The first stamp from the United States that did not show a president was issued in 1869. It was issued in honor of the famous “Pony Express”.
The “Pony Express” is the byname of Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Company. It is a system of U.S. mail delivery by continuous horse-and-rider relays between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, and from Sacramento to San Francisco, California, by steamer (April 1860–October 1861). Todays stamp is a two cent stamp showing a pony-rider with its mail-bag. The stamp exists both with grill and without grill. A grill on a postage stamp is an embossed pattern of small indentations intended to discourage postage stamp reuse. The catalog value of the stamp with grill is approx.. 100 $ and without grill 3.000 $.