Additional information
| Catalog Number | 260 |
|---|---|
| Condition | F used |
| Denomination | .50 |
| Paper | white wove, double line watermark |
| Printer | Bureau of Engraving and Printing |
| First Issued | 1894 |
| Cancel | hand stamp |
| Catalog Value | 140.00 |
260 Used 50c United States First Bureau Issue, Thomas Jefferson, 1894
$100.00
As the first postage stamps issued by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Series of 1894 holds a unique position in U.S. philately. Generations of collectors have referred to the series as the ‘First Bureau Issue’. The stamp designs were the legacy from the American Bank Note Company dies, to which the Bureau added ‘triangles’ in the upper corners. Until July 1894, when the first stamps of the series was issued, private companies had printed all postage stamps under contracts with the Post Office Department.
