Existing comment:
Canal Zone's Thatcher Ferry Bridge Issue:
On October 12, 1962, the Thatcher Ferry Bridge opened across the Panama Canal, and the Canal Zone Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp in celebration. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing used the Giori press for two passes, the second superimposing a silver bridge over the Western Hemisphere. In a printing error, one sheet lacked the silver bridge. One pane from this "missing bridge" sheet escaped detection and was sold. The Panama Canal Treaty was signed in 1977. Six years later, the Canal Zone collection of over 100,000 philatelic items and postal archives was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, enabling the Thatcher Ferry Bridge issue to be studied from design through production. |