Created for free use in the public domain

American Philatelic Society ©2009

www.stamps.org

A Bicentennial Tribute:

Abraham Lincoln

on U.S. Stamps
A Bicentennial Tribute:

Abraham Lincoln

On U.S. Stamps

© 2009 — Th e Scott numbers are the copyrighted property of Amos Press Inc., dba 

Scott Publishing Co. and are used here under a licensing agreement with Scott.

Th e marks “Scott” and “Scott’s” are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce, and are 

trademarks of Amos Press, Inc. dba Scott Publishing Co. No use may be made of these marks or of material 

in this publication, which is reprinted from a copyrighted publication of Amos Press, Inc., without the 

express written permission of Amos Press, Inc., dba Scott Publishing Co., Sidney, Ohio 45365.

Th e great man, in a few of his own words ...

“Th e probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be 

just; it shall not deter me.” 1839

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and 

half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to 

be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.” 1858

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which 

should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. Th ey presented him the words: ‘And this, too, shall pass 

away.’ How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affl iction!” 1859 

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Th ough passion may have strained, it must not break our 

bonds of aff ection. Th e mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefi eld and patriot grave to every living 

heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely 

they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” 1861

“Th e dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. Th e occasion is piled high with diffi culty, and we 

must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, 

and then we shall save our country.” 1862 

“... we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new 

birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the 

earth.” 1863

“I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.” 1864

“I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to 

come here as my father’s child has.” 1864

“Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated 

that the cause of the confl ict might cease with, or even before, the confl ict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier 

triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and 

each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in 

wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. Th e prayers of 

both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. Th e Almighty has His own purposes.” 1865

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with fi rmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive 

on to fi nish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and 

for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and 

with all nations.” 1865

“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other 

business. I do the very best I know how — the very best I can — and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end 

brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels 

swearing I was right would make no diff erence.”
Abraham Lincoln on U.S. Stamps -

1869 90c Pictorial

(Scott 122)

1866 15c black

(Scott 77)

1868 15c E Grill

(Scott 91)

1867 15c Z Grill

(Scott 85F)

1875 90c reissue

(Scott 132)

1870 6c H/I Grill

National Bank Note Co.

(Scott 137)

1873 6c dull pink

Continental Bank Note Co.

(Scott 159)

1870 6c ungrilled

National Bank Note Co.

(Scott 148)

1868 15c F Grill

(Scott 98)

Th e APS extends sincere thanks to Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc., of New York, New York, for 

generously making available these images of many of the most elusive United States rarities from its 

outstanding online archive of images of stamps off ered in prior sales at www.siegelauctions.com

m its
Abraham Lincoln on U.S. Stamps -

1880 6c dull rose

Special Printing

(Scott 195)

1882 6c rose

American Bank Note Co.

(Scott 208)

1879 6c pink

American Bank Note Co.

(Scott 186)

1882 6c deep brown rose

American Bank Note Co.

(Scott 208)

1890 4c dark brown

American Bank Note Co.

(Scott 222)

1894 4c dark brown

Bureau of Engraving & Printing

(Scott 254)

1895 4c dark brown

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 269)

1898 4c rose brown

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 280)

1898 4c lilac brown

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 280a)

1898 4c orange brown

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 280b)

1903 5c blue perf 12

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 304)

1908 5c blue imperf

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 315)

1908 5c blue vertical coil

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 317)
Abraham Lincoln on U.S. Stamps -

1909 2c carmine perf 12

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 367)

1909 2c carmine imperforate

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 368)

1909 2c on bluish paper

Double-Line “USPS”Wmk.

(Scott 369)

 Lincoln Centennial Issue

1923 3c violet perf 11

(Scott 555)

1924 3c violet perf 10 vertically

(Scott 600)

1925 3c violet perf 10

(Scott 584)

1927 3c violet perf 11x101⁄2

(Scott 635)

1929 3c violet – “Kans.” overprint

(Scott 661)

1934 3c bright violet perf 11x101⁄2

(Scott 635a)

1929 3c violet – “Nebr.” overprint

(Scott 672)

1923 $1 Lincoln Memorial

(Scott 571)
Abraham Lincoln on U.S. Stamps -

1938 16c Presidential Series

(Scott 821)

1954 4c Liberty Series

(Scott 1036c) 1940 3c Emancipation Proclamation

(Scott 902)

1948 3c Gettysburg Address

(Scott 978)

- Lincoln Sesquicentennial Issue

1958 4c Lincoln–Douglas Debates 

(Scott 1115)

1959 4c Lincoln by Daniel Chester French

(Scott 1116)

1959 1c Lincoln by George Healy

(Scott 1113)

1959 3c Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum

(Scott 1114)

1960 4c American Credo – Lincoln

“Th ose who Deny freedom to others / Deserve it not for Th emselves.”

(Scott 1143)

1960 25c Lincoln air mail stamp

“Of Th e People / By The People / For The People”

(Scott C59)
Abraham Lincoln on U.S. Stamps -

1971 4c Prominent Americans Series

(Scott 1282)

1989 $3.60 World Stamp Expo souvenir sheet

(Scott 2433) 

1984 20c National Archives

(Scott 2081)

1986 22c Lincoln from Ameripex panes

(Scott 2217g)

1984 20c Lincoln Reading to His Son, Tad

(Scott 2105)

1989 25c World Stamp Expo

(Scott 2410)
Abraham Lincoln on U.S. Stamps -

1995 32c Lincoln from Civil War pane

(Scott 2975j)

2008 $4.80 Mount Rushmore

(Scott 4268)

2009 42c Lincoln the Rail-Splitter

Back Text:

As a youth, Lincoln split logs for rail fences on the 

American frontier. When he became a candidate 

for president in 1860, the Republican Party used 

the “rail-splitter” image to enhance Lincoln’s 

appeal to the workingman.

 Lincoln Bicentennial Issue

2009 42c Lincoln the Politician

Back Text:

Lincoln was little known nationally until 1858, 

when he ran as the Republican nominee against 

Democrat Stephen A. Douglas for a U.S. Senate seat 

from Illinois. Lincoln gained national exposure 

during his historic series of debates with Douglas.

2009 42c Lincoln the Lawyer

Back Text:

Lincoln practiced law in Springfi eld, Illinois, for 

nearly 25 years. He became a prominent attorney 

in the state and learned the concerns of citizens 

from all walks of life.

2009 42c Lincoln the President

Back Text:

As President from 1861 to 1865, Lincoln faced the 

crisis of the Civil War. He preserved the Union, 

while giving added meaning to the confl ict, by 

issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and by 

calling for “a new birth of freedom.”
Lincoln on U.S. Stamped Envelope Indicia

1870 6c dark red Reay

envelope cut square

(Scott U85)

1899 4c brown on amber

paper cut square

(Scott U372)

1874 6c red Plimpton

envelope cut square

(Scott U181)

1903 5c blue Hartford

envelope cut square

(Scott U393)

1962 5c dark blue, die 2

envelope cut square

(Scott U544)

1899 4c brown

broad bust variety

(Scott U373)

1989 39c Lincoln & Blair

air letter sheet cut square

(Scott UC62)

1999 33c blue and black

envelope cut square

(Scott U645)
Abraham Lincoln Official Issues of -

1873 6c carmine

Executive Department

(Scott O13)

1873 6c yellow

Agriculture Department

(Scott O4)

1873 6c vermilion

Department of the Interior

(Scott O18)

1873 6c purple

Department of Justice

(Scott O28)

1873 6c ultramarine

Navy Department

(Scott O38)

1873 6c green

State Department

(Scott O60)

1873 6c brown

Treasury Department

(Scott O75)

1873 6c rose

War Department

(Scott O86)

Continental Bank Note Co. - Thin, Hard Paper

1879 6c rose red

War Department

(Scott O117)

1879 6c vermilion

Department of the Interior

(Scott O99)

1879 6c bluish purple

Department of Justice

(Scott O107)

1879 6c brown

Treasury Department

(Scott O110)

American Bank Note Co. - Soft, Porous Paper

1873 6c dark red Reay

War Department cut square

(Scott UO23)

1873 6c dark red on cream Reay

War Department cut square

(Scott UO24)

1873 6c vermilion on cream Reay

War Department cut square

(Scott UO38)

 War Department Stamped Envelope Indicia
Abraham Lincoln Postal Cards -

1911 1c red on cream

127 millimeter x 76 mm postal card

(Scott UX23)

1917 1c green on cream

127 millimeter x 76 mm postal card

(Scott UX28)
Abraham Lincoln Postal Cards -

1917 1c green on cream

127 millimeter x 76 mm postal card

(Scott UX28)

1952 2c carmine on buff 

127 millimeter x 76 mm postal card

(Scott UX43)
Abraham Lincoln Postal Cards -

1962 4c red violet

precanceled postal card

(Scott UX48)

1968 5c emerald

precanceled postal card

(Scott UX55)

1994 19c

Abraham Lincoln Home

Springfi eld, Illinois

postal card

(Scott UX174)
Abraham Lincoln Philatelic Miscellania

1865 25c orange red

newspapers & periodicals stamp

(Scott PR3)

1920 $5 war savings stamp

(Scott WS6)

1871 162⁄3¢ vermilion 1⁄6-barrel beer tax stamp

(Scott REA21)

rejected Lincoln essay for

the 10c 1869 Pictorial Issue

Lincoln Type “V”

50c revenue stamped paper design

(Scott RN-V9)

unadopted Lincoln essay for

a $1 revenue stamp
Abraham Lincoln
APS StampShow 

August - — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Admission is free to StampShow 2009 August 6 to 9. Co-sponsored by the United States Postal Service and the 

American Stamp Dealers Association, the 123rd annual American Philatelic Society convention, exhibition, and 

bourse will take place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, 1000 Fort Duquesne Boulevard, in Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania. Whether you’re eight or 80, learn the ins and outs of one of the world’s greatest hobbies. Up to 14,400 

pages of stamp exhibits will be on display, including world-class rarities and priceless historical mail. StampShow 

 also will include approximately 175 dealer booths, over 100 society meetings and seminars, and many other 

popular activities for collectors of all ages and interests. To learn more, visit http://www.stamps.org/StampShow

The American Philatelic Society

Many of the stamps illustrated in this album are shown courtesy the American Philatelic Society Reference Collection, 

created and sustained through the generosity of APS members. With 40,000 members in more than 110 countries, the 

123-year-old American Philatelic Society is the largest, nonprofi t society for stamp collectors in the free world. Th e 

APS off ers services and educational opportunities to broaden your enjoyment of the hobby and enhance your special 

collecting interests, whatever they may be. Th e APS is supported entirely by membership dues, gift s, and the sale of its 

publications and services. Visit the American Philatelic Society online at www.stamps.org