Large Bank Note Issues (1870-1871)

Between 1847 and 1870, three different companies engraved and printed United States stamps. The image on the first stamp in every series printed by all three companies was of Benjamin Franklin. There are several possible reasons for this, one being the tradition of the first stamp of each series depicting Franklin, and another being that Franklin was the first postmaster general of the United States.

National Bank Note would print four different 1-cent Franklin designs. Interestingly, all four portraits, engraved over a ten year period at the appropriate times to coordinate with each issue, were engraved by the same person, Joseph Pease. Pease engraved not only all the Franklin portraits for National, he is also credited with engraving the portraits for all the stamps Toppan, Carpenter & Company printed for the United States from 1851-1861.

The 1-cent Franklin stamp had two variations, one with a grill, the other without. This is true of all the stamps of this issue. The stamp could have been used for some third-class mail, drop letters, or in combination with other denominations to fulfill larger rates. National Bank Note Company printed a total of approximately 143,000,000 1-cent stamps of both variations.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Hiram Powers (1805-1873) began learning the art of sculpture in 1826. By the time of his death in 1873, he was considered one of the greatest American-born neoclassical sculptors. In 1834, President Andrew Jackson sat many times for Power as he created a bust of the president. Powers completed the bust in January 1835. Thirty-five years later, it inspired the image of the 2-cent Jackson stamp from the National Bank Note Company 1870-1871 Issue.

Hiram Powers left the United States in 1837, the same year Jackson left the White House. Powers settled in Florence, Italy, where he spent the rest of his life. The stamp was issued a few years before Powers’ death, and it is assumed that he had the honor of owning one of the stamps which bore his famous impression of Jackson.

The 2-cent Jackson stamp has two variations, one with a grill, the other without. The stamp could have been used for to pay the two-cent local mail rate, or in combination with other denominations to fulfill larger rates. A total of approximately 252,000,000 2-cent stamps of both variations were printing by National Bank Note Company.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

At the Revolutionary War's conclusion, George Washington returned to his civilian life at Mount Vernon. Without question, he reined as the nation's most prominent citizen. In 1784 Virginia's state legislature commissioned a life-size sculpture, which would be placed in the Capitol. Thomas Jefferson, then residing in Paris, assumed the task of identifying a skilled sculptor. He chose Jean-Antoine Houdon. Houdon was already known to Benjamin Franklin, whom Houdon had sculpted in 1778. A year later, in 1785, Houdon visited Mount Vernon to discuss the sculpture with Washington. The sculpture was installed in Capitol rotunda on May 14th, 1796.

Houdon's famous sculpture inspired the 3-cent Washington stamp’s engraved image. The 3-cent Washington has two variations, one with a grill, the other without. This is true of all the stamps of this issue. The stamp could have been used to pay the two-cent local mail rate; it could also have been used in combination with other denominations to fulfill larger rates. The National Bank Note Company printed approximately 252,000,000 3-cent stamps of both variations.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

In the 1860 presidential election, a candidate needed only 152 of the 303 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. In that election, with its eighty percent turnout, Abraham Lincoln received 180 electoral and 1,865,908 popular votes. After Lincoln’s victory, a group of prominent Republicans from Ohio commissioned Thomas Dow Jones to create a sculpture of the new president, which would hold a prominent place in the Ohio Capitol building. Before leaving Illinois—from the end of December 1860 into January 1861— Lincoln sat for one hour every day so Jones could make the necessary observations and measurements to produce the work.

Jones's statue was the first portrayal in any art form of Abraham Lincoln with a beard. The image on the 6-cent stamp of the 1870-1871 National Bank Note Company Issue was engraved from Jones’s sculpture. The stamp was the third to bear an image of Lincoln since his death in 1865. It took almost eighty years before a stamp portrayed Lincoln without a beard. That stamp, the 1-cent stamp of the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Issue, was issued on Lincoln's 150th birthday, February 12, 1959.

The first-class domestic rate for a half-ounce letter was three cents in 1870. The 6-cent stamp of this issue was the easiest way to pay the double-weight rate. The stamp was also used to pay the half-ounce rates to many countries, including Great Britain and Canada, or in combination with other denominations to fulfill higher rates.

The 6-cent Lincoln stamp has two variations, one with a grill, the other without. This is true of all the stamps in the issue. A total of approximately 28,000,000 6-cent stamps of both variations were printing by National Bank Note Company.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

With the exception of Benjamin Franklin, only those who had served as president had been honored on United States stamps prior to the 1870-1871 Issue. In order of ascending denominations, the first non-president to be honored was Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869). Stanton served as Abraham Lincoln's attorney general and then as Secretary of War, a position he held into the Johnson administration. On December 20, 1869, President Grant appointed him to the United States Supreme Court. Unlike nominees today, Stanton was confirmed the day he was nominated.

The 7-cent stamp honoring Stanton was the only stamp issued in 1871. Circumstances made it very useful as the stamp used to pay a full rate. In 1870, while the stamp was being designed, it was intended as the seven-cent direct mail rate to several European countries. In early 1871 the European-destination direct mail rate was reduced to six cents, making the Stanton 7-cent stamp effectively useless. Fortuitously, when the rate for mail sent through England into Prussian closed mails was set at seven cents, down from ten cents, the Stanton stamp became functional.

Between 1872 and 1875, the 7-cent Stanton stamp paid an increasing number of single rates. The rate to Denmark was made seven cents in 1872, and in 1873 the rate to Hungary and Luxembourg was the made the same. With the adoption of the Universal Postal Union standard international single-weight rate of five cents in 1875, the Stanton stamp was no longer available. The 7-cent Stanton had two variations, as did all the 1870-1871 Issues. One had a grill; the other did not. National Bank Note Company printed approximately 2,945,000 7-cent stamps of both variations.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Hiram Powers was contracted in 1859 to create two life-size marble statues to be placed in the United States Capitol. The first was of Benjamin Franklin. It was installed at the base of the east staircase in the Senate wing. The second, installed in 1863, was of Thomas Jefferson. It was placed at the foot of the east staircase in the House wing. Just as with his sculpture of Andrew Jackson, completed thirty years earlier, Powers's neoclassical style shaped his life-size portrayal of Jefferson.

The 10-cent stamp of the 1870-1871 National Issue was the third stamp issued by the United States to depict Jefferson. The stamp was primarily used in combination with other denominations to fulfill expensive rates. The 10-cent Jefferson stamp, as with all the stamps of this issue, had two variations, one with a grill, the other without. National Bank Note Company printed approximately 11,000,000 10-cent stamps of both variations.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

In the years leading up to his death in 1877, Joel Tanner Hart (1810-1877) was considered by many the greatest living American sculptor. His sculpture of Henry Clay (1777-1852), commissioned in 1846 and finally installed in 1859, is considered one of his finest works.

Henry Clay, born at the onset of the American Revolution, was a major player on the national political stage for forty years. During his long career he served in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and he served as secretary of state under John Quincy Adams.

Hart’s famous sculpture inspired the engraving for the 12-cent stamp of Henry Clay for the 1870-1871 National Bank Note Issue. The stamp was used primarily in combination with other denominations to fulfill expensive rates. The 12-cent Clay stamp, as with all the stamps of this issue, had two variations, one with a grill and the other without.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The 1870-1871 Issue employed neoclassical portraits of famous Americans as its main design element. National Bank Note selected for its 15-cent stamp design what was considered by all the most realistic neoclassical depiction of Daniel Webster—the marble bust by sculptor Shobal Vail Clevenger. In his short life, Clevenger, who died at age thirty, sculpted from life two presidents and several famous senators, including Henry Clay and Edward Everett.

The stamp could have paid the fifteen-cent registered mail fee or the single-weight fee to South Africa or, in combination with other denominations, more expensive rates. This stamp, as with all the stamps of this issue, has two variations—one with a grill, the other without. Approximately 5,580,000 stamps of both variations of the 15-cent Webster were printed by National Bank Note Company.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Gen. Winfield Scott served under every American president from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln. He became an officer before the outbreak of the War of 1812 and was the commander of the U.S. Army from 1841 to 1861 – a period that included the Mexican-American War and the outbreak of civil war. By the end of his career, Scott held the rank of brevet lieutenant general (a rank so high that it had not been attained since George Washington). Though he was not the commander of the army during most of the U.S. Civil War, the generals Grant and Lee served under him before its outbreak. When Scott retired, he had served longer on active military duty than any other man in U.S. history. That record still held stands.

John Coffee’s sculpture of Scott was the basis for the 24-cent stamp engraving. The stamp was mostly used in combination with other denominations on cover to fulfill expensive postal rates. As with all stamps of the 1870-1871 Issue, the Scott stamp has two variations – one with grill, the other without. Approximately 1,150,000 stamps of both variations were printed by the National Bank Note Company.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Alexander Hamilton was probably most famous for his work as the 'rogue' delegate from New York to the Constitutional Convention. His ideas were heavily criticized by citizens of his home state, almost more so than by people outside New York.

Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ceracchi executed many busts of prominent Americans during the time of the Constitutional Convention. The National Bank Note Company had already chosen Ceracchi’s bust of Franklin for the 1-cent stamp of the 1869-1870 Pictorial Issue. NBNCo would again depend on Ceracchi’s artistry when it created a stamp of Hamilton.

The 30-cent Hamilton was the first stamp to depict a secretary of the treasury and would remain so until the 1967 1 ½-cent Albert Gallatin stamp. The Hamilton stamp was used primarily in combination with other denominations to fulfill expensive postal rates. As with all stamps of the 1870-1871 Issue, the Hamilton stamp has two variations, one with grill, the other without. Approximately 900,000 stamps of both variations were printed by the National Bank Note Company.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The 90-cent Perry stamp is the highest denomination of the 1870-1871 National Bank Note Company Issue. It depicts Commodore Oliver Perry (not to be confused with his younger brother Matthew, who militarily forced-open trade with Japan), who gained fame by defeating a British squadron at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The battle was the first in British history at which an entire naval squadron was lost in a single engagement. Perry's famous line in reporting the progress of the battle, “We have met the enemy, and they are ours,” is legendary in naval lore.

In all previous stamp series since 1851, the ninety-cent value always represented a U.S. president. Perry became the first (and remains the only) non-president to appear on a 90-cent stamp on all regular U.S. stamp issues. The stamp was used primarily in combination with other denominations on cover to fulfill expensive postal rates. As with all stamps of the 1870-1871 Issue, the Perry stamp has two variations, one with grill, the other without. Approximately 213,000 stamps of both variations were printed by the National Bank Note Company.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum