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The Fractional Denominations of 1925
400 Subject Plates (Unless noted otherwise)
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Rotary Perf 10 Vertically · 170 Subject Plates
First Day: March 19, 1925
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Flat Plate Perf 11
First Day: Mar. 19, 1925
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Rotary Press Perf 10
First Day: Mar. 19, 1925
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| Over 3 billion of the above stamps were
issued. Records of printings for the individual varieties were
not kept by the Bureau, but it is certain that fewer of the perf
10 stamps were saved by collectors than of the perf 11 or
the perf 10 sidewise coil. |
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Flat Plate Imperforate
First Day: April 4, 1925
27,226,000 issued (from Johl)
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Flat Plate Perf 11
First Day: April 4, 1925
over 600 million issued
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Rotary Perf 10 Horizontally
150 Subject Plates
First Day: 5/9/25 - about 25 million
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The Fractional
Denominations
The one and one half cent Harding stamp was
the first U.S. postage stamp issued in a fractional
denomination; the one half cent Nathan Hale
was issued about a month later. The 1½¢
value was issued to meet the new third class
mail rate that went into effect April 15,
1925, while the ½¢ stamp
was to be used with the ordinary one cent stamp to meet this
rate. Both the 1½¢ and the ½¢
stamps were released early to provide ample
distribution time to meet the new rates.
Anticipating a great need, the Post Office rushed to print as many
stamps of the new 1½¢ stamps as possible,
issuing it in
five philatelically important formats (see
above). On the other hand, it was felt that
the flat plate printings of the ½¢ stamp
would meet demand and no other formats of that
stamp were
printed in the first year. In fact, the
rotary press issues of the ½¢ stamp were not
issued until 1929, four years later, and the
imperforate and coil half cent stamps were never
issued at all.
Partially in a rush to get this stamp into
production and partially due to conflicts the
engravers had with the designing of the Lexington Concord and
Norse American commemoratives in the spring
of 1925, it was suggested that the 2¢ black
Harding Memorial commemorative design be used
for the 1½¢ stamp, by changing the
denomination from 2¢ to 1½¢, removing the
"memorial" dates in the upper
corners and changing the color from the
"memorial" black. This is exactly
what was done.
Both the half cent and the one and one-half
cent stamp present
something of an anachronism to the collector.
They are both listed in the
catalog well before the 2¢ black Harding memorial
stamp, (Scott's 551 and 553 as opposed to the
two cents' Scott's 610-612). In
reality, they were issued more than a year and
a half later and, as pointed out, the design
of the 1½¢ stamp was taken directly from the
2¢
memorial stamp of 1923.
The 17¢ Woodrow Wilson "Memorial" Stamp
- Dec. 28, 1925
Flat Plate - Perforated 11 -
400 Subject Plates -
over 122 million issued
Designer: Clair Aubrey Huston - Engravers: John Eissler (vignette)
- Edward M. Hall (frame &
lettering) - Joachim C. Benzing (scrolls)
It's funny how time gives new faces to
historical events. Woodrow Wilson, the
war-time president who preceded Harding, died
only about six months after Harding. The
reader may remember that the Harding Memorial
stamp was rushed into production within a
month after Harding's death. At the time,
Harding was a much more popular president than
Wilson had been, and of course the Harding
Memorial stamp had been well received by the
public. Now it was Wilson's turn to be so
remembered, but politics prevailed and the
Wilson "memorial" stamp was put on
hold, that is until the
Harding Memorial stamp was altered to make the
new 1½¢ stamp (see above).
When this change was made, Democrats placed further pressure
on the Post Office
Department to issue a stamp memorializing
Wilson. As it turns out a compromise of sorts
was made. Wilson was not to be placed on a
"memorial" stamp, but rather on a
regularly issued definitive stamp. Since the rate to send a
letter registered had been raised from 10¢ to
15¢, and combined with the letter rate of 2¢, 17¢ was now needed to send a
registered letter. Wilson was placed on this
seventeen cent stamp, and in further compromise the
stamp was printed in the "memorial"
black. However, the dates of the birth and
death of Wilson were not included in the upper
corners as had been done on the Harding
Memorial stamp, in the tradition of other
U.S. commemorative stamps.
The seventeen cent Wilson stamp is also something of an
anachronism, in that it was issued before the
thirteen cent stamp. Scott lists the two stamps in
denominational rather than chronological
order, that is the thirteen
cent Scott 622 was issued after
the seventeen cent Scott 623.
Time has not been kind to
Harding's legacy, linking his presidency to scandals that
he may or may not have been aware of.
Harding is often listed at or near the bottom
of the list of U.S. Presidents. On the other
hand, Wilson's status has only improved
through the years and is now regarded by many
as one of our nobler presidents.
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