page_title: Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps
section_title: James Garfield
hierarchical_section_title: Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps / James Garfield
caption_attribution_description: English: US Postage Stamp: James Garfield, Issue of 1882, 5c (gray-brown)
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: James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States from March to September 1881. An assassin's bullet ended his life and presidency and cut his time in office after serving only 200 days. He had a distinguished military background. Garfield served in the United States Army as a major general, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a member of the highly controversial Electoral Commission of 1876. He was the second U.S. president to be assassinated. Garfield was the only sitting member of the House of Representatives to have been elected president.
  The first issue to honor Garfield was released in 1882, printed by the American Bank Note Company. The 5-cent Garfield was the second U.S. postage stamp to honor an assassinated president within the year following his death and is also considered a 'mourning stamp' by many. Unlike the first Lincoln issue, released after one whole year after his death the 5-cent Garfield stamp was released only seven months after his death in 1881. The 1882 issues were the first issues produced from engravings completed by the American Bank Note Company since it began producing postage stamps for the federal government. Before this time the A.B.N.C. used existing dies using slight changes to frames and portraits that were primarily the National Bank Note Company's design. The re-engraved issues of 1881–1882 are an example.
  Issues depicting Garfield released on and after 1894 were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
  The American Bank note issues of 1890 are almost identical to the Bureau Issues that followed in 1894, with minor differences in the frame design.
  American Bank Note Co.
  Bureau Issues
  The Regular Issue of 1902–03 stamp was designed by R. Ostrander Smith from a photograph, and was engraved by George F. C. Smillie. It was printed on double-line watermark paper.
  The release of the 6-cent Regular Issue Garfield stamp marked the sixth time Garfield appeared on U.S. postage. Originally slated for release on Garfield's birthday on November 19, a Sunday, when post offices were closed, it was instead released on the 20th in Washington, D.C., as there was no post office in Garfield's hometown of Orange, Ohio at the time this issue was released.
  Garfield's image on the Presidential issue of 1938 was inspired by a medal created by the U.S. Mint. The issue was released to the public on November 10, 1938.
  As of 2011 there is only one commemorative stamp honoring Garfield, released in 1986 on the AMERIPEX presidential issue.
caption: Issue of 1882
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