In the report of the Postmaster General for the year ending June 30, 1873, it is stated that:
"The several Acts for the repeal of the franking privilege became operative on the first of July last. The results of the first quarter of the current year are highly satisfactory and more fully verified the predictions of the friends of the repeal. * * * Section 4 of the Act of March 3rd, 1873, making it the duty of the Postmaster General to provide official stamps and stamped envelopes for the several Executive Departments, has been strictly complied with. The stamps and envelopes furnished have been executed in the highest style of art and will compare favorably with those of any other country. From July 1st to September 30th of the current year the following varieties, numbers and values were issued:
To whom issued. D'minat'n. Number. Value. The Executive Dep't 5 5,150 200.00 The State Dep't 14 60,495 20,749.70 The Treasury Dep't 11 7,842,500 407,000.00 The War Dep't 11 446,500 17,689.00 The Navy Dep't 11 247,230 12,239.00 The Post Office Dep't 10 10,054,660 354,535.00 The Interior Dep't 10 1,058,475 59,171.00 The Dep't of Justice 10 65,400 3,900.00 The Dep't of Agriculture, 9 275,000 20,730.00 -- ---------- ---------- Making a total of 91 20,055,410 896,213.70
The stamps for the Departments other than the Post Office do not differ materially from those for sale to the public except that each Department has its own distinctive color and legend. The colors are: For the Executive, carmine; State Department, green; Treasury, velvet-brown; War, cochineal red; Navy, blue; Post Office, black; Interior, vermilion; Department of Justice, purple; and Department of Agriculture, straw color.
In the stamps for the Post Office Department the medallion head gives place to a numeral representing the value with the words "Post Office Department" above and the denomination expressed in words below. All the official stamps correspond in denomination with those issued for the public, except in the case of the State Department, for which four of higher value were made for dispatch bags. These four are of the denominations of $2, $5, $10, and $20, respectively, are of large size and printed in two colors, and bear a profile bust of the late Secretary Seward."