US 1840s Paid 5 Stampless Cover

United States · 1840 · 5¢

A circular red handstamp marking on the back of a stampless cover, featuring 'PAID' at the top and the numeral '5' in the center, indicating the postage paid.

This 'Paid 5' handstamp represents the pre-stamp era of US postal history, where postal clerks manually marked covers to indicate postage payment before the widespread use of adhesive stamps in 1847.