Lincoln is shown here without his beard, the way he looked before an 11-year-old girl named Grace Bedell wrote him a letter in 1860 suggesting he grow one… and he did.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #1113

• Denomination: 1 cent (1¢)

• Date of Issue: February 12, 1959

• Printing Method: Rotary Press, Engraved (Intaglio)

• Perforation: 10½ × 11

• Color: Blue-Green

• Subject: Beardless portrait of Abraham Lincoln — Lincoln Sesquicentennial Issue

CONDITION ANALYSIS

• Status: Used. Seller-assessed condition.

• Seller's Grading: Extremely Fine

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

• Obverse: Design details remain clear throughout. No visible creases or tears observed.

• Reverse: No gum present, consistent with used condition. Surface appears intact with no thins or repairs.

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

• Perforations: All perforations intact. No visible repairs, tears, or missing perforations.

HISTORY

The Lincoln Sesquicentennial Issue was released on February 12, 1959 — Lincoln's birthday — to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth. The Post Office Department issued four stamps for the sesquicentennial, each depicting Lincoln at a different stage of his life. Scott #1113, the 1¢ denomination, shows the beardless Lincoln (his appearance before the 1860 presidential campaign) when he was still a relatively unknown Illinois lawyer rather than the nationally recognized figure he would become.

The beard itself has a specific and well-documented origin. In October 1860, eleven-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, wrote Lincoln a letter suggesting he grow whiskers, arguing that his thin face would benefit from the addition. Lincoln wrote back, gently questioning whether growing a beard at that point might look like affectation. He grew it anyway. By the time of his inauguration in March 1861, the beard was fully established — and the bearded Lincoln became the image that history remembers.

The beardless portrait on this stamp captures the Lincoln who existed before that transformation, drawn from photographic sources from the late 1850s. Issued at the ½¢ makeup rate, this stamp circulated widely as supplemental postage throughout the late 1950s and into the 1960s.

STEVEN SAYS

Grace Bedell wrote Lincoln a letter at eleven years old suggesting he grow a beard. He did. This stamp shows him before that letter. The sesquicentennial issue is the only U.S. series that tracks Lincoln's life across multiple stamps. It’s worth collecting as a set.