United States Postage Stamps
A History
Regular, Commementive, Memorial Issues
Introduction
~ Series of 1847
Series of 1851
Series of 1861
Series of 1869
Issues of 1870
Issues of 1890&3
Columbian Series of 1893
Isues of 1894
Trans-Mississippi Exposition Stamps of
1898
Pan-American Stamps of 1901
Series of 1902-3
Lousiana Purchase Commemorative Stamps of
1904
Jamestown Commemorative Stamps of
1907
Issues of 1908-9
Issues of 1909
Issues of 1912
Panama-Pacific
Commemorative Stamps of 1913
Issues of 1914-5
Issues of 1918
Issues of 1919
Pilgram Tercentenary Commemorative Stamps
of 1920
Issues of 1922-23
Issue of 1923
Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Stamps of
1924
Issues of 1925
Issues of 1926
Issues of 1927
Issues of 1928
Issues of 1929
Issues of 1930
Isues of 1931
Washington Bicentennal Commemorative Stamps
of 1932 & other Issues
Issues of 1933
Issues of 1934
Issues of 1935
Special
Souvenior sheets of 1935
Issues of 1936
Issues of 1937
Issues of 1938
Issues of 1939
Famous Americans Commem's of 1940 &
Others
Vnmont Statehood of 1941
Issues of 1942
Overrun Countries commem's of 1943-44 &
Others
Issues of 1944
Roosevelt and Armed Forces Series of 1945
& Others
Issues of 1946
Issues of 1947
Air Mail Stamps
Issues
of 1918-1947
Carriers' Stamps
Issues of 1851
Newspaper & Periodical Stamps
Issues
of 1865
Issues of 1875
Issues of 1895
Offical Postage Stamps
Issues
of 1873-1884
Parcel Post Stamps
Issues of 1912-1913
Postage Due Stamps
Issues of 1879-1930
Parcel Post Postage Due Stamps
Issues of 1912
Postal Savings Offical Stamps
Issues of 1910-1911
Postal Savings Stamps
Issue
of 1911
Registry Stamp
Issue of 1911
Special Delivery Air Mail Stamp
Issue of 1934-1936
Special Delivery Stamps
Issues
of 1885-1925
Special Handling Stamp
Issue of 1925
United States Postage Stamps
1847 through 1947 ~ The first 100 years
LINCOLN COMMEMORATIVE STAMP (2 CENT) - ISSUE OF 1909
On January 22, 1909, Congress adopted a joint resolution reading:
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Amerca in Congress assembled, That the Postmaster General is hereby authorized to design and issue a special postage stamp, of the denomination of 2 cents, in commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln."
Under this resolution a postage stamp was prepared and issued to postmasters in time for sale to the public beginning on Lincoln's birthday, February 12. This stamp is described as follows:
Size and shape, the same as of the regular postage stamps; color, red. The subject is a profile, within an ellipse on end, of the head of Lincoln from Saint-Gaudens statue. A spray of laurel leaves appears on either side of the ellipse. Above the subject appear the words "U. S. postage." Below, the ellipse is broken by a ribbon containing the dates of Lincoln's birth and the one-hundredth anniversary thereof (l809-February 12-1909), with denomination in words (two cents) beneath.
ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC STAMP (2-CENT) ISSUE OF 1909
To commemorate the development of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Territory, which was celebrated by an exposition at Seattle,
Wash., in 1909, the Department issued a postage stamp of special design, which was first placed on sale June 1, 1909, at Seattle, Wash.
The stamp is 49/64 by 1 3/64 inches in dimension, arranged horizontally, and is printed in red ink. At the top and bottom are panels containing, respectively, the words "U.S. postage" and "Two cents." In the center the larger part of a circle rests on the lower panel and encloses a ribbon bearing the words "Alaska-Yukon-Pacific 1909", and in the center of the circle appears a portrait of William H. Seward, who as Secretary of State conducted the negotiations for the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The name "William H. Seward" appears under the portrait. On either side is an ellipse containing the Arabic numeral "2" with laurel branches as a background.
HUDSON-FULTON STAMP (2-CENT) -ISSUE OF 1909
The tercentenary of the discovery of the Hudson River and the centennial of its first navigation by steam, which was celebrated in 1909, was also commemorated with a special postage stamp, which was first placed on sale September 25, 1909, at New York, N.Y.
The stamp is about 7/8 by 1 3/8 inches in dimension, arranged horizontally, and printed in red ink. At the top appears the inscription "Hudson-Fulton Celebration", with the years "1609" and "1909" immediately thereunder on either side. Below this inscription in a curved line are the words "U. S. postage." At the bottom of each side is a prominent Arabic numeral "2", with the words "Two cents" in a panel between the figures. In the center is engraved a picture showing the Palisades of the Hudson River in the background, with the Half Moon sailing up the river and the Clermont steaming in the opposite direction. In the foreground is an Indian in a canoe, and in the distance, just discernible, is a canoe containing four other Indians, the canoes representing the first means of navigating the river.