Issued: Issued September 17th 1894, Earliest recorded date of use, November 19th, 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: 12,263,180

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 source photograph of Daneil Webster is shown below.

The final design saw Daniel Webster as the chosen subject, a decision made over General Sherman, who was chosen for the 8c design and John Adams. If John Adams had been chosen the stamp would have looked like the illustration below.

There are imperforate pairs, probably from the sheet that Brookman refers to. They are more than likely proofs, however Scotts gives it a 258a designation. The retail value for a hinged pair is $300. Used copies, of which I have seen
only one at an auction, sell for $550.

There is also a variety, not recorded by Scotts of horizontal imperforate,
an example of which is shown below. It carries no premium in price over a normal single.

258-P1
Large Die Proof on India
58 x 61mm, die sunk on 152 x 203mm card

258-P1
Large Die Proof on India
58 x 61mm, die sunk on 74 x 81mm card

258-P1a
Die Proof on Stamp Paper

298 P2
Small Die Proof