Thomas Paine published Common Sense in January 1776, a 47-page pamphlet that sold 100,000 copies in three months and gave ordinary Americans the argument for independence that the founders had struggled to articulate.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Catalog Number: Scott #1292

• Denomination: 40 cents (40¢)

• Date of Issue: January 29, 1968

• Printing Method: Rotary Press, Engraved (Intaglio)

• Perforation: 11 × 10½

• Color: Blue Black

• Subject: Portrait of Thomas Paine, after the painting by John Wesley Jarvis

CONDITION ANALYSIS (Seller-Assessed)

• Status: Used

• Grading: Very Fine

• Postmark: Trace impression present. Faint but consistent with postal use.

• Obverse: Color is deep and fresh. Paper appears bright with no significant fading or surface damage.

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

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

• Perforations: Intact throughout. Perforation tips show minor roughness characteristic of rotary press sheet separation. No tears, creases, or missing perforations observed.

HISTORY

Thomas Paine arrived in the American colonies in 1774, two years before the Revolution began, carrying a letter of introduction from Benjamin Franklin. He had failed at nearly everything he had attempted in England (excise officer, corset maker, schoolteacher) and was 37 years old with no obvious prospects. Within two years he had written Common Sense, a plainly worded argument for American independence that sold approximately 100,000 copies in three months at a time when the total colonial population was around two million. Washington ordered it read aloud to his troops at Valley Forge. The pamphlet is widely credited with shifting public opinion decisively toward independence in early 1776.

Paine went on to write The American Crisis series during the war, beginning with the famous opening line about times that try men's souls. He later became embroiled in the French Revolution, spent time in a French prison, and died in New York in 1809 largely forgotten and widely criticized for his religious skepticism. His reputation recovered substantially in the following century.

The Prominent Americans Series placed him on the 40¢ denomination, issued January 29, 1968. The portrait is based on a painting by John Wesley Jarvis, one of the leading American portraitists of the early 19th century. The blue black color gave the stamp a visual weight appropriate to a high-value denomination.

STEVEN SAYS

Paine wrote Common Sense in six weeks. Franklin vouched for him when he arrived in Philadelphia with nothing. He's one of those figures who changed everything and then got somewhat written out of the story. The Prominent Americans Series put him back where he belongs.