Partly-printed DS as president, one page, 8.5 x 11, November 18, 1873. President Grant directs the Secretary of State to “affix the Seal of the United States to my approval of the postal conventions between the U.S. and the German Empire.” Signed at the conclusion by U. S. Grant. In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
The U.S. and Prussia led a movement to simplify postage rates. At an International Postal Conference in Paris in May 1863, delegates from 16 postal administrations agreed to work to reduce international rates and abolish closed mail transit fees. In 1867, after its victory in the Austro-Prussian War, Prussia formed the North German Union (NGU) and took over the Thurn & Taxis postal system. In that same year, the two leaders of the movement to simplify postage rates concluded a new agreement that began to implement the goals of the 1863 Paris Conference.
The US-NGU Convention, effective January 1, 1868, not only reduced the 15¢ Bremen-Hamburg direct mail rate to 10¢ and the 28¢ PCM rate to 15¢, but greatly simplified accounting. Additional conventions in 1870 and 1871 further reduced postage rates. The German Empire succeeded the NGU in January 1871 after Prussia won the Franco-Prussian War. A final agreement in 1873 permitted postal cards.
