Stamps CHF 1.00+0.50 «BERNABA 2025», Sheetlet with 4 stamps

From 14 to 17 May, BERNABA 2025 will be bringing together collectors in Bern. The national and multilateral exhibition invites you to celebrate 175 years of federal stamps. It will also offer a glimpse into the life of Bernese lithographer Carl Durheim, who printed the very first federal stamps. In 1850, i.e. after the founding of the federal state and the creation of the federal post service, the very first stamps valid throughout Switzerland were released. They were adorned with only the Swiss coat of arms and a post horn symbol. The first of them, a stamp with a face value of 2.5 centimes, appeared on the market in the spring of 1850. In the autumn, two more federal stamps followed: “Rayon I” (5 centimes) and “Rayon II” (10 centimes). Then, in 1852, “Rayon III” was released. It cost 15 centimes and was valid for over 10 way hours (Wegstunden).