#132 1875 90¢ Re-issue

Basic Information

Color: Carmine & Black
Subject: Abraham Lincoln
Paper: Hard wove paper
Printing method: line-engraved intaglio on flat plates
Printer: The National Bank Note Company
Perforations: 12
Scott #: 132
Quantity issued: 10,000, sold 1,356
Earliest known use: n/k

Value

An unused stamp with perfect gum: -
An unused stamp with gum and a hinge mark: $1,100-$1,800
A used stamp: $1,800-$3,250

About the Reprints

The 1876 Centennial International Exhibition
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The 1875 Reprints

In 1876 the United States celebrated 100 years of nationhood. A huge International Exhibition in Philadelphia, parades and events around the country were held as part of the celebrations. For it's part the Post Office re-issued all the stamps that had been issued up to 1875. They did not sell well and most of the production had to be destroyed. With the exception of the 1847 stamps they were valid for postage so used examples can be found.

These have been called the “special printings" of 1875. All the original plates were used bar US #1 and #2. The 1847 plates had to be reproduced as the originals were lost to history.

All the printings were on harder whiter paper than the originals and most had a shade difference from the originals.

The Inspiration for the Design

The Brady photograph
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The vignette on the original 1869 90¢ pictorial stamp (#122) is based on the February 1861 photograph of Abraham Lincoln whilst he was still in Springfield, Illinois, taken by Mathew B. Brady.

Lincoln was the first historical figure other than Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, or Jackson to appear on a U.S. stamp. Following his death in 1865, the Post Office honored him on the 1866 15-cent stamp (#77), and subsequently on the highest-value stamp of this 1869 series.