fractional form, were the date and month in Arabic numerals. The rubber stamps were ordered from Vienna. The first 187 sheets of 32 (5,984 stamps) were sent from the press to the treasury on July 11, 1858. These were sent to the post office headquarters the following day, receipt confirmed on July 14. Headquarters decided not to send the stamps to other post offices until the full stock was received. The remaining 18,080 stamps had arrived by July 21, when the first stamps were sent to the main post office in Iaşi. In August, stamps were sent to Bacău, Bârlad, Botoşani, Dorohoi, Fălticeni, Focşani, Galaţi, Roman, Tecuci, Târgu Neamţ, Vaslui and Mihăileni. The earliest letters featuring the stamps date to July 22; the latest, to October 31. Second and third issues The second series had three stamps: 5 para, 40 para (1 leu) and 80 para (2 lei). Regular letters cost 40 para, registered mail 80 para, simple newspapers 5 para and double newspapers 10 para. On these stamps, the head and horn were surrounded by a rectangle with rounded corners, and the inscription (PORTO GAZETEI for the 5 para and PORTO SCRISOREI for the 40 and 80 para) was in Latin characters, while "parale" was in Cyrillic. Printing figures are as follows: These stamps circulated in Moldavia, and very rarely in Wallachia after the Union of the Principalities on January 24, 1859. They were withdrawn on May 1, 1862, although four stamps were cancelled on May 3 in Botoşani, official use having been extended on request until May 5. The third series of Romanian stamps, issued under the auspices of the United Principalities, was valid between May 1, 1862 and December 31, 1864. It featured the aurochs' head as well as the Wallachian vulture, replaced PORTO with FRANCO, and used only Latin letters. It appeared in values of 3, 6 and 30 para, in two series (1862 and 1864). Printed in Bucharest, a delay meant the stamps were not placed in circulation until May 26. The second series were sold from September 13, 1864 until the end of the year. Scarcity and legacy Printing figures for the first issue are as follows: 6,016 of the 27 para; 10,016 of the 54 para; 2,016 of the 81 para and 6,016 of the 108 para. By the end of October, when they were withdrawn, 11,756 of 24,064 had been sold. The