Theme : 1st issues : 02 Luxemburg

Guillaume III had very few direct dealings with Luxembourg for most of his reign. On February 5, 1850, he appointed his brother, Prince Henri, as his lieutenant in the Grand Duchy, and Henri took on most of the responsibilities of a governor. Prince Henri became a very popular personality as he governed Luxembourg under this authority until his death on January 13, 1879.

Indeed, Guillaume III (or Willem III) is the same ruler as the one in The Netherlands at that time.
He was the 963rd Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1842, the 777th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1882 and the 72nd Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword.
 
He died in Het Loo in 1890.
Of William III's legitimate children, only three reached adulthood, two sons from his marriage to Queen Sophie and one daughter from his marriage to Queen Emma. Because Wilhelmina (his daughter) had not yet reached adulthood, Emma became regent for her daughter. She would remain regent until Wilhelmina's eighteenth birthday in 1898. Because the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg could only be inherited through the male line at the time, under Salic law, it went to Adolphe, the former Duke of Nassau.

The first Luxemburgian stamp was emitted in 1852, same as in the Netherland.
The picture of Willem III, Guillaume III, is facing to the left on the Luxemburg stamp, and to the right on the Dutch stamp.

n° 1 of Luxemburg - cancelled (1852)

Theme : 1st issues : 01 The Netherlands

Starting a new topic, dedicated to each 'first stamp' of a country.

The first Dutch stamp was issued January 1, 1852

After a positive evaluation (in1848, on the use of stamps in UK, the Dutch gouvernement, changed the old 'post law' and agreed on using 'stamps' for the Netherlands as well.

Belgium, next to the Netherlands, introduced stamps in 1849 already, and it was clear that the use of stamps soon would become international.

The first emission of the Netherlands was designed by the Amsterdam artist Johann Wilhelm Kaiser. The engraver, Jacob Wiener was chosen, since he also engraved the first emission in Belgium, three years earlier.

In the Dutch design, King Willem III is depicted sideways (en profil).

The first Dutch emission was printed on handmade paper, unperforated and with 3 face values according the postal rates of that time: 5cent, 10 cent and 15 cent.

The word 'post zegel' on top of the stamps is the Dutch translation of 'postal stamp'.

In those first emissions, the country name is not mentionned on the stamps.

5 cent blue, unperforated
King Willem III

sold: 19.445.818 pieces

This set was sold from January 1, 1852 until 1864 when the next emission was made.
The stamps "lost" their value on October 1879. Anyone who kept the stamps however, will not have "lost" anything.

5 cent was used for letters up to 15 g, within 30 miles range.
A 10 cent stamp (red) was used for letters of the same weight, between 31 and 100 miles.

(from Sept. 1855 on, 10 cent was required from 30 miles on)

15 cent, for letters heavier then 15 gram and for destinations further then 100 miles.

For additional postal services, extra stamps had to be bought and put on the letter.

All stamps are watermarked with a postal horn as design.

Until 1860 a brown, tropical gum was used for gumming the stamps.
Unused copies with original gum, show a stain glass structure now.

In 1895, non-official reprints were made, with small to major color shifts.

As this topic is only about "number 1" stamps, I'll post the rest of the emission in a later post, under 'the Netherlands'.