Hope Diamond in the mail

Hope

in the mail

Hope in the mail. In 1958 Harry Winston donated the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institution. With his years of experience in shipping jewelry all over the world, Winston sent the diamond via registered mail with the Post Office Department.

* | Tags: Fun facts USPS Fact #1079 | March 20, 2023

The diamond was placed in a box, wrapped in brown paper, and sent by registered mail from New York in a Railway Post Office train car. In Washington, it was picked up by a postal carrier and driven to the National Museum of Natural History. The price paid for shipping the gem, valued at $1 million at the time, was $145.29, most of that for package insurance.