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You are here: Home / Confederate Basics / Confederate Postage Rates / Basic Rates

Basic Rates

With few exceptions postage was required to be prepaid in the Confederacy. The only exceptions are noted in the section on Free Mail and Prepayment.” Despite the requirement for prepayment some mail was marked postage due throughout the war.

The basic postage rates included in this section are the following:

  • Letter rates
  • Circulars, handbills and pamphlet rates
  • Waterway mail
  • International mail

Letter Rates

The Confederate Acts of 23 February 1861 and 19 April 1862 prescribed letter rates.

There were two types of letter rates. One for letters to be delivered beyond the mailing office (regular letters) and one for letters for delivery at the mailing office (drop letters).

Letter Rates

Effective 1 June 1861
(per half ounce)
Effective 1 July 1862
(per half ounce)
Regular Letters
Not more than 500 miles
5¢

–

More than 500 miles

10¢

–
All Distances
NA

10¢

Drop Letters

2¢*

2¢*

* Drop rate was by letter, not weight.

Letter postage paid by a 10¢ rose stamp on a letter from Richmond, Virginia to Montevallo, Alabama in May 1862, a distance greater than 500 miles.
Drop letter paid by 2¢ green CSA #3 stamp on cover mailed at Augusta, Georgia, for delivery at the Augusta post office.

 

Circulars, Handbills and Pamphlets Rates

The Confederate Acts of 13 May 1861 and 29 April 1863 prescribed rates for circulars, handbills and pamphlets.

Rates for Circulars, Handbills, and Pamphlets

Effective 1 June 1861
Effective 1 July 1863
Type Delivery

First 3 ounces

Each additional ounce

First ounce

Each additional ounce

Delivery beyond office of mailing1

2¢

2¢

1¢

1¢

Drop (delivery at mailing office)

1¢2

–

1¢2

–

1. Foreign publications charged double the regular rate.
2. Rate was per item, not weight. Double rates for foreign publications did not apply to drop items.

Circular postage paid by 2¢ green CSA #3 stamp on a circular mailed from Mobile, Alabama to Tibbee [Tibby] Station, Mississippi.

Inland Waterway Mail

Inland waterway rates were not addressed in Confederate legislation. Therefore, the provisions of the 1859 PL&R applied.

Inland waterway rates were dependent on two factors: the type of vessel carrying the mail (contract or non-contract) and whether the mail was prepaid or unpaid (due).

Mail carried on a contract vessel in a closed mail bag was treated as if it were carried overland. Such mail cannot be distinguished from that transported entirely overland.

Loose mail delivered by individuals to the captain or route agent of a contract or non-contract vessel was required to be turned over to the postmaster at the first port-of-call with a post office. If prepaid there was no additional charge. If unpaid, letters were charged at the rates listed below and marked “Steam,” “Steamboat,” “Ship,” or “Way” depending on the type of letter and type of vessel (contract or non-contract). In practice these markings were not always applied, and some were used in lieu of others. In other cases the markings were applied to mail that did not require them.

Inland Waterway Rates

Vessel and Mail Type
Postage for Delivery at
the First Port-of-Call
Postage for Delivery Beyond
the First Port-of-Call
Contract Vessel
     PrepaidLetter rate1Letter rate (1)
     Unpaid6¢Letter rate + 2¢2
Non-Contract Vessel
     PaidLetter rate1Letter rate
     Unpaid6¢Letter rate + 2¢2
Letter prepaid with two 5¢ blue CSA #4 stamps and picked up along the Alabama River and delivered to the Montgomery, Alabama post office in April 1862 where it was stamped “STEAMBOAT.”
Unpaid letter delivered to the New Orleans post office in January 1862 where it was stamped “Steam 7.” The New Orleans post office charged 7¢ instead of the correct amount of 6¢ on coming unpaid letters for local delivery.

 

1. Postage calculated from point where letter was placed aboard the vessel to the destination post office
2. Postage calculated from the post office where the mail was received from the vessel captain to the destination post office.
Contrary to the provisions of the 1859 P&LR the New Orleans postmaster charged 7¢ for unpaid letters received from vessels for delivery at New Orleans.

International Mail

There were no rates for international mail because the Confederate government never entered into an exchange agreement with another country.

The Confederate Acts of 23 February 1861, 1 March 1861 and the 1859 PL&R prescribed rates for mail entering the Confederacy from abroad and rates to ports where mail was carried across the border or placed aboard blockade runners.

All letter rates are from port-of-entry to destination or origin to port-of-departure.

International Rates

Means of ConveyanceEffective 1 June 1861
Incoming by sea (ship letters)
     Delivery at port-of-entry6¢
     Delivery beyond port-of-entryLetter rate + 2¢
Outgoing to sea port-of-departure
Letter rate
Incoming at land border port-of-entry
    All MailLetter rate
Outgoing to land border port-of-departure
     All MailLetter rate
Incoming blockade letter arriving in May 1863 at Charleston, South Carolina charged as a double letter (2 x 10¢ postage + 2¢ captain’s fee) for total of 22¢ (in pencil).

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The CIVIL WAR PHILATELIC SOCIETY is a non-sectional, non-political organization for fraternity, research and cooperation among hundreds of collectors of Civil War stamps, covers, and postal history. Email our webmaster with comments, suggestions and corrections.

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