The 1894 Bureau Series

The Value of the Stamp


James Madison (biography)
$2 - Bright blue
Scott #262 - Un-watermarked - 1894

 
NY Auction Houses
 
MNH
MH
Used
MNH
Graded
MH
Graded
Used
Graded
Spring 2003
-
-
-
-
-
$1,800
-
-
-
Fall 2003
-
-
-
-
-
$4,000
-
-
-
Spring 2004
-
-
$175-$325
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2004
-
-
$150-$300
-
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2005
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2005
-
-
$245-$295
-
-
$4,750
-
-
-
Spring 2006
-
$700-$2,100
-
-
-
$2,500
-
-
-
Fall 2006
-
$1,560
$250-$390
$9,500
-
$9,000
95
-
-
Spring 2007
-
-
$205
-
-
-
-
$2,600
90
Fall 2007
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2008
-
-
$175-$205
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2008
-
$250-$350
$475
-
-
$1,900
80
-
-
Spring 2009
-
$375-$560
$200
$17,000
90
-
-
-
-
Fall 2009
-
-
$190
-
-
-
-
$5,500
95
Spring 2010
$3,000
-
$290
-
-
$2,200
85
-
-
Fall 2010
-
$600
$170-$560
$12,500
90
-
-
-
-
Spring 2011
$3,575
$255-$720
$190
-
-
-
-
$2,200
90
Fall 2011
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
$300
50
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
$2,500
90
Spring 2012
-
$1,300
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2012
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2013
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fall 2013
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Spring 2014
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


Facts and Statistics


Issued: Earliest recorded date of use, July 6th, 1895.

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

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

Watermark: None

Quantity Issued: 10,027

What you should look for


Centering on this stamp is fairly poor. Well centered examples sell at a slight premium.

Infrequently the $2 stamp was sometimes required on heavy parcels or overweight letters to foreign destinations, which meant heavy cancels, as seen below.

Any multiple of this stamp is very scarce. I can only find four examples of a block being sold (as shown below) in the last four years. Image courtesy of Robert Siegal Auction Galleries

The Inspiration for the Design


The source for the design was based off the David Edwin's(?) engraving which based off Gilbert Stuart's portrait of James Madison, not the W.A. Wilmer engraving

Gilbert Stuart's portrait of James Madison
(Gilbert Stuart painted a total of four portraits of James Madison)
The painting is now owned by the Colonial Williamsburg Association

Detail of David Edwin's (?) engraving of Madison
circa. 1809-17
(the source for the design)

Full version of David Edwin's (?) engraving of Madison

W.A. Wilmers engraving of James Madison
(which was based off an Edwins print
copy of the engraving )


Gilbert Stuart
(who painted James Madison)



The Bureau of Engraving's later 19thC engraving of James Madison
which used Wilmers Engraving as the source.

Varieties to look for


There are no varieties of #262

However be careful of the stamp below. On brillian white paper the stamp was later re-issued by the USPS in 1994, example
shown below.

The Essay's and Proofs


262-E1
Large Die Essay on card

262-E2
Large Die Essay on card

262-E3
Large Die Essay on card



262-E4
Die Essay on India
Die Sunk on Card

262-P1
Large die proof
Die sunk on card

262-P4
Large Plate Proof on card

262-TC1
Large Trail Color Proof on card
Orange Brown


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