The Brazilian Empire:
An Introduction to the Study of Internal Postage
Franking
By Dr. Klerman Wanderly Lopes
Introduction
Brazil lacks publications that inform the philatelist interested in
our postal history and shed light upon the several decrees and
regulations which ruled postal taxes collection during its imperial
time. As a follow-up to a previous article about Brazil’s
International Postal Agreements, this is the result of a survey I
undertook on its Internal Postage Taxes. I looked for topics of
relevance within the scarce bibliography available on this matter,
hoping that someday other studious people may unite all the
knowledge bequeathed by the preceding researchers.
1. Decree of January 20th, 1798,
Establishing Maritime Postal Services.
Established Regular Maritime Postal
Service between Portugal and Brazil and created Land Mail as part of
Postal Services.
The Portuguese Navy Premises in Lisbon were the starting point of
two postal ship lines to Brazil, created on March 1st, 1798. They
left that port every two months:
a) One line headed for the
Northern Ports, carrying letters and goods to-and-fro the
Provinces of Pernambuco, Paraíba, Maranhão and Pará;
b) The other line headed for the ports of Bahia and Rio de
Janeiro, thence returning to Portugal, making a call at Bahia’s
port (Salvador) whenever possible.
Fifteen days was the average stop
time for ship repair at the ports of Salinas and Rio de Janeiro.
As this service was considered
un-profitable, it was discontinued between the years of 1798 and
1803, and during that time 16 Maritime Postal Brigs circulated
between Portugal and Brazil, namely: Vigilante,
Príncipe Real (Royal
Prince), Faetonte (Phaeton),
Alvacora (Tunafish), Voador (Flyer),
Postilhão da América (America’s Messenger),
Gavião, Netuno
(Neptune), São José Espadarte (St. Joseph’s Swordfish),
Paquete Real
(Royal Sailship), Espadarte Brilhante (Shining Swordfish),
Lebre
(Hare), Santo Antonio Olinda (St. Anthony of Olinda),
Caçador
(Hunter), Diligente and
Boaventura (Bonaventure).
Sea Postage for Brazil and Portugal:
• up to 4
oitavas (14,34 grams)
– 80 Réis• up to 6
oitavas (21,52 grams)
– 120 Réis
• up to 8
oitavas (28,69 grams)
– 160 Réis
• over 8
oitavas – 160
Réis for
ounce fraction
Note: One ounce (28,699 grams)
was divided into 8 “oitavas” (eights).The Insurance fee was 20
Réis , paid to the postman.
Portuguese primitive measure of weight.
Réis = Portuguese and Brazilian primitive currency
Postage Rates in Minas Gerais State
As of June 30th, 1799:
From Vila Rica (Ouro Preto)
to:
• Sabará - 37,5 Réis
• S. João Del Rey - 37,5
Réis
• Villa do Principe - 75
Réis
• Paracatu - 75 Réis
As of July 19th, 1801:
• Letters weighing up to 4
oitavas - 75
Réis
• Over 4 oitavas - 80
Réis
As of April 8th 1805
Regulation:
Letter postage was
charged in relation to weight and distance. Letters
weighing up to 2 oitavas were charged 20
Réis to be
delivered within a perimeter of 10 léguas. The amount
went up 5 Réis at each 10
léguas increase in distance.
Letters over 4 oitavas were charged 30
Réis for the
first 10 léguas. 10
Réis were added to every 2
oitavas
in weight and another 10 reis, at each 10 leguas
increase in distance.
May 8th 1809 Instruction
Postage rates from Rio de
Janeiro to the main Cities of the State of Minas Gerais
(letters up to 4 oitavas):
• São João D’El Rey - 80
Réis
• Vila Rica - 100
Réis
• Marianna - 120 Réis
• Tamanduá - 125 Réis
• Sabará - 140
Réis
• Campanha - 140 Réis
• Pitangui - 145 Réis
• Vila do Príncipe - 200
Réis
• Tejuco - 230
Réis
• Paracatu - 280 Réis
Postage fees in the
main cities of Minas Gerais:
• From Vila Rica to
Marianna - 20 Réis
• From Vila Rica to
Tejuco - 30 Réis
• From Vila Rica to
Sabará - 40 Réis
• From Vila Rica to
S. João D’El Rey - 50 Réis
• From Vila Rica to
Vila do Príncipe - 100 Réis
• From Vila do
Príncipe to Tejuco - 25 Réis
• From S. João D’El
Rey to Tamanduá - 45 Réis
• From S. João D’El
Rey to Campanha - 60 Réis
• From S. João D’El
Rey to Pitangui - 65 Réis
• From S. João D’El
Rey to Paracatu - 200 Réis
• From Tamanduá to
Pigangui - 40 Réis
• From Pitangui to
Paracatu - 135 Réis
Places that lacked
central postal administration, Provincial and
Municipal administration controlled independent mail
transport lines, sometimes using occasional
travelers.
Postage values were
handwritten on the envelopes, and a postmark
determining their origin, was stamped on them. No
matter how many postal administrations (Cities) a
letter went through, the previous postage was always
scratched out and a new one was written on it.
Whenever available, a stamp was also used. Postage
was paid by the addressee who might refuse to
receive the mail, and thus disengage himself of any
debt.
2. “CARTA REGIA” (Royal
Decree) OF SEPTEMBER 24, 1817.
Created regular mail
services between the Provinces of São Pedro do Sul
and São Paulo.
a) Between the
Court and São Paulo:
• up to 4
oitavas – 100
Réis
• 50 Réis
increase at every 2 oitavas
b) Between São Paulo and Santa Catarina:
• up to
4 oitavas – 150
Réis
• 75
Réis increase at every 2
oitavas
c)
Between Santa Catarina and Porto Alegre:
• up
to 4 oitavas – 100
Réis
• 50
Réis increase at every 2
oitavas
Note 1: From Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre
• up
to 4 oitavas – 350
Réis
•
175 Réis increase for every 2
oitavas
Note 2: In order to check speed
of mail delivery, it was
permitted to put the remittance
date at the back of envelopes.
Pre-paid postage was made
possible for mail delivery
through private postal agents.
• Brazil`s independence from
Portugal was proclaimed on
September 7th, 1822.
•For Postal purposes,
Portugal began to consider
Brazil as a foreign country
as of July 19th, 1828.
3 – DECREE OF MARCH 5TH ,
1829
Established rules for Postal
Central Administration:
Postage and postal lines
were introduced in the whole
Brazilian territory.
A) Sea Postage
A tax charged on
outgoing mail from the
Port of Rio de Janeiro
to other port cities
within the Empire; it
was added to land
postage of letters
coming from other
cities:
• up to 2 oitavas– 20
Réis
• 20 Réis increase at
each 2
oitavas.
B) Land Postage
• Mail taxes were
calculated in
relation to
weight and
distance from
the Court.
• A basic 10
Réis
fee was charged
on letters
weighing up to 2
oitavas
for
distances up to
15
léguas; the
same amount was
added to postage
fees for every 2
exceeding
oitavas and for
every exceeding
15
léguas added
to the distance
covered.
• Two-way postage
fees could be
either prepaid
by the sender,
and in this case
a stamp marked
“Franca” was
stamped on the
letter, or when
received by the
addressee.
Prepayment was
mandatory for
letters
so-called “Seguras”
(registered).
Postage rates
for letters up
to 2 oitavas,
starting off
from Rio de
Janeiro (Court):
• 1st rate
– Santo
Antonio
de Sá –
10
Réis
• 2nd rate
–
Friburgo
and
Cantagallo
– 20
Réis
• 3rd rate
– S.
João
D’El
Rey,
Barbacena,
Queluz,
Ilha
Grande,
Paraty,
Macahé
and
Campos –
40
Réis
• 4th rate
– São
Paulo
(North
and
South of
the
Province
and
villages),
Ouro
Preto,
Marianna,
Tamanduá
and
Province
of
Espírito
Santo –
50
Réis
• 5th rate
– Sabará,
Villa de
Campanha
and
Pitangui
– 70
Réis
• 6th rate
– Iguape
and
Villa de
São
Mateus –
80
Réis
• 7th rate
– Villa
do
Príncipe
and
Paranaguá
– 100
Réis
• 8th rate
– Tejuco
(Diamantina)
– 110
Réis
• 9th rate
– Matto
Grosso,
Goyaz
and
Paracatu
– 120
Réis
4 –
DECREE
N. 254,
OF
NOVEMBER
29, 1842
New
Postal
Regulations
(With
supplements
of 21st
December,
1844)
Introduced
the use
of
postage
stamps,
prepaid
postage
fees ,
and
unified
mail
postage
rates
throughout
the
country,
regardless
of
distance
(as
determined
by the
Emperor
D. Pedro
II: “no
subject
of the
Empire
shall be
punished
for
living
away
from
Court”
).
| Weight |
Land rates
|
Sea rates |
| Up to 4 oitavas |
60 Réis
|
120 Réis
|
| Up to 6 oitavas |
90 Réis
|
180 Réis
|
| Up to 8 oitavas |
120 Réis
|
240 Réis
|
The use
of
Bull’s
Eyes (Olho
de Boi)
stamps
began in
Court
(Rio de
Janeiro)
on
August
1st
1843, at
the cost
of 30,
60 and
90 Réis .
Their
remittance
to Post
Offices
in other
cities
began on
September
1st,
1843.
• To
every
2
oitavas
increase
in
letter
weight
30
Réis
were
added
to
land
postage
and
60
Réis
to
sea
postage
rates.
• Judicial
letters
were
charged
half
the
cost
if
sent
by
sea
and
one-fourth,
by
land.
• Books
and
other
printed
matter
cost
one-fourth
of
letter
rates.
• The
rate
of
surface
mail
that
used
both
sea
and
land
transportation
was
the
sum
of
both.
• All
mail
sent
to
the
same
city,
town,
or
village,
was
charged
half
land
postage
fees.
• Postage
was
prepaid,
and
the
words
“Prepaid
Postage”
(Porte
Pago)
or
“Franca”
were
written
on
mail
during
the
time
which
preceded
the
first
stamps.
• The
Decree
did
not
apply
to
letters
or
other
kinds
of
documents
transported
by
British
vessels.
• Mail
sent
by
immigrants
to
relatives
in
their
countries
of
origin
were
exempted
from
postage
fees.
• Individual
letters
shipped
from
abroad
were
charged
an
internal
fee
of
30
Réis
each,
which
were
handed
to
the
Merchant
Ship
Commander,
as a
bonus.
• Newspapers
paid
10 a
Réis
postage
(10
Réis
“slanting
numerals”
stamps,
available
as
of
October
26th
,
1846).
• Law
396
of 2
of
September
of
1846
in
its
art.
2
determined
that
the
letter
that
was
sent
by
sea
and
land
paid
only
the
maritime
transport
• As a
curiosity,
mail
collecting
boxes
were
placed
at
the
main
Post
Offices
in
August
1849
–
yellow
ones
for
letters
for
foreign
countries,
red
ones
for
land
mail
(outside
the
Court
only),
and
green
ones
for
sea
mail.
Boxes
for
local
mail
(Court)
were
placed
next
to
the
treasurer’s
room.
On
May
18th,
1849
the
following
changes
took
place:
Up to 4 oitavas - 30
Réis
Up to 6 oitavas - 50 Réis
Up to 8
oitavas - 70 Réis , and a 20 Réis increase at every 2
oitavas.
• Brazilian newspapers were tax-exempted, whereas books, lotteries, calendars, almanacs and other kinds of lithographs and brochures were charges one-fourth of letter postage rates.
Post Ordinance of May 18th, 1849
It determined prepaid postage exemption for mail to foreign countries – confirmed by the Anglo-Brazilian Convention of January 12, 1853, chapter five.
5 – DECREE 637, 0F SEPTEMBER 27TH, 1849
Created a tax for home mail delivery.
• Besides the usual postage fee for unsealed letters, additional 20
Réis were charged to those addressees who received mail at home. A 20 Reis stamp was issued for this specific end, available as of August 23rd , 1850. At first those stamps were not sold to the public. They were cancelled with two crossed lines before being passed to the mailman in charge of collecting postage fees from the addressees.
• In 1866 this stamp began to be sold for ordinary use.
• As of July 1st, 1854, the use of 10 and 30
Réis Cat’s Eye (Olho de Gato) blue stamps became mandatory in single postage of printed matter and newspapers. The use of this type of stamp on conventional mail, was forbidden until March 1856.
• 280 and 430
Réis stamps were made available beginning on December 15th, 1861.
Note: As a curiosity and at the same time to give an idea on how expensive postage fees were at that time, the average wage of mailmen working at small post offices was a little higher than 430 Réis per month. The purpose of this comment is to draw the reader’s attention to the need of a careful examination of letters with excessive postage values, something rather common in our milieu.
6 – DECREE 3443 OF APRIL 12TH, 1865.
Introduced new Postal Regulations and included postage rate changes.
• Unified postage rates of 80
Réis for 15 grams or fraction was introduced for mail delivery within the Empire, regardless of distance, either by sea or land.
For heavier mail the rates were:
• Up to 30 grams – 160
Réis
• Up to 60 grams – 320
Réis
• Up to 90 grams – 480
Réis
• Letters over 90 grams were charged a supplementary fee of 160
Réis for each additional 30 grams or fraction, besides the regular fee of 480
Réis.
• IMPORTANT: Apparently, the above-mentioned postage rates never went into effect. Decree 3675 of June 27, 1866, established a single postage rate of 100 Reis for the biennium 1866-1867. As the D. Pedro “Black Beard” (Barba Preta) stamps series were issued on July 1st, 1866, single postage letters bearing 80
Réis stamps of such series cannot be admitted.
• Letters coming from abroad from non signatory countries to Postal Conventions, were charged a 30
Réis extra tax, besides the regular unified postage rate.
• Letters circulating within the same city (Urban Post) paid a small single postage fee of 50
Réis for 15 grams or fraction.
• Wedding, birth and death lithographed or printed notifications, business cards, circular letters, folders and leaflets as well as other kinds of written communication, paid a 20
Réis postage fee per 10 grams or fraction. As of April 28th, 1880 postage rates went up to 20
Réis per 15 grams or fraction. This type of mail was dispatched open and prepaid.
• Registered letters
were introduced as a new type of postal service. Besides ordinary postage rates, they were charged an extra 200
Réis fee in stamps. The same service and taxes were extended to printed matter, books and parcel posts in general.
• Registered money letters, Treasury or Bank Notes, lottery tickets or any document with value to bearer, paid: postage fees (100
Réis for first rate, and so forth) , registration fees (200
Réis ), plus 2% on the declared value, being 200
Réis for the first declared 10.000
Réis , and additional 100
Réis for each 5.000
Réis or fraction. The registered document value was always expressed on the envelope.
• Newspapers were charged 10 Reis per copy.
• Stamps bearing the Emperor’s effigy were issued ( Black Beard perforated series) as well as envelopes and wrappers with postal stationery.
• 100 Reis “Black Beard” stamps began to be sold to the public on July 1st , 1866.
• The use of “Mute” cancellations was authorized on July 1st , 1866 (Decree 3348) –
Important: It had never been used before.
NOTE 1 – Reference was made in a letter sent to Portugal through British Post (1864), to the use of PP (Port Payée) cancellation instead of stamps, meaning the payment of internal postage from the Province of Maranhão to the Province of Pernambuco.
NOTE 2 – As stamps with D. Pedro’s effigy or “Black Beards” run short in Rio de Janeiro in October, 1866, the use of “Goat’s Eyes” remaining from previous printings, was authorized. Most of them came from the Central Post Office already perforated before being put to sale.
7 – DECREE 3903, OF JUNE 26TH , 1867
• 1st Art. – It set a single postage fee of 100
Réis for letters weighing up to 15 grams, for both land and sea surface mail within the Empire. Local urban mail postage fee was kept in 50
Réis .
• 2nd Art. – Incoming or outgoing mail to countries not subject to international Postal Conventions, would pay the same postage taxes as those charged by foreign countries on letters coming from Brazil, plus an additional tax whenever the transportation was made by a Brazilian Ship.
• Envelopes (Postal stationery) bearing the Emperor’s effigy in relief, costing 100, 200 and 300
Réis, were put to sale on July 1867.
• The amount due for insufficient mail postage began to be charged in double.
Note: Paraguay’s War – Letters coming from war zone only were exempted of postage, and had special maritime handling. They had the “Franca” cancellation stamped on.
8 – DECREE 7695, OF APRIL 28, 1880.
Created the Post-card.
Rates:
• Internal – 50 Réis
• Foreign – 80 Réis
___________________
Bibliography:
1. NOVA MONTEIRO, F. – Achegas à históriados correios brasileiros. Boletim Filatélico Bandeirantes, 1(2-4), Mar. 42; 2(2-3) Abr. 42.
2. GUATEMOSIN, Dorvelino – Catalogo Brasil. 1933.
3. VIEIRA, Armando M.O. - Subsídios para a história do Correio marítimo português. Núcleo Filatélico do Ateneu Comercial do Porto. 1988.
4. DREYFUSS, Gilbert – Sobre correspondências do Brasil para o exterior com selos brasileiros e indica;áo de taxas. Brasil Filatélico, (156), out./dez. 1978.
5. SAADI, A. Sant”Anna – Histórico sobre os selos “Olho de Gato” ou “Coloridos”. Brasil Filatélico, (186), out./dez. 1978.
6. SANTOS, A.G. & MOENS, J.B. - Des postes et des timbres-postes du Brésil . Le timbre-Poste (51-52). Reprinted in Brasil Filatélico (170-172), between Oct. 74/June 75
7. MAGALHÃES, A. Guedes – Cartas vindas ao Brasil pelos paquetes transatlânticos. Porto: Victor Simarro, 1977.
8. VIEIRA, A. M. O. – Paquetes a vapor para o Brasil. Porto: Núcleo Filatélico do Ateneu Comercial do Porto, 1991.
9. MACHADO, L. G. Gonçalves – Introdução ao estudo da pré-filatelia Brasileira. ArGe Brazilien, 1983.
10. NINITCH, N. – Zoran. A União Postal Universal: sua fundação e desenvolvimento. Brasil Filatélico, (96), set. 1952.
11. PAULA SOBRINHO, J. F. de Paula – História postal de Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte: O Lutador, 1997
12. GUIA Postal do Império do Brasil: publicação oficial. Tiphographia Nacional, 1880.
13. BRASIL 1844-1846: Compêndio dos inclinados. Belo Horizonte: Walter G. Taveira, 1999
Copyright © 1999 Klerman Wanderly Lopes
