Switzerland, 1850 (Rayon I, 5 rappen, 1850)
A white cross on a red shield below a post horn, on blue.
Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
No country name: the white cross on a red shield is the Swiss cross, with a post horn above it.
- 1RAYON I.: zone one
- 2The Swiss cross
- 35 Rp.
- Inscription
- RAYON I. · 5 Rp.
- Meaning
- RAYON: a postal zone, by distance. Rp. is rappen. No country name.
- Issued by
- Switzerland
- Today
- Switzerland
- Year
- 1850. Issued 1850.
- Made by
- Carl (Karl) Durheim (designer and hand-drawn lithographic-stone maker/printer; no separate engraved die, died 1890)
One fact
Rayon I, II and III were postal zones: the further a letter went, the higher the zone and the price.
Source and public-domain rule
Creators died more than 70 years ago. Every named creator died more than 70 years ago: Carl (Karl) Durheim (died 1890). Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, counted from 1 January of the year after death. Every named designer and engraver of the stamp died before 1 January 1956; any contributor who was never named counts as anonymous, whose term is 70 years from publication, and the stamp was published before 1956. Legal sources: Directive 2006/116/EC, Art. 1(1) life + 70 years; Art. 1(3) anonymous works 70 years from publication; Art. 7(1) comparison of terms for works from outside the EU; Art. 8 terms run from 1 January, Switzerland, Norway.
Scan: Swiss Post Rayon I stamp 1850.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1262903406), licence templates {{PD-old}}. Downloaded 2026-10-22, sha256 abdb8c6f4e06…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-22 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a second check of these rights by a person is planned, and a stamp that turns out not to be free to use will be removed. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
