The portrait on this stamp comes from a miniature painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1777 — Washington at Valley Forge, in the middle of the war, not yet president.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #704

• Denomination: ½ cent (½¢)

• Date of Issue: January 1, 1932

• Printing Method: Rotary Press

• Perforation: 11 x 10½

• Color: Olive Brown

• Subject: Portrait of George Washington, after Charles Willson Peale (1777)

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

• Status: Used

• Grading: Fine

• Postmark: Bold impression present. The postmark falls across the stamp without obscuring the portrait or principal design elements.

• Obverse: Sharp, well-defined impression throughout. Design elements are fully legible.

• Reverse: Paper is clean and bright. No hinge marks present.

• Centering / Margins: Perforations clear of the design frame on all sides.

• Perforations: Intact on all four sides. No tears or creases observed.

HISTORY

The Washington Bicentennial Issue of 1932 marked the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth with a twelve-stamp series, each depicting Washington at a different point in his life based on a different historical portrait. It was one of the more ambitious commemorative projects in U.S. postal history to that point, turning a single definitives series into a visual biography of the first president.

Scott #704 is the ½¢ denomination, the first in the series, and its source portrait is a miniature painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1777. Peale painted Washington several times over the course of the Revolution, and the 1777 miniature captures him during the most difficult period of the war, before the tide had turned at Saratoga and years before victory was in sight. Peale was himself a soldier who served alongside Washington, which gave his portraits an immediacy that later works lacked.

The ½¢ denomination served as a makeup rate, filling the gap when postage fell between whole-cent increments. That practical role gave it wide circulation despite the modest face value, and it remained in postal use throughout the 1930s alongside the rest of the Bicentennial series.

STEVEN SAYS

Twelve stamps, twelve portraits, twelve moments in Washington's life. The Bicentennial series is one of the more thoughtful things the Post Office Department ever did. The Peale miniature on this one is from Valley Forge.

Technical Specifications

• Catalog Number: Scott #704.

• Denomination: ½ cent (½¢).

• Date of Issue: January 1, 1932.

• Printing Method: Rotary Press.

• Perforation: 11 x 10½.

• Color: Olive Brown.

• Mintage: Approximately 87,969,700 copies.

• Subject: Portrait of George Washington. The engraving is based on a miniature painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1777.

Condition Analysis

Status:

Used and Uncertified.

Sellers Grading:

Fine

Obverse:

The impression is sharp.

Reverse:

The paper appears clean and bright. There are no hinge marks.

Centering / Margins:

Great. The perforations do not cut into the design frame.

Postmark:

Bold

Other Findings:

The perforations are intact on all sides. No tears or creases.