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  • 25c Richard Byrd single
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25c Richard Byrd single

Object Details

Description
A block of four 25-cent stamps commemorating four intrepid Antarctic explorers was issued on September 14, 1988, in Washington, DC. The dedication ceremony was in the Gilbert H. Grosvenor Auditorium at the National Geographic Society.
The four stamps, all designed by Dennis Lyall, honor Nathaniel B. Palmer (1799-1877), Charles Wilkes (1798-1877), Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957), and Lincoln Ellsworth (1880-1951). The designs have the same basic style Lyall used on the 1986 Polar Explorers stamps. Each depicts icy scenes of the explorers' means of travel, with a map of the polar region serving as a backdrop.
Palmer discovered Orleans Strait and the Antarctic Peninsula. Wilkes proved Antarctica to be a continent during his expedition from 1839 to 1843. Byrd conducted five expeditions to the region and supervised extensive scientific study as well as photographic mapping of the continent by air. Ellsworth was the first person to fly over both polar regions, and he led four expeditions southward during the 1930s.
The stamps were printed in the photogravure process by the American Bank Note Company and were issued in panes of fifty.
Reference:
Postal Bulletin (August 11, 1988).
mint
Credit line
Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
September 14, 1988
Object number
1989.0496.10223
Type
Postage Stamps
Medium
paper; ink (multicolored); adhesive / photogravure
Place
United States of America
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
Title
Scott Catalogue USA 2388
Topic
Science
Ships & Waterways
U.S. Stamps
Record ID
npm_1989.0496.10223
Usage
Usage conditions apply
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8f9609aee-ff3a-4bdb-87d3-ca1ac0c1f2bc
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HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Visit »

Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

street map of Postal museum

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