DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 2): Gems of American Philately:
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- GEMS_131026_001.JPG: GEMS of American Philately
Like gems of the mineral world, these stamps and pieces of mail are rare and highly valued.
They tell stories about important moments in US history, from the Stamp Act and the American Revolution to the Apollo 15 Moon landing. Each one conveys significant information about stamp design and production, including one fo the most famous stamp printing errors ever made.
- GEMS_131026_006.JPG: This stamp is one of 32 surviving red proofs of the 1765 Stamp Act. The letter to John Hancock was handstamped in New York on July 4, 1776 -- the birthday of the United States of America.
American Colonists Revolt:
In 1765 the British Parliament passed an act commonly called the Stamp Act that infuriated American colonists. Resisting the Act was the first incremental step on the road to the American Revolution. Cries of "taxation without representation" and attacks on stamp agents led to the repeat of the Act on March 18, 1766.
In 1775 the Revolutionary War began. On July 4, 1886, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. On that same day, lawyer William Bant sent this letter to the first signer -- John Hancock.
- GEMS_131026_014.JPG: These are the essays for America's first two postage stamps. The cover is the earliest known use of a US postage stamp.
Franklin and Washington:
These two United States postage stamps became valid for use on July 1, 1847. The cover was postmarked the next day.
The essay vignettes of Franklin and Washington were printed from existing engravings by Asher B. Durand. The frames were drawn in pencil and ink on cardboard, then a light wash of India ink was brushed on to give tone. The Franklin stamp paid the rate for one half-ounce sent up to 300 miles. The George Washington stamp paid the rate for longer distances of heavier mail.
- GEMS_131026_018.JPG: 10c Washington pair on second-day-of-use, cover, 1847
- GEMS_131026_029.JPG: 5c Franklin original model, 1847
10c Washington original model, 1847
- GEMS_131026_033.JPG: 1847 America's First Stamps
- GEMS_131026_034.JPG: The Inverted Jenny
- GEMS_131026_039.JPG: 1918:
This upside-down blue plane within a red frame is the most famous US stamp and one of the world's most famous printing errors.
Only one misprinted sheet of 100 stamps was sold.
- GEMS_131026_049.JPG: "... my heart stood still. It was the sheet of inverts. It was what you might call 'a thrill that comes once in a lifetime.' "
-- William T. Robey
Where Was the Error Discovered?
On May 15, 1918, stamp collector William T. Robey went to a Washington DC post office to buy the new airmail stamps. He knew that on the first sale day of a bicolored stamp, chances of an error were good. After spotting inverted images on a sheet of 100 stamps, he immediately bought it.
Robey sold the sheet to stamp dealer Eugene Klein for $15,000. Today a single inverted Jenny sells for many times that amount. Klein sold the sheet to collector Colonel EHR Green, who had it broken into blocks and singles.
There were 100 Inverted Jenny stamps on the sheet that Willaim T Robey brought. Here's what happened to some of them:
* In the 1980s a maid accidentally swept up one Inverted Jenny in a vacuum cleaner. Although damaged, the stamp survived.
* In 1955 and 1977 thieves tried to disguise a block of four Inverted Jennys and a single. As a result, the block of stamps was separated.
* In 2005 stamp collector William H. Gross traded the Inverted Jenny plate block with Mystic Stamp Company in exchange for the rare US 1-cent Z grill stamp.
- GEMS_131026_055.JPG: 1851 Hawaiian Missionary Stamps
- GEMS_131026_059.JPG: 13c Hawaiian Missionary strip of three on cover, 1851
- GEMS_131026_064.JPG: Collectors have always sought these fragile stamps, the first issued by the Kingdom of Hawaii. Their charming design and fancy numerals along with Hawaii's exotic location, also make them highly desirable.
Postage from Paradise:
These stamps became known as Hawaiian Missionaries because most were used on correspondence mailed by Christian missionaries in Hawaii. The stamps are unusual because they paid various rates, including postage for a letter from Hawaii to the US East Coast via San Francisco.
The 13-cent stamp prepaid rates in two countries: the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States. The first 13-cent stamp, issued in 1851, read "Hawaiian Postage" -- which sometimes confused US postmasters. The fourth stamp, issued in 1852, was redesigned to read "H.I. & U.S. Postage."
- GEMS_131026_070.JPG: 1860 Pony Express Mail
- GEMS_131026_071.JPG: 10c Washington on Pony Express cover, 1860
- GEMS_131026_076.JPG: A Pony Express rider carried this cover, considered one of the most historically significant in US postal history. Notice the notation on the front: "recovered from a mail stolen by the Indians in 1860."
Transcontinental Delivery:
This cover bears an oval marking that reads "The Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company." That enterprise administered the Pony Express. American Indians overtook the Pony Express rider, interrupting delivery. The pony escaped with the letter pouch, which was later recovered on the plains. The letters were forwarded to their destination. This cover is one of only two known examples. It reached New York in 1862. By then, the Pony Express no longer existed.
- GEMS_131026_079.JPG: 1971 Moon Mail
- GEMS_131026_082.JPG: Apollo 15 Lunar Mail cover, 1971
- GEMS_131026_091.JPG: On August 2, 1971, US astronaut Dave Scott postmarked this first day cover on the Moon -- an act as nationally symbolic as planting a flag.
Postmarks in Space:
During the 1971 Apollo 15 mission, astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin spent three days exploring the Moon from the Lunar Rover. On the last day, Scott reached under the Rover's seat for a pouch. It held an envelope bearing die proofs of two space stamps. Scott postmarked this cover while, 238,000 miles away, the USPS issued the stamps on Earth.
The first postmark Scott made was faint, so he made another below it. The smudges on the left side are thumbprints made by his space suit glove.
- GEMS_131026_100.JPG: 10c Washington on Pony Express cover, 1860
- GEMS_131026_103.JPG: What is the Jenny?
The Curtiss JN-4-H "Jenny" was a World War I airplane later reconfigured to carry mail. The issue of the Jenny stamp marked a milestone in postal history: the first regular airplane mail service between Washington DC; Philadelphia; and New York.
On May 15, 1918, one Jenny left Washington for Philadelphia. It flew in the wrong direction. The pilot crash-landed in Waldorf, Maryland, 20 miles south of the takeoff point.
Notice that the number on the side of the airplane in the photo matches the number depicted on the stamp.
- GEMS_131026_123.JPG: 24c Curtiss Jenny inverted block of four, 1918
- AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
- Description of Subject Matter: Gems of American Philately
September 22, 2013 – Permanent
Examine 13 of the rarest and most highly valued gems in the world of philately, including the most famous US stamp of all, the 1918 Inverted Jenny. A video explains why the Inverted Jenny and other stamps are philatelic gems. Each of these items tells a story about a significant milestone in US history—from a surviving stamp proof of the 1765 Stamp Act stamp that so infuriated the American colonists to a lunar mail cover postmarked on the Moon by astronaut Dave Scott in 1971.
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