First Stamp Issued in Presidential Series 

U.S. #804 – The first stamp issued in the Presidential Series.

On April 25, 1938, the first stamp in the Presidential Series (also known as the Prexies) was issued featuring George Washington.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt first suggested a stamp series honoring all the deceased presidents in 1934. Initially, the new stamps were planned to be commemoratives, but it was ultimately decided that they’d be definitive to replace the Series of 1922, which had been in use for 12 years.

U.S. #803-34 – The complete set of 1938 Prexies.

Three years later the Treasury Department announced a national design competition for the new stamps. Entrants needed to propose a design for the 1¢ George Washington stamp. The winning design would be used for the rest of the stamps in the series, and the winning designer would win $500. Additionally, the second and third place designs would also win $300 and $200 respectively.

The contest was open from June 22 to September 15, 1937. More than 1,100 people submitted designs, including some famous artists. After several rounds of eliminations, the panel of philatelic specialists and art experts selected the design submitted by Elaine Rawlinson of New York City. Her design showed Washington in profile based on a bust by noted sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. This first stamp was issued on April 25, 1938.

U.S. #832-34 – The three high-value stamps with free mounts and album pages.

The rest of the stamps in the series featured similar profiles based on sculptures, paintings, and bronze statues. (Though there were some variations in the borders and the higher-value stamps were printed in two colors.) Each president’s bust was accompanied by his name and dates in office. Additionally, the 1¢ through 22¢ stamps each have a denomination corresponding to the man’s presidency, with Washington on the 1¢ stamp, John Adams on the 2¢, and so on. The stamps follow this format through the 22¢ Grover Cleveland stamp.

U.S. #828 – The first stamp in the series to depart from the original numbering system.

Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, as the 22nd and 24th president. Additionally, a 23¢ stamp would have been useless, so it was decided that there would be no 23¢ stamp and Benjamin Harrison would be featured on the 24¢ stamp. McKinley (the 25th president) was then honored on the 25¢ stamp. But that would be the last stamp whose denomination corresponded to the president’s term. After that the stamps had higher values that filled important postal needs.

The Prexies featured the portraits of 29 presidents, 12 of whom had never appeared on a U.S. postage stamp before. The series also included four denominations that had never been used on U.S. postage stamps before – 18¢, 19¢, 21¢, and 22¢. These values were only included to follow the presidential succession format and didn’t meet any postal rates at the time.

U.S. #839-51 – Set of 13 Prexies coil stamps issued in 1939.

In one major departure from tradition, George Washington didn’t appear on the normal letter rate 3¢ stamp. This was the first time he hadn’t since 1870. Instead, it pictured Thomas Jefferson. Washington was pictured on the 1¢ post-card rate stamp, though, which usually pictured Benjamin Franklin. Other non-presidents in the series include Martha Washington and the White House.

All of the presidents after Washington were issued in order throughout 1938. Several coil stamps and booklets were then issued in January 1939.

U.S. #832b – $1 Wilson error on USIR-watermarked paper.

The Prexies were in use for over 18 years. During that time there were several color varieties and an interesting error. In 1951 the $1 Wilson stamp was accidentally printed on USIR (U.S. Internal Revenue) watermarked paper. This paper was intended for U.S. Internal Revenue tax stamps only. How the paper was mistakenly used remains a mystery, as does the exact number of error stamps printed.

Click here to view all the Prexies plus money-saving sets.

Click here to see what else happened on This Day in History.

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6 Comments

  1. The first U.S. 23-cent stamp (honoring Mary Cassatt) wouldn’t be issued until 1988. The $2 Harding stamp would be the last new $2 design for forty years.

  2. A great series. I still tend to think of these as the “real” US definitives since they were mail when I was growing up – & when people still sent letters with stamps on them.

  3. I remember going to the post office and buying all these stamps in the series in 1954 just as the series of 1954 was being issued. I could afford the 1/2 cent through the 50 cent stamp on my fist visit and was able to get the $1, $2 and $5 in two other visits (and believe me a $5 stamp was very
    expensive for a young boy in 1954, several weeks of allowances).

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