The first United States postage stamps were issued in imperforate sheets containing two panes of 100 stamps each on July 1, 1847. The first two issues were the 5 cent Ben Franklin and the 10 cent George Washington. This issue was discontinued in 1851 and new stamps including the 1 Cent Imperforate Ben Franklin above were issued from 1851 to 1857.  Imperforate issues required the user to separate the individual stamps with a pair of scissors before they could be used on cover. Most of these early imperforate issues were poorly trimmed for use and it is difficult to find them on cover with four good borders.