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United States/Stamps : The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

 

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PDougherty999
Members Picture


29 Dec 2011
10:29:05am
Ever since I got back into collecting (has it been almost 2 years now?) there was one series that has always intrigued me. I am of course talking about the 1930's to 50's Presidential Series. There is something simplistic about the series, but when you look at the whole thing together, it comes off rather beautiful. And the history behind it is rather neat as well. I’ve finally managed to collect a mint version of every one of these “prexies” for our collection and for those of you who know me well, I also like to take stamps of interest and make a wall displays of them. I do this by going to both Mystic Stamp Company as well as The Online Smithsonian Postal Museum and shamelessly take the text they have on a particular stamp and make some sort of informative sheet of paper about it. I do not use my own words for these, the verbage is taken right from those two websites as for my own personal displays, I’d don’t care about plagiarism. I then mount the stamp onto the sheet and put it into a handsome 8.5X11 picture frame. I’ve wanted to do a Prexie display for some time, especially after obtaining an extra of Marshall Islands #847 and doing a display for it. And so, I finally broke down and started figuring out what to do. After careful consideration, I drew the line at making a display of mint stamps. I did this for cost reasons. I did luck out however and find on eBay a guy who had 10 used sets up in an auction at a total cost of $20. I purchased them and after a couple hours of sifting out the best of them, as well as the best of any used prexies I had, I ended up with what I’ll be showing below. I also was able to make a “second best” set and donated them to my nephew to help him start his new collection. Also, due to the ammount of stamps involved, the display consisted of two picture frames, one for the text, and one for the stamps. Anyway, without further a due, here is Part 1 of my Prexie display…
---Pat



The 1938 Presidential Series
1st Stamp Issue Date: April 25, 1938
Scott # : 803-34


At the suggestion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Post Office Department opened a national competition in 1937 to design the first stamp in a new series of definitive stamps to be known as the 'Presidential Series'. Artist Elaine Rawlinson of New York City won the contest. She based her design for the 1-cent stamp on a bust of George Washington’s profile by the sculptor Jean Antoine Houdin (1741-1828. It became the basis of the designs for the rest of the 1938 Presidential Series, also affectionately known as the ‘Prexies' or the 'Fifth Bureau Issue’. Each design of the 1938 Presidential Series included a bust profile of a president and the dates of his term(s) as president. The stamps depict all twenty-nine presidents who had died before 1938, including many who had never before appeared on a postage stamp. In addition to the twenty-nine presidents appearing on these stamps, Benjamin Franklin appeared on the half-cent stamp; Martha Washington appeared on the 1.5-cent stamp; the White House appeared on the 4.5-cent stamp. Thus, the Presidential Series contained thirty-two stamps issued in sheet format. The stamps were in use for over eighteen years, from 1938 into the mid-1950s.

The issue provided a chronological overview of the American presidency, from George Washington on the 1-cent stamp to Calvin Coolidge on the 5-dollar value. On stamps from 1-cent through 22-cent, each stamp's denomination corresponded to the presidential sequence: Washington, the first president, on the 1-cent; Adams, the second president, on the 2-cent, and so on. Grover Cleveland, the 22nd president, appeared on the 22-cent stamp. However, since Cleveland served two nonconsecutive terms, this pattern stopped at that point. Any attempt to match the denomination to the order of presidency ended with McKinley. There was no 23-cent stamp in the series. Benjamin Harrison appeared next, on the 24-cent stamp. William McKinley, the 25th president, appeared on the 25-cent stamp. Some of these stamps did not pay any obvious postal rate. Rather, they were issued to present our nation's presidents on denominations in the order of their terms in office.

Though all the stamps in the series were similar, they were not identical. Values from half-cent to 9-cent had no border, as in Rawlinson's original design. The 10-cent through 19-cent values had a single line border, and the 20-cent through 50-cent values had a double line border. The dollar values were bi-color, with designs significantly different from the cent values. All sheet stamps up to 50-cent were printed on rotary presses, and the dollar values were printed on flat plate presses.

The 1-cent Washington sheet stamp, the first of the series, was issued on April 25, 1938. All of the stamps were issued in Washington, D.C., except the half-cent Franklin, which made its appearance in Philadelphia. The Presidential Series contains nine coil stamps with vertical perforations and four coils with horizontal perforations, all printed on the rotary press. The 1-cent, 2-cent, and 3-cent stamps were issued as booklet panes in eighteen different combinations of booklets with a variety of different covers.

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CapeStampMan
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Mike

29 Dec 2011
08:59:02pm
re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Patrick,
That's a great project. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

Mike

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"It's been 7 years now, since I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet..."
PDougherty999
Members Picture


31 Dec 2011
02:49:34pm
re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Here's the second display I hads made (first). Incidently, I didn't realize how much my children enjoy these until my older son told me that when he wakes up early, he likes to walk around the house and read them.



USA Presidents
Issue Date: January 20, 2005
Scott Marshal Islands # 847


Inspired by the U.S. Presidential Series stamps once used in the Marshall Islands, the Marshall Islands Postal Service issued an up-to-date set of "Prexies" on January 20, 2005, the U.S. Inaugural Day.

From 1945, when American troops liberated the Marshall Islands, until 1984, when the Marshalls issued its first postage stamps, Marshallese used U.S. stamps at U.S. Post Offices throughout the islands. Among the most commonly-used stamps were the U.S. Presidential Series of 1938-39.

Known as the "Prexies," these regular issues depicted every American President from George Washington (portrayed on the 1¢ green) to Calvin Coolidge (seen on red, brown and black $5).

Those 1938-39 Prexies inspired an up-to-date set of Presidents of the United States stamps issued by the Marshall Islands Postal Service.

Maintaining historic continuity with the earlier stamps, these 2005 stamps are visually similar to the original U.S. Prexies. But now, every U.S. President from George Washington to George W. Bush appears on his own stamp. Engravings by artists Gene Jarvis and Michael Halbert capture each president in profile, and stamp denominations match the sequence of each man's presidency.

TECHNICAL DATA
• Issue: Presidents of the United States
• Face Value: 1c through 43c, 60c and $1
• Issue Date: January 20, 2005
• Issue Place: Majuro
• Designer: Gene Jarvis and Michael Halbert
• Project Manager: Caryn Erickson, Stamp Development
• Printing Process: 18 colors, each stamp in one color. Printed by offset lithography on unwatermarked gummed paper
• Printer: Unicover Corporation, Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A.
• Stamp Format: Vertical
• Stamps Per Sheet: 45
• Number of Designs per Sheet: 45
• Overall Sheet Size: 213mm x 149mm
• Size of Stamps: 21mm x 25mm
• Issue Number: C231.
• Withdrawal Date: While supplies last.

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John Macco
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Astrophilatelist- Space Cover Collector

31 Dec 2011
06:00:07pm
re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Patrick- You should do a series of articles for SOR.

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PDougherty999
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03 Jan 2012
08:02:07am
re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

John,
I can't make articles from these displays, as I stated, I plagorized the material for them. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. I just wanted to share something that I thought was cool looking.
Pat

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cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

06 Jan 2012
09:50:23am
re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

It must be my eyes, but I keep seeing "POSWZ" on several of the stamps in the sheet. The 14¢ and the 23¢ in particular.

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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
gotohighland

05 May 2012
11:10:50am
re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

I have been trying for 10 years to collect all mint Prexie numbers and positions.
I now have 2690 with about 630 to go. My budget and age is limiting the end of this collection. I believe it is the best USA series ever printed.
Harvey

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PDougherty999
Members Picture


05 May 2012
12:17:31pm
re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Hey Charlie!
It's an optical illusion created by my scan being sized down so that it fit on the screen. Trust me, they say "POSTAGE".
---Pat

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Author/Postings
Members Picture
PDougherty999

29 Dec 2011
10:29:05am

Ever since I got back into collecting (has it been almost 2 years now?) there was one series that has always intrigued me. I am of course talking about the 1930's to 50's Presidential Series. There is something simplistic about the series, but when you look at the whole thing together, it comes off rather beautiful. And the history behind it is rather neat as well. I’ve finally managed to collect a mint version of every one of these “prexies” for our collection and for those of you who know me well, I also like to take stamps of interest and make a wall displays of them. I do this by going to both Mystic Stamp Company as well as The Online Smithsonian Postal Museum and shamelessly take the text they have on a particular stamp and make some sort of informative sheet of paper about it. I do not use my own words for these, the verbage is taken right from those two websites as for my own personal displays, I’d don’t care about plagiarism. I then mount the stamp onto the sheet and put it into a handsome 8.5X11 picture frame. I’ve wanted to do a Prexie display for some time, especially after obtaining an extra of Marshall Islands #847 and doing a display for it. And so, I finally broke down and started figuring out what to do. After careful consideration, I drew the line at making a display of mint stamps. I did this for cost reasons. I did luck out however and find on eBay a guy who had 10 used sets up in an auction at a total cost of $20. I purchased them and after a couple hours of sifting out the best of them, as well as the best of any used prexies I had, I ended up with what I’ll be showing below. I also was able to make a “second best” set and donated them to my nephew to help him start his new collection. Also, due to the ammount of stamps involved, the display consisted of two picture frames, one for the text, and one for the stamps. Anyway, without further a due, here is Part 1 of my Prexie display…
---Pat



The 1938 Presidential Series
1st Stamp Issue Date: April 25, 1938
Scott # : 803-34


At the suggestion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Post Office Department opened a national competition in 1937 to design the first stamp in a new series of definitive stamps to be known as the 'Presidential Series'. Artist Elaine Rawlinson of New York City won the contest. She based her design for the 1-cent stamp on a bust of George Washington’s profile by the sculptor Jean Antoine Houdin (1741-1828. It became the basis of the designs for the rest of the 1938 Presidential Series, also affectionately known as the ‘Prexies' or the 'Fifth Bureau Issue’. Each design of the 1938 Presidential Series included a bust profile of a president and the dates of his term(s) as president. The stamps depict all twenty-nine presidents who had died before 1938, including many who had never before appeared on a postage stamp. In addition to the twenty-nine presidents appearing on these stamps, Benjamin Franklin appeared on the half-cent stamp; Martha Washington appeared on the 1.5-cent stamp; the White House appeared on the 4.5-cent stamp. Thus, the Presidential Series contained thirty-two stamps issued in sheet format. The stamps were in use for over eighteen years, from 1938 into the mid-1950s.

The issue provided a chronological overview of the American presidency, from George Washington on the 1-cent stamp to Calvin Coolidge on the 5-dollar value. On stamps from 1-cent through 22-cent, each stamp's denomination corresponded to the presidential sequence: Washington, the first president, on the 1-cent; Adams, the second president, on the 2-cent, and so on. Grover Cleveland, the 22nd president, appeared on the 22-cent stamp. However, since Cleveland served two nonconsecutive terms, this pattern stopped at that point. Any attempt to match the denomination to the order of presidency ended with McKinley. There was no 23-cent stamp in the series. Benjamin Harrison appeared next, on the 24-cent stamp. William McKinley, the 25th president, appeared on the 25-cent stamp. Some of these stamps did not pay any obvious postal rate. Rather, they were issued to present our nation's presidents on denominations in the order of their terms in office.

Though all the stamps in the series were similar, they were not identical. Values from half-cent to 9-cent had no border, as in Rawlinson's original design. The 10-cent through 19-cent values had a single line border, and the 20-cent through 50-cent values had a double line border. The dollar values were bi-color, with designs significantly different from the cent values. All sheet stamps up to 50-cent were printed on rotary presses, and the dollar values were printed on flat plate presses.

The 1-cent Washington sheet stamp, the first of the series, was issued on April 25, 1938. All of the stamps were issued in Washington, D.C., except the half-cent Franklin, which made its appearance in Philadelphia. The Presidential Series contains nine coil stamps with vertical perforations and four coils with horizontal perforations, all printed on the rotary press. The 1-cent, 2-cent, and 3-cent stamps were issued as booklet panes in eighteen different combinations of booklets with a variety of different covers.

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CapeStampMan

Mike
29 Dec 2011
08:59:02pm

re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Patrick,
That's a great project. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

Mike

Like
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this post

"It's been 7 years now, since I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet..."
Members Picture
PDougherty999

31 Dec 2011
02:49:34pm

re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Here's the second display I hads made (first). Incidently, I didn't realize how much my children enjoy these until my older son told me that when he wakes up early, he likes to walk around the house and read them.



USA Presidents
Issue Date: January 20, 2005
Scott Marshal Islands # 847


Inspired by the U.S. Presidential Series stamps once used in the Marshall Islands, the Marshall Islands Postal Service issued an up-to-date set of "Prexies" on January 20, 2005, the U.S. Inaugural Day.

From 1945, when American troops liberated the Marshall Islands, until 1984, when the Marshalls issued its first postage stamps, Marshallese used U.S. stamps at U.S. Post Offices throughout the islands. Among the most commonly-used stamps were the U.S. Presidential Series of 1938-39.

Known as the "Prexies," these regular issues depicted every American President from George Washington (portrayed on the 1¢ green) to Calvin Coolidge (seen on red, brown and black $5).

Those 1938-39 Prexies inspired an up-to-date set of Presidents of the United States stamps issued by the Marshall Islands Postal Service.

Maintaining historic continuity with the earlier stamps, these 2005 stamps are visually similar to the original U.S. Prexies. But now, every U.S. President from George Washington to George W. Bush appears on his own stamp. Engravings by artists Gene Jarvis and Michael Halbert capture each president in profile, and stamp denominations match the sequence of each man's presidency.

TECHNICAL DATA
• Issue: Presidents of the United States
• Face Value: 1c through 43c, 60c and $1
• Issue Date: January 20, 2005
• Issue Place: Majuro
• Designer: Gene Jarvis and Michael Halbert
• Project Manager: Caryn Erickson, Stamp Development
• Printing Process: 18 colors, each stamp in one color. Printed by offset lithography on unwatermarked gummed paper
• Printer: Unicover Corporation, Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A.
• Stamp Format: Vertical
• Stamps Per Sheet: 45
• Number of Designs per Sheet: 45
• Overall Sheet Size: 213mm x 149mm
• Size of Stamps: 21mm x 25mm
• Issue Number: C231.
• Withdrawal Date: While supplies last.

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John Macco

Astrophilatelist- Space Cover Collector
31 Dec 2011
06:00:07pm

re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Patrick- You should do a series of articles for SOR.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
PDougherty999

03 Jan 2012
08:02:07am

re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

John,
I can't make articles from these displays, as I stated, I plagorized the material for them. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. I just wanted to share something that I thought was cool looking.
Pat

Like
Login to Like
this post

Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
06 Jan 2012
09:50:23am

re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

It must be my eyes, but I keep seeing "POSWZ" on several of the stamps in the sheet. The 14¢ and the 23¢ in particular.

Like
Login to Like
this post

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
gotohighland

05 May 2012
11:10:50am

re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

I have been trying for 10 years to collect all mint Prexie numbers and positions.
I now have 2690 with about 630 to go. My budget and age is limiting the end of this collection. I believe it is the best USA series ever printed.
Harvey

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
PDougherty999

05 May 2012
12:17:31pm

re: The Prexies... A Personal Favorite...

Hey Charlie!
It's an optical illusion created by my scan being sized down so that it fit on the screen. Trust me, they say "POSTAGE".
---Pat

Like
Login to Like
this post
        

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