Scotts #586 US stamps

#586 - 1925 Perf 10 5¢

5¢ - Light blue, blue, bright blue, deep blue

Printing Method: ROTARY PRESS
Subject: Theodore Roosevelt
Number issued: 431,983,000
Perforations: 10
Watermark: Unwatermarked
Scott #: 586
Issued: April 4th, 1925

Value

Used
25¢
No postmark with gum (MH)
$2 - $5
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$9 - $19

Plate #'s

The following plate numbers were used for #586:

Number only
16089-90
16495
16566-67
16608-64, 70-71
17493
17519-20, 86-87
17651-52
17762-63, 72-73
18035
18157-60
18394-96
18418-19, 41-44, 59-60
18789-90
18850-54

First Day Cover

A first day cover of #586, April 4th, 1925

A full sheet

A sheet of 100 stamps

Getting the Portrait Right

The source photograph by photographers Harris & Ewing

Specimen with original photograph

Essays

The engravers of the Bureau had considerable trouble over the portrait of the former President which is after a photograph by Harris and Ewing. It was considered by them to be the most difficult portrait they had engraved.

The engravers placed the chord for his spectacles on the right side of his face. Roosevelt wore the chord on his left side, shown in the original photo, as he was left handed. The engravers found that by faithfully copying the photograph with the dark background in the photo Teddy looked decidedly one dimensional. This meant shading the right side of his face which then dissolved into the dark background. In the end giving Roosevelts head a light background ended their dilemma.

Roosevelt was chosen by the Bureau as the 5¢ stamp was the most frequently seen worldwide as 5¢ was the standard rate for foreign mail.