George C. Marshall is the only professional soldier to win the Nobel Peace Prize - awarded in 1953 for the Marshall Plan, the program he designed to rebuild Western Europe after World War II.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #1289

• Denomination: 20 cents (20¢)

• Date of Issue: October 24, 1967

• Printing Method: Rotary Press, Engraved (Intaglio)

• Perforation: 11 × 10½

• Color: Deep Olive

• Subject: Portrait of George C. Marshall, soldier and statesman

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

• Status: Used

• Grading: Extremely Fine

• Postmark: Pen postmark present. Hand-applied pen postmarks are less common than machine cancels and represent a specific moment of manual postal processing.

• Obverse: Portrait and inscriptions remain clearly identifiable throughout. No major creases or tears visible.

• Reverse: No original gum present, as expected for a used stamp. Reverse is clean with no visible thinning or repairs.

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

• Perforations: All perforations present. Minor irregularities typical of circulation. No evidence of trimming, reperforation, or other alterations.

HISTORY

George C. Marshall served as Army Chief of Staff throughout World War II, overseeing the expansion of the U.S. Army from under 200,000 soldiers to over eight million and coordinating the largest military mobilization in American history. President Roosevelt called him the organizer of victory. After the war, President Truman appointed him Secretary of State, and in 1947 Marshall proposed the European Recovery Program - a comprehensive plan to rebuild the shattered economies of Western Europe through American financial aid. The program, which came to bear his name, disbursed approximately $13 billion over four years and is widely credited with stabilizing democratic governments across the continent during the critical early years of the Cold War.

In 1953, Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — the only professional soldier ever to receive it. He later served as Secretary of Defense during the Korean War, making him one of the few Americans to hold the top civilian positions at both the State Department and the Pentagon.

The Prominent Americans Series placed him on the 20¢ denomination, issued October 24, 1967. The deep olive color was visually distinctive within the series and gave the stamp a subdued authority fitting for its subject.

STEVEN SAYS

The only soldier to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He built the army that won the war and then designed the plan that kept the peace afterward. The pen postmark on this one is worth noting as its hand-applied marks are much less common than machine strikes.