AustriaFirst Postage Stamp

The first Stamps of Austria & Lombardy-Venetia

Austria’s first stamps were issued in 1850, in five bold colours and denominations: 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9 kreuzer, each showing the imperial eagle and initially printed on handmade paper in Vienna. They marked the start of modern prepaid postage across a vast empire. But things didn’t go entirely smoothly. Printing continued for years, plates wore and colours varied considerably. When some sheets of the yellow 1 kreuzer came out too pale, printers turned them over and printed again on the back, creating the unusual and now collectible double-sided prints. These first stamps didn’t say “Austria,” but “KK Post-Stempel,” short for Imperial-Royal Post Stamp. From 1854, the same designs were printed on machine-made paper. One of the easiest ways to separate the early and later printings is therefore the paper: generally rough and uneven for the handmade paper, smoother and more uniform for the machine-made paper. Most of the remaining stocks were burned in 1859. What survives today reflects years of printing: shifting colours, worn plates, different papers and plenty of varieties, making Austria’s first issue a particularly deep one to explore.