Timeline of post and stamp history
Timeline to be used in the Money Museum exhibition
1661–1839 History of postage stamps
19 April 1661 Henry Bishop’s date stamp (month, day) appeared on letters for the first time in the world in England.
27 March 1680 William Dockwra’s Penny Post business was launched between London and its suburbs. The letters were stamped to indicate the payment of the 1 penny fare as well as the date and place of posting (time of day, hour, collecting post office). Letters were delivered ten times a day, in every hour in London, and at least six times a day in the suburbs.
1 January 1819 Postage pre-paid letterheads were introduced in the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was compulsory to use for private postal services. The proof of the payment of the state postage tax was affixed to the paper in the form of a stamp showing a courier on horseback. Actual fares for delivery had to be paid to the private postal service on top of this.
Laurentius Koschier (Lovrenc Kosir) born in Slovenia submitted a proposal to the Vienna Ministry of Trade in 1835 for the introduction of a stamp-like adhesive paper (gepresste papieroblate) that would simplify the pre-payment of postage. However, his proposal was not backed.
Scottish printer business owner, James Chalmers came up with a similar proposal in December 1837 and designed two stamps in 1838; however, his reform idea was also rejected by the British government.
1840–1900 Heyday of postage stamps
6 May 1840 The use of postage stamps in the United Kingdom was introduced based on a detailed proposal submitted by Post Office Officer Rowland Hill in February 1837. Pre-purchased postage stamps provided the post office with a secure income, allowing them to reduce the tariffs for their services, which in turn increased the number of people who could use them, multiplying the post office’s turnover and revenue.
1842 The Postmaster of New York issued the first stamp in the United States.
1 March 1843 The first stamps were issued by the canton of Zurich.
30 September 1843 Brazil’s first, so-called ox-eye postage stamps were issued.
3 July 1848 Mór Than designed his first Hungarian stamp. Landerer and Heckenast Printing House produced the single-picture printing block; however, the stamp was never printed.
1 June 1850 The use of stamps was introduced in the Habsburg Empire, including Hungary, under a single Austrian postal administration. The first postage stamp series depicted the coat of arms of the dynasty.
1 January 1851 The first newspaper stamps were issued in the Habsburg Empire.
1 May 1867 The independent Royal Hungarian Post as established after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise.
1 June 1867 A stamp series with identical graphics printed for Austrian and Hungarian orders and produced by the
State Printing House in Vienna was put into circulation. The denominations used in the Kingdom of Hungary are considered to be the first Hungarian stamps.
1 October 1869 Stamps with a value imprint, also known as lettercards with an imprinted stamp were sold on an experimental basis at the Vienna and Pest main post offices, at the initiative of Emmanuel Hermann in Austria. The world premiere was a huge success and their use soon became widespread in all countries.
1 May 1871 The first domestically-produced, stone-printed postage stamps were introduced, followed by copperplate printed stamps from the beginning of June, and a new newspaper stamp was also issued.
1 August 1873 The charges for sending a telegram, a new service, also had to be paid by stamp, and the first telegraph stamps were issued.
1 January 1900 The first postage stamps denominated in korona-fillér appeared, many years after the monetary reform in 1892.
1900–1925 Wars and regime changes depicted on stamps
20 November 1913 The first domestic charity stamps were put into circulation. The 2 fillér surcharge was donated by users of the postal services to help flood stricken people in Krassó-Szörény county.
7 October 1914 The first War Aid series was issued for the benefit of war widows and orphans, followed by two further issues in the years of the First World War.
30 December 1916 The first Hungarian special stamps were issued for the coronation ceremony of Charles IV and Queen Zita. The validity period and number of copies were limited. In the past, only circulation stamps were issued, which even today do not have a predetermined circulation period or number of copies, i.e. they can be reprinted whenever needed.
4 July 1918 The first domestic airmail service was launched and overprinted stamps were issued for this purpose. However, this service was discontinued in three weeks after two fatal accidents.
23 November 1918 One week after the proclamation of the Hungarian People’s Republic, postage stamps overprinted by the title KÖZTÁRSASÁG (REPUBLIC) were issued.
21 July 1919 Ten days before the fall of the proletarian dictatorship, stamps overprinted by the title MAGYAR TANÁCSKÖZTÁRSASÁG (HUNGARY – SOVIET REPUBLIC) were issued. Part of these series were sold abroad.
27 January 1920 Overprinting the overprint: the red inscription of the Hungary-Soviet Republic on the remaining stamps was covered by a black wheat sheaf.
1 March 1920 Hungary became a kingdom again, and this was reflected on postage stamps.
1921 – 1925 Inflationary stamp issues after the World War peaked with the issuance of the 10,000 korona denomination of the Crowned Madonna in 1925.
1926–1946 The pengő era in Hungary
26 March 1926 Smaller denominations of the first pengő-forint circulation series were issued.
28 April 1930 Stamp Museum, founded by the Hungarian Royal Post, opened in the Buda Postal Palace.
20 June 1933 The Justice for Hungary airplane depicted on several denominations of the Airplanes II airmail series caused the breakout of a so-called stamp war between Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The Czechoslovak Post refused to forward the postage pre-paid letters bearing these stamps and returned them. In return, the Royal Hungarian Post returned letters and postcards from Czechoslovakia with stamps depicting the double-cross coat of arms of the neighbouring state.
6 May 1934 The first Hungarian stamp block has been published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of LEHE (First National Association of Postage Stamp Collectors). This lead to a new collection field. (The first block was issued in Luxemburg in 1923.)
1 December 1938 The Post issues a pair of stamps with the inscription HAZATÉRÉS (HOMECOMING) to commemorate the result of the first Vienna decision, when most of the Hungarian-inhabited territory of the Upper Country was reannexed to Hungary. (The inscription is missing from a 100-piece stamp sheet. This valuable rarity is known by the collectors as the Nagymánya misprint named after its place of use.)
5 September 1940 After the second Vienna decision, the Post issued a commemorative stamp with the inscription KELET VISSZATÉR (HOMECOMING OF THE EAST) to celebrate the reannexation of Northern Transylvania.
23 November 1940 Stamp Museum was moved to and opened in the Pest Postal Palace. The new exhibition space represented the highest standards of the time. However, due to the country’s drift into the world war, it was closed in the summer of 1941 and the entire collection was moved to the basement of the building for security reasons.
21 April 1941 Another territorial expansion was celebrated by philately by overprinting the inscription DÉL VISSZATÉR (HOMECOMING OF THE SOUTH).
1941 – 1944 Titles of the series of issues commemorating World War II: Military, Aviation Fund, Military Healthcare, Warlords, Red Cross.
14 December 1944 The majority of the Stamp Museum’s collection was housed in the Postal Administration building in Sopron.
1945 – 1946 Pengő witnessed world record inflation never exceeded to date, which was also reflected on postage stamps.
1945–1989 From Liberation to the Regime change
25 January 1945 The most valuable items of the Stamp Museum’s collection arrived in Spital am Pyhrn, Austria, on the gold train of Magyar Nemzeti Bank in three steel crates.
12 February 1946 The Hungarian Post celebrated the proclamation of the second Republic by a newly issued stamp.
1 August 1946 As a result of the financial stabilisation, the Hungarian Post issued its first circulation series denominated in forint-fillér simultaneously with the introduction of the new currency, the forint. The treasures that were taken to the West at the end of the war were returned with the gold train, which, along with the National Bank’s gold reserves, also brought home the most valuable collections of the Stamp Museum.
24 June 1948 Stamp Museum reopened to the public after the traces of the war damage to the Pest Post Palace had been eliminated and the collection had been repatriated from Sopron and abroad.
20 August 1949 The first stamp series produced by the Banknote Printing Company was issued to pay homage to the Constitution. From then on, besides the graphic artists of the State Printing House, banknote designers were also frequently required to design stamps, and the new golden age of the Hungarian stamp began with the revival of the copper engraving technique.
5 October 1955 The first non-paper based stamp in the world was also made by the Banknote Printing Company.
The 20th anniversary of the Hungarian aluminium industry was greeted by a denomination made of aluminium. The aluminium foil is 0.009 millimetres thick.
29 October 1956 In the Sopron city printing house local stamp reserves were overprinted with the inscription: „Hazádnak rendületlenül..! Sopron 1956. október 22.” (To your homeland without fail...! Sopron, 22 October 1956) reminding people of the meeting of the student parliament of the University of Forestry and Wood technology a week earlier, where the demands of the university youth were formulated. It was scheduled to be launched on 5 November, but the Soviet invasion commencing on 4 November prevented this.
4 December 1965 The first stamp in the world made of gold was issued in Gabon. The issue paid tribute to Albert Schweitzer awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for performing missionary medical activities in the Central African country.
22 October 1972 Stamp Museum reopened after renovations and extensions with a separate reception area on the Hársfa utca side instead of the main entrance to the Ministry on Dob utca. This allowed it to provide daily opening hours, like other specialised museums.
15 October 1985 Circular serrated perforation was applied on the block dedicated to the Budapest Cultural Forum of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
30 October 1989 The stamp that visually best symbolises the upcoming regime change was circulated under the title Dismantled Iron Curtain.
1990 – From Foundation to Ltd., stamps of modern times
1 January 1990 The Hungarian Post was divided into three parts. MATÁV engaged in telecommunications (the predecessor of today’s Magyar Telekom), the Hungarian Broadcasting Company (the predecessor of today’s Antenna Hungária) and the Hungarian Postal Company (now a private company limited by shares) providing classical postal services became independent companies.
At the same time, the three companies established the Postal and Telecommunications Museum Foundation, which became the operator of the Stamp Museum in addition to the Postal Museum.
23 November 1990 Stamp Museum welcomed the public with a new permanent exhibition on the 50th anniversary of its move to the Pest Postal Palace. At that time, approximately 300 thousand stamps were on display in the exhibition called Universe – Stamp History.
15 November 1991 This was the first time that the Hungarian Post issued a holographic stamp. The new version of the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Hungary block issued last year depicts the coat of arms with this added printing speciality.
18 April 1996 The last year of a major stamp counterfeiting committed at the expense of the Post. Fences sold large quantities of the 50 forint denomination stamp series issued for the Atlanta Summer Olympics to tourists in the Balaton region during the peak summer season. However, they were caught thanks to the vigilance of a sharp-eyed postman from Balatonfüred, since they used a #9 guillotine perforation instead of a #12 comb perforation used for real stamps.
6 December 1997 The most valuable item of Hungarian philately to date, a copy of the Kőbánya letters with a red 3 kreutzer stamp with a misprinted number from 1867 was sold at Hungarofila’s auction for HUF 38 million. It was purchased jointly by its owners, the Hungarian Development Bank and the Hungarian Post to keep the first Hungarian philatelic rarity in Hungary. It has been deposited at the Stamp Museum.
1999–2001 The three blocks commemorating the millennium—Total Solar Eclipse, Turn of the Millennium – Great Hungarian Mathematicians, Holy Crown—are the pride of the Banknote Printing Company and the State Printing House, as they feature many special printing technologies.
18 August 2000 The first two Hungarian Millennium miniature sheets were issued (followed by two more in 2001), which were made with the largest ever intellectual investment in Hungarian philately. The work of graphic artist Ferenc Svindt presents the history of Hungary over 1000 years in four parts, almost equivalent to the history textbooks used in schools.
23 June 2020 Stamp Museum has become a direct state property, and is maintained by Nemzeti Bélyegmúzeum Kft.