Epaulettes (stamp)

Epaulettes
Brown ten centimes version
Country of production	Belgium
Date of production	1849
Designer	Charles Baugniet
Engraver	John Henry Robinson
Dimensions	18 mm × 24 mm (0.71 in × 0.94 in)[1]
Perforation	None
Depicts	King Leopold I
Notability	First Belgian postage stamp
Face value	10 and 20 centimes
Estimated value	€7,100 (mint unhinged)

Epaulettes (French: Épaulettes, Dutch: Epauletten)^[a] is the name given by philatelists to the first series of postage stamps issued by Belgium. The stamps, which depicted King Leopold I with prominent epaulettes from which the name derives, became legally usable on 1 July 1849. Two denominations with the same design were issued simultaneously: a brown 10 centimes and a blue 20 centimes. They were produced as the result of a series of national reforms to the postal system in Belgium, based on the success of similar British measures adopted in 1840. The stamps allowed postal costs to be pre-paid by the sender, rather than the receiver, and led to a sharp increase in the volume of mail. Although quickly superseded by new types, Epaulettes proved influential and have since inspired several series of commemorative stamps.

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