Pre-Stamp Mail

As in the rest of Europe, Swiss Posts were in operation long before the invention of the adhesive postage stamp in 1840 and its first appearance in Switzerland in 1843. Covers and folded letters from the early 19th century sport an abundance of interesting and attractive postal markings from which the postal history of Switzerland can be divined.

Straight line marking CHUR dated June 14, 1825, to Feldkirch, Austria

Circular date stamp BURGDORF dated March 13, 1842, to Neuchatel