#281 1898 5¢

Basic Information

Color: Dark blue
Subject: Ulysses S. Grant
Watermark: Watermarked double-lined USPS
Paper: Soft porous paper
Printing method: line-engraved intaglio on flat plates
Printer: The Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Perforations: 12
Scott #: 281
Quantity issued: 279,622,170
EDU: March 19th, 1898

Value

An unused stamp with perfect gum: $30-$65
An unused stamp with gum and a hinge mark: $17.50-$30
A used stamp: $1.50-$2.50

About the 1898 definitive stamps

A pane of #281
Click the image to enlarge

The 1898 US definitive stamps (specifically the 1-cent and other denominations) were primarily issued to comply with Universal Postal Union color standards, changing the 1-cent from blue to green to assist international identification. These changes coincided with the Spanish-American War and the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition.

The change from the previous dark brown to rose brown was not mandated by U.P.U.

The stardard foreign rate stamp became U.P.U. sanctioned blue in many countries

Usage

#281 earliest known date of use, March 19th, 1898

The 5¢ Grant stamp was primarily used to meet the 5-cent U.S. postage rate for letters to foreign countries within the Universal Postal Union (UPU). It was a staple of late 19th-century US international postage

Plates

#281 was issued with the following plate #'s

200 subject plates
389-392, 407-410, 834-837, 948-951, 980-983
1085-1087, 1119-1202, 1217-1220

The Inspiration for the Design

1873 photograph of Ulysses S. Grant by C.M. Bell

The vignette design was taken from this 1873 photograph of Ulysses S. Grant by C.M. Bell. Grant was the second Union general to be featured on a stamp, the first being Winfield Scott.