Zurich 4 and 6

The Zurich Zurich 4 and 6 are the first and only stamps that were issued by the Swiss canton of Zurich. The designation Zurich Zurich 4 and 6 is derived from the dominating Drawing numbers of this edition.

The issue was made on 1 March 1843. At this time there was no uniform postal system for the whole of Switzerland. Every single canton was responsible for their own postal service. It was only on January 1, 1849 saw the establishment of a separate Swiss postal system, which spent 1850 general stamps for the whole of Switzerland. Until then, its own postage stamps, were next to the Canton of Zurich, published only from Basel and Geneva. The rare stamps could be used until September 30, 1854.

The Zurich Zurich 4 and 6 are considered the first Swiss stamps. With the edition date of 1 March 1843, the Switzerland would allow the second country in the world with its own stamp issues to Britain. This view is, however, especially outside the German-speaking territories disputed, since it was not a separate country, but to a large extent sovereign canton, near Zurich. For this reason, the Zurich 4 and 6 Zurich is sometimes viewed only as a local issue and not as a proper stamp issue.

The postage was 4 or 6 cents. The imperforate stamps were made ​​on white paper in lithography in the printing Orell, Füssli and Co. in sheets of 100 stamps in black color. The two postage stamps were issued without gum and entirely postrubberized when needed. In addition to the Drawing numbers we find the country name and the inscription local tax on the Zurich 4 and Cantonal tax on the Zurich - 6, which provide information on intended uses of the two value levels. The Zurich 4 was in fact up to a weight of solder used for letters of the city post office and the Zurich 6 for letters within the canton. For registered mail 10 cents had to be applied. This could easily be covered by a Zurich Zurich 4 and a 6.

The high collector's value is on the one hand, because of their rarity and secondly because of their high popularity. It opens up a specialist a wide field. This can distinguish between horizontal and vertical sub- Print, collect five different types of each stamp and look for disk errors. The Zurich Zurich 4 and 6 are in addition to the Double Geneva and Basle deaf to the most popular stamp in Swiss philatelists.