The portrait on this stamp comes from Rembrandt Peale's 1800 painting of Jefferson, one of the few portraits made while Jefferson was still alive and actively serving the new republic.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #1278

• Denomination: 1 cent (1¢)

• Date of Issue: January 12, 1968

• Printing Method: Rotary Press

• Perforation: 11 x 10½

• Color: Green

• Subject: Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, after Rembrandt Peale (1800)

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

• Status: Unused

• Grading: Extremely Fine

• Postmark: No postmark present.

• Obverse: The green ink is fresh and vibrant with a sharp, well-defined impression throughout. Portrait, inscriptions, and denomination are all fully legible.

• Reverse: Paper is bright white and clean. No thinning, tears, or repairs observed.

• Centering / Margins: Well-centered within the margins.

• Perforations: Intact on all four sides with no visible missing or damaged perforations observed.

HISTORY

The Prominent Americans Series ran from 1965 to 1978, one of the longer-lived definitive series in U.S. postal history. Issued by the Post Office Department as the standard workhorse stamps of their era, the series featured engraved portraits of figures who had shaped American civic, cultural, and intellectual life. Thomas Jefferson appeared on the 1¢ denomination, released January 12, 1968, replacing an earlier Andrew Jackson stamp that had held that rate.

The portrait draws from a painting by Rembrandt Peale completed in 1800, when Jefferson was 57 years old and newly elected president. Peale was one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the early republic, and his version of Jefferson became one of the definitive likenesses of the third president. The design places Jefferson's name vertically along the left edge and "UNITED STATES" along the right, a distinctive layout that sets the Prominent Americans Series apart from earlier definitives and gives it a clean, modern quality that held up well over more than a decade of use.

The 1¢ denomination served the lightest postal rate of its era, circulating widely through the mail as a makeup rate and supplemental stamp well into the 1970s.

STEVEN SAYS

Rembrandt Peale painted Jefferson while he was president. That's the source of the portrait on this stamp. Not a posthumous impression, a sitting president. What an amazing moment to capture.