President: Franklin Pierce · Postmaster General: James Campbell.
Domestic Letter Rate under 3000 mi. per ½ oz.: Prepaid: Three Cents · Not Prepaid: Five Cents.
Domestic Letter Rate over 3000 mi. per ½ oz.: Prepaid: Six Cents · Not Prepaid: Ten Cents.
Foreign Letter Rate under 2500 mi. per ½ oz.: Ten Cents – except where otherwise adjusted by treaty.
Foreign Letter Rate over 2500 mi. per ½ oz.: Twenty Cents – except where otherwise adjusted by treaty.
Rate for Drop Letters: One Cent – prepayment not required – no weight restriction.
Rate for Newspapers and Circulars up to 3 oz.: One Cent, with one cent for each additional oz.
The following postage stamp varieties were first issued by the U.S. in 1853:
No new varieties of regular issue U.S. postage stamps were issued in 1853.
Commemoratives: The first Commemorative stamps were not issued until 1893
Special Delivery: The first Special Delivery stamps were not issued until 1885
Postage Dues: The first Postage Due Stamps were not issued until 1879
see also: Designs of the 1851-1860 Regular Issues