St. Louis Postmaster Provisional, 10 Cents

United States · 1845 · 10¢

The stamp features the Coat of Arms of Missouri, depicting two bears supporting a shield, with the state motto 'Salus populi suprema lex esto' below. It is printed in black on pale green paper.

This is a rare Postmaster Provisional stamp, issued by the St. Louis postmaster before the U.S. federal government began issuing its own stamps in 1847. These local issues were necessary to prepay postage in a period when official stamps were not yet available.