The first Polish stamps.

So here we have the Polish zloty, nominal - 10. The year of issue of this coin is 2008. Mint: Warsaw, Poland. Total circulation – 135.000. The coin is dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the Polish Post.

The first Polish stamp was issued for the Congress Kingdom on 1 January 1860. Because 1 January was a Sunday the stamp was not actually available until the following day. The design was similar to the contemporary Russian stamps with the arms of the Congress Kingdom in the centre. The engraving was done by the Polish Bank engraver Henryk Mejer. The drawings he used were found in the archives at St. Petersburg but the name of the artist remains unknown.

The stamps were printed by the government printers in Warsaw on the orders of the Congress Kingdom postal service. The letterpress machine used was invented by Izrael Abraham Staffel for printing in two colours. The machine was capable of printing 1,000 sheets per hour and it had a counting device which ensured an accurate count. Apart from these facts very little more is known about the machine.

The printing was done without consultation of the Russian postal service. The regional office in St Petersburg only approved afterwards, on 4 March 1860. These stamps could only be used within the Congress Kingdom and to Russia.