1930 Graf Zeppelin stamps

Although the stamps were valid for postage on mail sent on the Zeppelin Pan American flight from Germany to the United States, via Brazil, the set was marketed to collectors and was largely intended to promote the route.

Due to the high cost of the stamps during the Great Depression, most collectors and the general public could not afford them.

The 65-cent and $1.30 values were used to pay postage for postcards and letters, respectively, that were carried on the last leg of the journey from the United States to Seville, Spain and Friedrichshafen.

The $1.30 and $2.60 stamps paid the postage for postcards and letters, respectively, that were carried on the round trip flight via Friedrichshafen or Seville.

The week-long flight of the Graf Zeppelin extended from Germany to Brazil and on to the United States and then returned to Friedrichshafen.

[10] However, the U.S. Post Office would receive only a small profit of 6.5% of the stamps' denomination for letters that would actually be carried aboard the Graf Zeppelin.

[1] The Zeppelin stamps were withdrawn from sale on June 30, 1930,[12] and the remaining stocks were destroyed by the Post Office Department.

Like the other two denominations, its inscription along the top reads GRAF ZEPPELIN – EUROPE PAN AMERICAN FLIGHT, and UNITED STATES POSTAGE along the bottom.

The stamp was printed in brown and depicts the Graf Zeppelin flying westward, superimposed over a map of the continents of Europe and South and North America with the names of various cities shown.

This issue paid the postcard and letter rates on the May 1930 Pan American flight that departed from Germany, flying to Brazil and then the United States.

[14] The blue $2.60 stamp depicts the Graf Zeppelin among clouds, superimposed over a globe and traveling toward the west.

[16] Over a five-year period the Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg flew scheduled airmail flights delivering mail across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and points in Europe.

[18] The great cost of the famous round the world flight of 1929 was offset by the abundance of souvenir mail carried by the Graf Zeppelin.