#261 1894 $1 Type I

Basic Information

Color: Black
Subject: Commodore Perry
Type: I
Paper: Soft porous paper
Printing method: line-engraved intaglio on flat plates
Printer: The Bureau of Printing and Engraving
Perforations: 12
Scott #: 261
Quantity issued: 26,284
Issued: November 15th, 1894

Value

An unused stamp with perfect gum: $750-$1,500
An unused stamp with gum and a hinge mark: $90-$160
A used stamp: $25-$55

About the small bank note stamps

An essay for the $1 value. #261E7

“Small Bank Note" stamps refers to the last, and only, definitive series printed solely by the America Bank Note Company in 1894, hence the name bank note series. The printing of this series was taken over by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1895. The Bureau added a triangle to the corner of the stamps to differentiate the 1895 from the 1894 series.

They are called "Small" to distinguish them from the "Large Bank Notes" issued from 1870 to 1893, as the 1894 stamps were reduced in size to cut production costs.

Type I vs Type II

#261 is typeI

#261A is type II

Usage

#261 earliest date of use, May 18th, 1895

#261 was used infrequently on heavy parcels or overweight letters to foreign destinations, which meant heavy cancels. Clean or light cancels add a premium to the value.

Plates

#261 was issued with the following plate #'s

76

The Inspiration for the Design

Perry source statue by Thomas Walcott

The old 90 cents gave way to a new $1, the profile of Perry being transferred to the new value

The two new 1894 values, the 50¢ and the $1 did not have new engravings of presidential heads, they just recycled the 1870 engravings.

The original 1870 design of Perry was based on Walcotts bust, of which I am unable to find an image.