Geneva issued its first stamp on October 1, 1843, shortly after the canton Zürich issued its own stamp on March 1, 1843, making it the second oldest stamp in the European continent. The "Double Geneva," consisted of a pair of stamps printed in black on yellow-green paper. Each stamp bared the city's arms, and the inscription "Poste de Genéve" at the top and "Port local" at the bottom. An additional inscription, "10 PORT CANTONAL Cent" was printed on the top of each pair. Customers could cut out a single stamp to pay the intra-commune rate, or keep the pair together to pay the inter-commune rate. Only 6,000 of these double issues were printed, and in today's market they have a value of around $45,000
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