The summit of philately

Once Great Britain had shown the way, it was a close race for the next five places. The Canton of Zurich 4r and 6r were issued on 1 March 1843. Brazil’s 30, 60 and 90 reis were issued on 1 August 1843.

The Canton of Geneva 5c + 5c came out on 30 September 1843 and the Canton of Basel 2½ r stamp was issued on 1 July 1845. The New York 5c Postmasters Provisional followed on 14 July 1845, giving Switzerland three out of the top six places.

The stamps emerged during a time of unrest for Switzerland, as a loose assemblage of cantons gradually came together to form a country. After a short civil war in 1847, the Federal Constitution came into force in 1848. Until then, the individual cantons had a considerable amount of autonomy, jealously guarding their own currencies and re-establishing their own postal systems, which had all been merged together during