Matthew E. Liebson
Ohio 6 1/4 Cent Rate Covers
The 6 1/4 cent rate is a phantom rate; it never existed for U.S. mail.  The official rate was 6 cents, which was difficult to pay in U.S. coinage.  Fractional Spanish colonial currency circulated freely in the United States as legal tender until 1857, and 6 1/4 cents corresponds precisely with 1/2 real (8 reales being equivalent to a United States dollar).  Covers bearing a 6 1/4 rate are generally prepaid and reflect a postmaster correctly accounting for the actual amount collected by him for the letter. 

See "The Pickayune Rate", Ohio Postal History Journal Issue #103 (March 2003), page 6.  The 6 1/4 cent rate was also mentioned in the Spring 1977 issue of the Journal, in a J.K. Gibson article.  For more information on the impact of coinage generally on postal rates, see Richard Frajola's Postal Charges and Payment Methods in the United States 1792-1921.

Known Ohio-origin "pickayune" covers are listed below.  Further reports are solicited.

Town
Illustration
Date
Rate
Destination
Postmark
Source
Belleville

4/1/18??
paid (double)
Mt. Vernon OH
manuscript
J. Stotts collection
College Corner

1/28/1840
paid
Liberty IN
manuscript
M. Liebson collection
Coolville

4/23/1832
paid
Athens OH
manuscript
M. Liebson collection
Hamilton
n/a
10/4/1842
paid
Cincinnati OH
CDS
E.N. Sampson article, 1966
Lee
n/a
2/20/1841
unpaid
Athens OH
manuscript
OPHJ #85, p. 19
Letart Falls
n/a
3/12/1832
paid
Chester OH
manuscript
OPHJ Vol. II, No. 2 (Spring '77)
Martinsburgh

5/15/1833
unpaid
Mt. Vernon OH
manuscript
M. Reasoner collection
Martinsburgh
9/25/1838
unpaid
Mt. Vernon OH
manuscript (forwarding)
M. Reasoner collection
Martinsburgh
10/6/1838
unpaid
Newark OH
manuscript (forwarding)
M. Reasoner collection
Maumee City

12/3/1837
paid
Toledo OH
CDS
M. Liebson collection
Middlebury
n/a
12/19/1828
unpaid
Kendall OH
boxed straightline
E.N. Sampson article, 1966
Morristown

7/18/1832
paid
St. Clairsville OH
manuscript
M. Liebson collection
Waterford

10/21/1827
paid
Marietta OH
manuscript
R. Frajola collection





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