page_title: Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
section_title: Washington–Franklin Issues
hierarchical_section_title: Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps / George Washington / Washington–Franklin Issues
caption_attribution_description: English: Washington_WF_1917_Issue-7c.jpg
context_page_description: Presidents of the United States have frequently appeared on U.S. postage stamps since the mid-1800s. The United States Post Office Department released its first two postage stamps in 1847, featuring George Washington on one, and Benjamin Franklin on the other. The advent of presidents on postage stamps has been definitive to U.S. postage stamp design since the first issues were released and set the precedent that U.S. stamp designs would follow for many generations.
  The paper postage stamp itself was born of utility, as something simple and easy to use was needed to confirm that postage had been paid for an item of mail. People could purchase several stamps at one time and no longer had to make a special trip to pay for postage each time an item was mailed. The postage stamp design was usually printed from a fine engraving and were almost impossible to forge adequately. This is where the appearance of presidents on stamps was introduced. Moreover, the subject theme of a president, along with the honors associated with it, is what began to define the stamp issues in ways that took it beyond the physical postage stamp itself and is why people began to collect them.
context_section_description: The Washington–Franklin Issues were unique in the sense that these subjects were the only ones found on definitive stamps for more than a decade. Beginning in 1908 the Washington–Franklin definitive stamps were issued over a twelve-year period in denominations ranging from one cent to five dollars, with different colors for each denomination, all with the same engraved profile of Washington or Franklin. While both Washington and Franklin occur on the 1-cent values, both in green, only one of them appears in a given series (Franklin on the issues until 1912), while the same Washington image graced the remaining eleven denominations, which ranged from two cents to one dollar. In later issues, Washington was present only on the seven denominations between one cent and seven cents, and all the higher values were assigned to Franklin. The engraving of Washington was modeled after a bust by the renowned sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon. The few examples exhibited here are largely representative of this greater series. Franklin is displayed once here for general reference to the Washington–Franklin issues.
  On January 29, 1909, the Post Office issued the 1-dollar Washington Head stamp. It was the last of the first issue of Washington–Franklin stamps to appear. The stamp remained on sale at Post Offices for more than three years before being replaced by a Franklin head 1-dollar stamp in 1912. The one-dollar stamp is the highest denomination on which Washington appears in this series. Franklin is honored on the two- and five-dollar denominations.
caption: Issue of 1917
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