The 1894 Bureau Series

The Value of the Stamp


Abraham Lincoln (biography)
4c - Dark brown or brown
No Triangles in Corners (see below)
Scott #254 - Un-watermarked - 1894

 
NY Auction Houses
 
MNH
MH
Used
MNH
Graded
MH
Graded
Spring 2003
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2003
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2004
-
$17-$22
< $1
-
-
-
-
Fall 2004
-
$15-$65
< $1
$200-$250
-
-
-
Spring 2005
-
$20-$35
$1
$900
-
-
-
Fall 2005
-
$20-$45
< $1
$425
-
-
-
Spring 2006
-
$35-$40
$1-$4
$250-$900
85
-
-
Fall 2006
-
$40
$1-$2
-
-
-
-
Spring 2007
-
$26
$1-$2
-
-
-
-
Fall 2007
-
$45
< $1
$1,250
90
-
-
-
-
-
$5,750
95
-
-
Spring 2008
-
$35
< $1
-
-
-
-
Fall 2008
$145-$155
$27-$35
$1
$4,000-$6,000
95J
$525
95
Spring 2009
-
$25-$30
$1-$2
$475
85J
-
-
-
-
-
$2,800
95J
-
-
-
-
-
$20,000
98J
-
-
Fall 2009
-
$25-$70
$1-$4
$2,200
95
$400
95
Spring 2010
-
$40-$50
$1-$3
-
-
-
-
Fall 2010
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2011
-
-
-
-
-
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-

Statistics


Issued: September 11th 1894, earliest recorded date of use, October 16th, 1894. Earliest recorded cover, December 5th, 1894.

Plate Size: Sheets of 400 subjects (4 panes of 100)

Printer: The Bureau of Printing and Engraving, their first contract

Watermark: None

Quantity Issued: 17,000,000

What you should look for


Below is a typical example of the 1894 Bureau Issue, you will notice the blind perfs and rough appearance of the perforations. The machines for perforating the stamp had just been relocated from New York to Washington DC and did not have the old operators from the ABC, consequently the new operators took some time to get used to perforating the large sheets of 400 stamps. By the next issue, in 1895, they had got the practice down to a science, hence that issue has nice clean cut perforations. The untidy perforations of this issue does not detract from its value.

Occasionaly postmarks from states that had tiny amounts of mail in this year can add to the value. This is particularly true of Alaska and the Territories. For a list of the number of stamps issued by each state in the year ending 30th June 1894 click here.

The Inspiration for the Design


The design was taken from this photograph of Abraham Lincoln. An excellent collection of the photographs of 'Old Abe' can be found here. This photo was taken before his presidency, whilst a Senator in Springfield Illinois. It was taken on February 9th 1860 at Brady's gallery in Washington DC

Curiously ABC co. did not use their master die for Lincoln, also shown below. Whilst the design was better at capturing the expression on Lincolns face, the hair treatmen was a dramatic departure.

Varieties to look for


There are some imperfs, although it is debatable that these were issued as such, they are more likely to be small die plate proofs. Nevertheless, Scotts chooses to give them their own designation as an imperf, they can be found as Scotts #254a. It would seem, by recent auction prices that the philatalic world begs to differ with Scotts, recent auction prices for hinged examples are only $160.

The Making of the Stamp


Detail of essay #222-E2
An interesting essay of Lincoln


254-E1
Large Die Essay on India
Die sunk on card
Dark Yellow Brown

254-E2
Die on India, die sunk on card

254-E3
Die on India, die sunk on card
Dark Brown


254-P1
Plate Proof