TEASER

The 3¢ Jefferson was the first-class letter rate stamp for most of the 1940s, the stamp that carried more personal correspondence through the American postal system than almost any other issue of its era.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #807

• Denomination: 3 cents (3¢)

• Date of Issue: June 16, 1938

• Printing Method: Rotary Press, Engraved (Intaglio)

• Perforation: 11 × 10½

• Color: Bright Violet

• Subject: Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, after the Houdon bust

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

Status: Used

Grading: Very Fine

Postmark: Wavy-line machine postmark present, falling cleanly without obscuring the portrait or principal design elements.

Obverse: Color remains vibrant with well-saturated ink throughout. Design is clearly visible and intact.

Reverse: Paper is clean with no evidence of thinning, toning, or repairs.

Centering / Margins: Excellent, with perforations clear of the design frame on all sides.

Perforations: Intact on all four sides. No tears, creases, or missing perforations observed.

HISTORY

Scott #807 is the sheet stamp version of the 3¢ Thomas Jefferson from the Presidential Series of 1938, issued June 16, 1938. It is distinct from the coil version of the same design, Scott #842, which was issued the following year for use in vending and affixing machines. The sheet stamp, perforated on all four sides, was the format most Americans encountered in post offices and at retail counters throughout the late 1930s and 1940s.

The 3¢ denomination carried the domestic first-class letter rate, the rate for a standard sealed envelope, making this one of the most frequently purchased stamps of the entire Prexies series. The bright violet color was chosen for the 3¢ Jefferson and carried over from earlier definitive series, giving postal customers a familiar visual reference for the first-class rate.

The portrait derives from a bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon, the French sculptor whose likenesses of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin remain among the most authoritative representations of the Founding Fathers. The Houdon Jefferson is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. For collectors building a complete Presidential Series set, Scott #807 and #842 represent two distinct catalog entries for the same subject and denomination, differentiated by format and perforation.

STEVEN SAYS

The sheet stamp and the coil look nearly identical side by side. The difference is the perforations. Four sides on this one, two sides on the coil. Worth knowing if you're building the full Prexies set, they're separate entries in the catalog.