Robert L. Miller of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing modeled the stamp, based on design work done of Ervine Metzl of New York City, and a painting of Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Richard M. Bower engraved the vignette. George L. Huber engraved the signature, lettering, and numeral. Stamps were printed from four plates: 26245, 26246, 26247, and 26248. Perforated 10 1/2 x 11, the stamp was printed on the rotary Cottrell press from four-hundred-subject engraved plates. Each sheet was cut into four panes of fifty stamps for distribution to post offices.
The POD issued the three-cent value in this series in New York City on February 27, 1959. The stamp commemorated the important political address that Lincoln delivered at New York's Cooper Union on February 27, 1860, which some credit for his election later that year to the presidency. The First Day Ceremony was held at Cooper Union, on the same platform from which Lincoln had spoken. Since first-class letter postage was four cents at the time, a solo use of this stamp paid no common rate. Patrons occasionally used it to pay the third-class, single-piece rate for up to two ounces.
Ervine Metzl designed the stamp, using as source material a photograph of the sculptured head of Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum. The marble bust now stands in the rotunda of the US Capitol. Arthur W. Dintaman engraved the vignette; Howard F. Sharpless engraved the signature, lettering, and numeral. Stamps were printed from four plates: 26251, 26252, 26253, and 26254. Perforated 10 1/2 x 11, the stamp was printed on the rotary Cottrell press from four-hundred-subject engraved plates. Each sheet was cut into four panes of fifty stamps for distribution to post offices.
The fourth and last stamp in the series - a four-cent value — was issued in Washington, DC, on May 30, 1959, the anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial (1922). The First Day Ceremony was held at the Lincoln Memorial.
Perforated 11 x 10 1/2, the stamp was printed on the rotary Cottrell press from four-hundred-subject engraved plates. Each sheet was cut into four panes of fifty stamps for distribution to post offices.
Charles R. Chickering of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing modeled the stamp from a design by Ervine Metzl and an etching by Fritz Busse of a portion of the Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial. Charles A. Brooks engraved the vignette; George L. Huber engraved the signature, lettering, and numeral. Stamps were printed from four plates: 26271, 26272, 26273, and 26274. Perforated 11 x 10 1/2, the stamp was printed on the rotary Cottrell press from four-hundred-subject engraved plates. Each sheet was cut into four panes of fifty stamps for distribution to post offices.
References:
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Glass, Sol. "Lincoln-Douglas Debate Issue," The Bureau Specialist 30, no. 9 (1959): 223.
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Glass, Sol. "Lincoln Sesquicentennial Series," The Bureau Specialist 31, no. 2 (1960): 38.
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Cleland, W. Wallace. Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog. Katy, Texas: United States Stamp Society, 2008.
Rod Juell
