 as of last sunday for some loyalists the value of sending something by snail mail is still priceless here's charles passy reporter at market watch charles what's going on you know gordon this is the second increase this year now if you go all the way back to 1885 it costs two cents to mail a letter but there have been i mean there have been about 20 rate changes just over the last couple of decades and you know and there's a reason for that basically