Issued: Introduced on February 22nd, 1890. The earliest recorded example is 16th May, 1890.

Plate Size: Sheets of 200 subjects (2 panes of 100)

Printer: The American Bank Note Company

Watermark: None

Quantity Issued: 5,548,710

 

Plate blocks and any multiple greater than four are very scarce, even in used condition.

Without knowing it, the 1890 series was to be the American Bank Note Company's (ABN Co.) last printing of postage stamps. Until the flag overun series of the forties all stamps after this series were to be printed by the Bureau of printing and engraving.

On the left is shown the detail of a stamp from the 1890 series, note the absence of a triangle in the top left hand corner of the design. All the Bureau issues had a triangle cut into the design as shown on the right.

You will also notice the tremendous difference in quality between the two stamps. By 1890 the ABN Co. had perfected the art of printing postage stamps and it shows by the even ink sharp design and clean perforations. Contrast this with the spotty faded ink and uneven perforations on the Bureau's stamp on the right.

The source for the design Brookman attributes to the famous daguerreotype of Henry Clay. This would be incorrect as their is little, if no, resemblence. It is more likely that it copied from a print which used as its source a later photograph of Henry Clay.

The source of the design (above) and the design (below)

The source photograph (below) for the print above

Shown below is the famous, and only daguerreotype of Henry Clay

There are no varieties of #227

227-P2
Roosevelt Die Proof

227-P4
Plate Proof on India