from 8 May. It was first sold to the public at the London Inland revenue"
"in the federal state established in 1848, as was explicitly recognized by the Federal Council in 1889. While the simple coat of arms was in wide use, especially on coins, and from the early 20th century also on car number plates and passports, the full seal did not see official use beyond its representation in stained glass in the Federal Palace of Switzerland (c. 1900). The 19th-century definition of the federal seal and coat of arms was replaced only in 2017, with the adoption of a new law which defined the Swiss coat of arms as ""a Swiss cross in"
"of 1949 depicted achievements of Swiss technology. Since that time, Swiss stamps have generally followed a regular pattern; an issue of about four commemoratives on a single date in the spring, and a similar group in the fall, as well as a Europa issue, usually in the spring. Starting in the 1980s, there have been additional themed issues; for instance, in 1993 an issue of four stamps featured works of art by Swiss women. Postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland. The first stamps used in Switzerland"