1st Class Postage History
A Look at First Class Postage through the Years
Postal Update: The cost of the USPS First-Class Forever stamp will increase to 58 cents on Sunday, August 29, 2021. The advantage of a first-class forever stamp is that its value goes up when the first-class rate goes up. So if you have old first-class forever stamps, you do not have to add those extra pennies for postage when the rate rises.
| DATE: | FIRST OUNCE RATE: (USD) (letter) | % CHANGE: |
|---|---|---|
| July 1885 | $0.02 | N/A |
| November 1917 | $0.03 | + 50% |
| July 1919 | $0.02 | – 33.3% |
| July 1932 | $0.03 | + 50% |
| August 1958 | $0.04 | + 33.3% |
| January 1963 | $0.05 | + 25% |
| January 1968 | $0.06 | + 20% |
| May 1971 | $0.08 | +33.3% |
| March 1974 | $0.10 | + 25% |
| December 1975 | $0.13 | + 33.3% |
| May 1978 | $0.15 | + 15.4% |
| March 1981 | $0.18 | + 20% |
| November 1981 | $0.20 | + 11.1% |
| February 1985 | $0.22 | + 10% |
| April 1988 | $0.25 | + 13.6% |
| February 1991 | $0.29 | + 16% |
| January 1995 | $0.32 | + 10.3% |
| January 1999 | $0.33 | + 3.1% |
| January 2001 | $0.34 | + 3% |
| June 2002 | $0.37 |
+ 8.8% |
| January 2006 | $0.39 | + 5.4% |
| May 2007 | $0.41 | + 5.1% |
| May 2008 | $0.42 | + 2.4% |
| May 2009 | $0.44 | + 4.8% |
| January 2012 | $0.45 | + 2.3% |
| January 2013 | $0.46 | + 2.2% |
|
January, 2014 |
$0.49 | + 6.5% |
|
April, 2016 |
$0.47 | – 4.1% |
|
January, 2017 |
$0.49 | + 4.2% |
|
January, 2018 |
$0.50 | + 1.9% |
|
January, 2019 |
$0.55 | +2.0% |
|
August, 2021 |
$0.58 | + 5.4% |
