Switzerland 'Zurich 4' (1843 Cantonal)

The second country to issue stamps

In 1843 Switzerland was a loose confederation, and each canton ran its own post. Britain's Penny Black had shown in 1840 that prepaid adhesive stamps worked. Zurich's council approved a stamp scheme on January 21, 1843, and in less than six weeks the stamps were ready. They went on sale on March 1, 1843, making Zurich, as the Helvetia Philatelic Society puts it, the second stamp-issuing state in the world.

There were two rates and two stamps. The 4 rappen, inscribed 'Local-Taxe,' paid for letters within the city, the 'Local Rayon.' The 6 rappen, inscribed 'Cantonal-Taxe,' paid for letters to places in the rest of the canton. Both were inscribed 'Zurich' at the top.

Zurich was an important postal canton. When the federal post began in 1849, about 100 of Switzerland's 403 post offices were in the canton of Zurich, against 45 in Bern.

A Penny Black in numbers

Speed left no time for a design competition, which is probably why the stamps look so much like the Penny Black. A large '4' or '6' takes the place of the queen's head, inside an ornamental frame. The stamps were printed in black over a background of fine red lines.

The printing went to Orell Fussli & Co., a Zurich firm founded in 1519 and probably the oldest printing house in Switzerland. The stamps were lithographed. Each design was drawn by hand five times, so there are five distinct types of each value, told apart by small differences in the ornaments and numerals. The five were repeated on the stone in ten double rows of five, 100 stamps to a sheet.

The paper was white or grayish white and was ruled with faint red lines before the black was printed. The first printing of 1843 has vertical red lines. A later printing of 1846 has horizontal lines. Multiples are almost unknown, and some specialists think the stamps were sold in horizontal strips, almost like modern coil stamps.

The Zurich rosette

Zurich also borrowed the idea of a special cancel. Its postmark, a Swiss cross inside an ornamental quatrefoil frame, is known as the Zurich rosette, an echo of Britain's Maltese cross. The rule was that the rosette would be struck in black for letters within the city and in red for letters to the rest of the canton. There were exceptions, and blue or greenish-blue strikes are known from a few offices.

The stamps outlived the cantonal post. The federal government took over the mails in 1849 and issued its first stamps for all of Switzerland in 1850, but Zurich stamps stayed in use for some time and are found with later cancels such as the federal grid and 'P.P.' or 'P.D.' markings. How many were printed is not known.

Covers and singles at auction

Covers carrying the 4 rappen are prized, and the rosette is part of their appeal. On June 4, 2010, at auction in Switzerland, a cover from 1849, the only known cover to bear a rosette handstamp together with a whole and a half 4 rappen stamp, sold for 180,000 Swiss francs, reported as $156,000. The estimate had been 100,000 to 150,000 francs.

In 2016 an 1846 cover franked with an 1843 4 rappen with vertical lines and margins on all four sides was offered at auction in Zurich. It was addressed to the Roemergasse, struck with the red Zurich postmark, and the stamp was tied by a red Zurich rosette.

Single stamps sell for far less. In December 2019 an unused 1843 4 rappen with vertical lines, type III, without gum, sold at auction in the United States for $6,250.00. In the same sale an unused 1846 4 rappen with horizontal lines, type IV, brought $8,000.00. In November 2023 an unused 1843 4 rappen with vertical lines, type 4, with good margins and a certificate, sold in Vienna for 8,700 euros.

Switzerland's first, and Europe's

Zurich's stamps opened the classic era of Swiss philately. Geneva followed on September 30, 1843, with the Double Geneva, the world's first green stamp, and Basel issued its three-color Dove in 1845. The federal Rayon stamps of 1850 then replaced the cantonal issues.

The Zurich 4 and 6 have been widely forged, and the Helvetia Philatelic Society library lists several whole books on detecting Zurich forgeries. They remain classics: the society calls them among the world's classics and very desirable items.

The numbers

Issue date

March 1, 1843

Rate

Local letters within the city of Zurich

Printing

Lithography by Orell Fussli & Co., Zurich; black on a ground of fine red lines

Sheet

100 stamps: ten double rows of five

Types

5, from five hand-drawn designs

Paper

White or grayish white

Printings

1843 with vertical red lines; 1846 with horizontal red lines

Quantity printed

Not known

Timeline

1. 1840

   Britain issues the Penny Black, the model for Zurich's design.

2. Jan 21, 1843

   Zurich's council approves the stamp scheme.

3. Mar 1, 1843

   The 4 rappen and 6 rappen go on sale, the first stamps of continental Europe.

4. Sep 30, 1843

   Geneva issues the Double Geneva, Switzerland's second cantonal stamp.

5. 1845

   Basel issues the Basel Dove.

6. 1846

   A new printing of the Zurich stamps appears with horizontal red background lines.

7. 1849

   The federal government takes over the Swiss post; Zurich stamps stay in use for a time.

8. 1850

   The first federal stamps for all of Switzerland are issued.

9. Jun 4, 2010

   The only known cover with a rosette and a whole and a half 4 rappen sells for 180,000 Swiss francs ($156,000).

10. Oct 2016

    An 1846 cover with a 4 rappen tied by a red rosette is offered at auction in Zurich.

11. Dec 4, 2019

    An unused 1843 4 rappen sells for $6,250.00 at auction in the United States.

12. Nov 22, 2023

    An unused 1843 4 rappen, type 4, sells for 8,700 euros at auction in Vienna.

The world in 1843

• Mar 25, 1843

  The Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel bored under a river, opens in London.

• Jul 19, 1843

  The SS Great Britain, the first iron-hulled propeller ship to cross the Atlantic, is launched.

• Aug 1, 1843

  Brazil issues its Bull's Eye stamps.

• Sep 2, 1843

  The Economist first publishes in London.

• Oct 16, 1843

  William Rowan Hamilton discovers quaternions.

• Nov 17, 1843

  Shanghai opens to foreign trade.

• Dec 19, 1843

  Charles Dickens publishes 'A Christmas Carol.'

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 'Zurich 4' (1843 Cantonal) is number 38 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 (71 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Zurich went from council approval to stamps on sale in less than six weeks.
• The printer, Orell Fussli, was founded in 1519.
• Because blocks are almost unknown, some specialists think the stamps were sold in horizontal strips, which would make them a forerunner of coil stamps.
• The rosette cancel was meant to be black for city letters and red for the rest of the canton.
• About a quarter of all Swiss post offices in 1849 were in the canton of Zurich.