John Gault

Gault used these encased postage stamps as a means to solve a coin shortage during the Civil War as well as ultimately profit from their sale.

This remedial law was only a temporary solution due to the fragile nature of a thin, paper postage stamp.

Gault proposed a solution to this problem in August of that year when he patented his idea of the encased postage stamp.

[1] Gault constructed the original postage cases out of silver in order for them to more closely resemble real coins.

[2] In both the silver and more common brass versions, he cut a hole in the front cover and this acted as a frame around the stamp.

[1] In order to construct the final product, Gault used a button making machine to press the pieces together and ultimately fold the brass frame covering over the backing of the “coin.” Most of the encased postage stamps were sold in denominations of 5 and 10 cents.

Private issue Civil War tokens existed and the implementation of fractional currency came not too long after Gault created encased postage.

Finally, Gault lacked a high enough demand for companies willing to buy advertising space on the back of his coins.