Curtiss Jenny Airmail Stamps | |
---|---|
Type | Airmail stamp |
Country of issue | United States |
Country of production | United States |
Designer | Clair Aubrey Huston |
Engraver | Edward Weeks (frame), Marcus W. Baldwin (vignette) |
Printer | Bureau of Engraving and Printing |
Dimensions | 2.54 cm X 2.54 cm |
Perforation | 11 |
Commemorates | U.S. Army's Curtiss airplane |
Depicts | U.S. Army's Curtiss airplane |
Notability | first U.S. airmail stamp, world's first definitive airmail stamp, first bicolored airmail stamp, first airmail stamp printed with an error, first airmail stamp produced for a regular service |
Face value | 6¢, 16¢, 24¢ |
The 1918 Curtiss Jenny Air Mail Stamps were a set of three Airmail postage stamps issued by the United States in 1918. [1] The 24¢ variety was the first of the stamps to be issued, and was in fact, America's first Airmail stamp. (The world's first airmail stamp was issued by Italy in 1917 [2]). The 16¢ and 6¢ varieties were issued later in the year to reflect reductions in the postage rate. It features the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane.
The order of the Scott Catalog numbers [3] for these stamps (C1 through C3) is the inverse of the order of release dates for the stamps.
Design | Scott Catalog Numbers | Date of Issue | Image |
---|---|---|---|
6¢ Curtiss Jenny | C1 | Dec. 10, 1918 | |
16¢ Curtiss Jenny | C2 | July 11, 1918 | |
24¢ Curtiss Jenny | C3 | May 13, 1918 |
A single sheet of 100 of the two-color 24¢ was printed with the center design inverted, thus creating the Inverted Jenny. [5]