Switzerland 1850 'Rayon I' (framed cross)

From cantonal posts to one Swiss post

Until 1848 Switzerland was a loose confederation, and cantons such as Zurich, Geneva and Basel ran their own postal services and issued their own stamps. The federal constitution of 1848 changed that. With effect from January 1, 1849, the new Federal Postal Administration took over the mail across the country.

The federal post brought in stamps in stages. On April 5, 1850, the Federal Council made 2 1/2 rappen stamps available for local mail, the 'Orts-Post' and 'Poste Locale' issues. On October 1, 1850, the dark blue Rayon I and the yellow Rayon II went on sale. A 15 rappen Rayon III followed in 1852; one encyclopedia dates it January 1, 1852.

'Rayon' means radius or zone. Postage depended on how far a letter traveled, and each stamp paid one zone. The Rayon I, at 5 rappen, paid the shortest distance. One encyclopedia gives Rayon I as up to 2 hours of transport, about 9.6 km, Rayon II as up to 10 hours and Rayon III as up to 40 hours. A specialist society describes the first zone differently, as up to 10 hours at 5 rappen per half loth of weight, so the sources do not agree on the exact limits.

Forty hand-drawn types and a troublesome frame

The Rayon stamps were lithographed on white wove paper without perforations. For the Rayon I and II, forty types were drawn by hand on a printing stone, eight across and five down. The forty types were transferred and repeated four times, occasionally twice, to make sheets of 160 or 80 stamps.

The first Rayon I was printed in black and red on a dark blue background, with a thin black frame around the white cross on the red shield. The frame proved difficult to print well and was erased from the stone in later printings. A specialist society notes that the local 2 1/2 rappen stamps appeared without the frame from June 1850.

In September 1850 the printer was asked to try color changes on the existing plates to cut costs. The Rayon I was changed to light blue on white paper with a red shield. The light blue stamp is believed to have been issued on March 30, 1851, and the earliest confirmed cancellation is April 15, 1851. Complete frame lines on this later light blue version are exceedingly rare.

A new country's first stamps

The Rayon stamps were among the first countrywide stamps put into circulation after the cantons adopted the federal constitution of 1848. They bridge the famous cantonal issues, such as the Zurich 4 and 6, the Double Geneva and the Basel Dove, and the federal era that followed.

Their life was short. The 'Strubel' stamps, with a seated figure of Helvetia and colored silk threads in the paper as a security device, began appearing in 1854. All Rayon stamps were declared invalid on October 1, 1854. All stamps were issued in German and French versions, with the French ones using 'cts.' instead of 'Rp.'

Record prices

In November 2008, at a sale in Wil, in the canton of St. Gallen, billed as the world's largest stamp auction, a 5 rappen Rayon I printed in blue sold for 348,000 Swiss francs, about $293,000. Its estimate had been 150,000 francs, and the auctioneer called the result extremely high. Reports describe it as one of the finest specimens known; they do not say whether it showed the complete framed cross.

The most famous framed-cross item is the 'Nidau' cover, a letter franked with a light blue Rayon I of 1851 with a complete framed cross. Offered from the ERIVAN collection of Switzerland and Zeppelin mail at auction in Zurich in December 2019, it opened at 250,000 Swiss francs and sold for 310,000 francs. No USD figure was given for that sale.

The other framed-cross Rayons are prized too. An 1850 Rayon II with a black frame around the cross sold for $84,000 at a sale reported in January 2018, and an example on cover sold for almost $156,000.

How to recognize one

A Rayon I shows a post horn above the Swiss shield, with 'RAYON I' and the value of 5 rappen. The 1850 stamp is dark blue; the 1851 stamp is light blue. Both are imperforate and lithographed on white wove paper.

On a framed-cross stamp, a fine black line runs all the way around the white cross inside the red shield. On most Rayon I stamps that line is missing or only partly present, because it was erased from the stone. Stamps with the frame complete are considered the rarest of the issue, and for the light blue 1851 stamp complete frame lines are exceedingly rare.

The numbers

Issue date

October 1, 1850 (dark blue); light blue believed March 30, 1851

Face value

5 rappen (French version: 5 cts.)

Printing

Lithography; 40 hand-drawn types, eight by five

Sheet

160 stamps (types repeated four times), occasionally 80

Paper

White wove paper

Separation

Imperforate

Colors

1850: black and red on dark blue. 1851: light blue with red shield

Variety

Complete black frame around the cross, later erased from the stone

Validity

To October 1, 1854

Timeline

1. 1848

   The Swiss cantons adopt the federal constitution.

2. Jan 1, 1849

   The Federal Postal Administration takes over the mail.

3. Apr 5, 1850

   The Federal Council issues the first federal stamps, the 2 1/2 rappen local issues.

4. Jun 1850

   The local stamps appear without the frame around the cross.

5. Sep 1850

   The printer is asked to try cheaper color changes on the existing plates.

6. Oct 1, 1850

   The dark blue Rayon I and yellow Rayon II go on sale.

7. Mar 30, 1851

   Believed issue date of the light blue Rayon I.

8. Apr 15, 1851

   Earliest confirmed cancellation of the light blue Rayon I.

9. Jan 1, 1852

   The 15 rappen Rayon III is issued.

10. Oct 1, 1854

    All Rayon stamps are declared invalid.

11. Nov 2008

    A 5 rappen Rayon I sells for 348,000 Swiss francs, about $293,000, at auction in Wil.

12. Dec 2019

    The 'Nidau' cover with a framed-cross light blue Rayon I sells for 310,000 Swiss francs in Zurich.

The world in 1850

• Jan 29, 1850

  Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 in the U.S. Congress.

• Mar 16, 1850

  Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter' is published in Boston.

• Apr 23, 1850

  The English poet William Wordsworth dies.

• Jul 9, 1850

  Millard Fillmore becomes U.S. president after Zachary Taylor dies.

• Aug 28, 1850

  Wagner's 'Lohengrin' premieres in Weimar under Franz Liszt.

• Sep 9, 1850

  California becomes the 31st U.S. state.

• Sep 18, 1850

  Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Law.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Switzerland 1850 'Rayon I' (framed cross) is number 32 of 100 in the stamps entries of the FLOAT 100. 82 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (73 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The black frame around the cross was removed because it was too much trouble to print.
• The stone held 40 types drawn by hand, eight across and five down, repeated to fill a sheet of 160.
• The light blue 1851 version came out of an effort to cut printing costs.
• The 2008 record stamp had a face value of 5 rappen and sold for more than double its estimate.
• Swiss stamps of the period came in German and French versions, with 'Rp.' or 'cts.'
• All Rayon stamps lost their validity on October 1, 1854, less than four years after the first went on sale.