Local mail and rayon stamps of Switzerland

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Switzerland’s first postage stamps, the Local Mail and Rayon issues, appeared in 1850 and 1852. They are highly prized by collectors; a 5 rappen Rayon I stamp sold for CHF 348,000 in 2008. After Switzerland became a federal state in 1848, the Confederation took over mail service and started the federal postal service in 1849. These stamps were the first nationwide definitive stamps, even though Geneva, Basel-Stadt and Zürich stamps stayed valid until 1854 when all were replaced by the Sitting Helvetia series.

Postal rules split the country into four rayons for letters of a small weight, with rates based on distance or travel time and a special lower rate for letters within a municipality. Rayon IV (long distance) carried 20 Rappen but was never issued and was merged into Rayon III in 1852. The stamps show a bugle over the Swiss coat of arms and are labeled with their value and the rayon (or “local mail”). They were printed in German and French, with the French versions using “cts.” for “Rp.” and “Poste locale” for “Orts-Post.” They were lithographed on plain white, imperforate paper.